This week, as part of Puck Daddy’s “Summer Series,” the group here at Buckeye State Hockey was honored to present the top five “weird” things from the franchise history. (You should read it – we worked hard, it’s right HERE. Go ahead, click it…we’ll wait.)
But posts like these can take some time. And your diligent BSH team went through rounds of voting (seriously) to decide on our top five “weird” things from Jackets’ lore.
After such (sort of) passionate debate (meaning Alison wouldn’t let one go), we decided to share with you the rest of the list.
We invite you to read….the REST of the weird Jackets things. Sound off on what we got right and what we got wrong!
Nick Foligno Notches the First Home Jackets Playoff Win…JUST LIKE HE PREDICTED
If you are a Blue Jacket fan, you know exactly where you were when this happened, perhaps this is the moment you became a Blue Jacket fan:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfT2jlkqtLI] Listen. If you are having a bad day, watch this goal and you will feel better. Huge shout out to RJ Umberger for making that goal happen, huge shout out to then assistant coach Dan Hinote for the quality post-win celly. Massive shout out to Nick Foligno for shooting the puck just south of the Stanley Cup Playoffs logo at the blue line past Marc Andre Fleury to secure the first ever home Blue Jackets post season win – and becoming an instant meme.But…wait for it…that’s not what’s weird.
There was much debate (some of us were clearly wrong) that this goal was not weird in and of itself. Ok, fine. You know what else happened? Nick Foligno predicted he’d score that game during the pre-overtime intermission.
“Nick’s exact words were: ‘I’m going to go out and score the OT goal. I haven’t done a whole lot until now, but I’m going to find a way to score. I hope you don’t mind,’ ” Dubinsky said.
2014-15 – The Season of Broken Blue Jackets
In our Puck Daddy post, we posited that the Arena being built on the site of a former prison jinxed the team. Well, consider the 2014-15 Season. The team was coming off it’s second playoff appearance, was riding full steam on a wave of confidence and expectations, tore through the pre-season and then…
First came hushed news that Nathan Horton wasn’t 100%. Then Ryan Murray was sitting for the start of the season and the Jackets were going to start the year with 8 defensemen. This all seemed…tolerable. Then Brandon Dubinsky (fresh off announcing an off-season contract extension) decided to get abdominal surgery that would have him miss half the year. That was concerning.
Then it got flat out ridiculous. Boone Jenner broke his hand in practice. Sergei Bobrovsky broke a finger. Artem Anisimov got hurt, Matt Calvert got hurt. Mark Letestu tore up his knee – tried to recover, and then weeks and weeks later realized he needed surgery. Cam Atkinson got his face cut up by a skate. Boone Jenner – literally broke his back (stress fracture).
It became comically sad. Another game day – another injury. It was wrote. You waited for a post-game press conference from Todd Richards to hear who was banged up now.
Here is a tracking spreadsheet we used to show games played. Red indicates a game lost to injury.
This spreadsheet is bleeding.
By the time the season was over, the Jackets lost a league-leading and staggering 502 (FIVE HUNDRED AND TWO) games to injury. 28 forwards and 11 defensemen suited up for the Columbus squad.
It was quite frankly ridiculous, weird, infuriating. We had to assume the next year would be better right? “All we have to do is get healthy.”
“Filly Don’t Do Rebounds”
After drafting Nikita Filatov 6th overall in 2008, the Blue Jackets looked to have a genuine star on their hands. He tore up the World Junior Hockey Championships twice, with 9 points in 7 games as a 17 year old, and 11 points (including 8 goals) in 7 games as an 18 year old. The hype hit a fever pitch after he was named the top prospect in all of hockey in The Hockey News’ 2009 Future Watch.
Filatov was occasionally brilliant in Columbus, becoming the first CBJ rookie to score a hat trick. More often than not Filatov was frustrating, bouncing between Columbus, the AHL, and the KHL. In the CBJ jersey, he put up a measly 6 goals, and 7 assists in 44 games before being dumped to the Ottawa Senators for a 3rd round pick.
It wasn’t until shortly into the next season that fans really got a look at why such a talented player busted out of Columbus.
True story about Filatov, was just given clearance to share: One of his many previous coaches calls him into room with video guy for …
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) November 17, 2011
… one-on-one film work, to show him instance where they want him to crash the net and get to rebounds, create scoring chances.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) November 17, 2011
After four or five clips, Filatov steps back from the monitor, looks at the coaches and says, flatly: "Filly don't do rebounds."
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) November 17, 2011
Just wow. That level of arrogance and disrespect is unheard of in hockey. That in itself is pretty weird.
Referring to himself in the third person, by a nickname, is also pretty strange. What puts it over the top for me is that Filatov had accomplished absolutely nothing at that point. This isn’t a superstar shirking some dirty work. This is a 20 year old “goal scorer” who hasn’t even earned a job yet, saying he isn’t going to do something pretty straight forward to score more goals.
Also strange is the timing of how this all came out. After washing out with the Senators early in the season, Filatov was buried in the AHL. He was trying to bolt back to the KHL when this story broke. He got his wish shortly afterwards, scurrying off to the KHL midseason (for the second time). Not surprising he hasn’t been seen back in the NHL since.
Artem Anisimov Goal…with Nikita Nikitin Doing Things
We get it. Ice is slippery. But seriously. Nikita Nikitin what are you doing here?
[protected-iframe id=”f068fe6e9562e665fcc0bb99b285f4b6-114320562-70843398″ info=”http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/embed?playlist=2013020288-205-h” width=”640″ height=”395″ frameborder=”0″]Shout out to Jackets play-by-play announcer Jeff Rimer for calling whatever that was a faked shot.
Oh. The Jackets lost this game.
How Dancing Kevin became slim svelte Kevin and a weight loss role model
The focus of the post was “weird” things…but we decided that sometimes, it’s important to remember that “weird” can be things that are so rare and special that they defy what you can even imagine. Case in point, our beloved Kevin Schroeder.
Dancing Kevin “then”:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guU7lvjPJCI]Dancing Kevin “now”:
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Seriously. Wow.
Kevin Schroeder had always been so loved by the Jackets fan community, but this past year, he decided to not just be committed to his team, he decided to be committed to himself. Kevin took on a challenging journey to self-improvement, and along the way, he was brave enough to not just share his progress, but also his struggles.
These days, Kevin’s social media isn’t just full of discussion of Jackets hockey, it’s full of a community of people also seeking to encourage one another, take on driving towards their own goals, and making their worlds better. It’s pretty damn cool – and if you can’t be in awe of this man? Well we can’t help you.
Kevin Schroeder is one hell of a human.
//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js
The origination of the team’s name
The announcement of a professional hockey team coming to Columbus was a bit of a surprise unto itself. The naming of the team was just downright odd.
Here is some background info about the name from BlueJackets.com:
“With a franchise in hand and an arena set to break ground, next came the naming of the team. Looking to get as many suggestions as possible, the Columbus franchise decided that it would be best to have a little more input.
In conjunction with Wendy’s Restaurants, the franchise held a “Name the Team” contest throughout central Ohio during the month of August 1997, which gave fans throughout the area an opportunity to name the team. The plan worked out as over 14,000 entries were submitted. During the “Name the Team” contest, majority owner John H. McConnell was asked to fill out a questionnaire for the National Hockey League to help the league get a better idea of what Columbus stands for and the history of the city.
With help from the NHL, the Columbus franchise narrowed the 14,000 entries down to 10 names. Then with the information received from Mr. McConnell, the League and the franchise narrowed the list of potential names down to two – Blue Jackets and Justice.
The franchise explored all of the options of the two names, but it was the Blue Jackets name that intrigued the NHL and the Columbus franchise the most.
It was first thought that the Blue Jackets were named after the Indian chief, Blue Jacket, from Xenia, Ohio, but that was not the case.
The Blue Jackets name was selected because the name pays homage to Ohio’s contributions to American history and the great pride and patriotism exhibited by its citizens, especially during the Civil War as both the state of Ohio and the city of Columbus were significantly influential on the Union Army. Ohio contributed more of its population to the Union Army than any other state, while many of the Blue Coats worn by the Union soldiers were manufactured in Columbus.”
How different would the team have been if they were called the “Columbus Justice”. I am not sure I would’ve began following the team with a name like that. The current name is unique to Columbus and is unique to the team, it fits perfectly with the culture here.
Cam’s Puppy Goal
All good stories begin with a puppy, right? It was Maddie Wright’s birthday and she made a sign saying that if Cam Atkinson scored a goal that night, her dad would get her a puppy. Atkinson scored nearly 30 goals last season so it was a pretty good bet that he would light the lamp, he did one better though, he scored a hat trick.
The puppy goal was first completed by Bobby Ryan but I think Atkinson did it a little better. He not only had a hat trick but he helped pay for the purchase of the dog as well. Maybe someone should be holding a puppy inspired sign every game?
Boone Jenner Gets a Major Penalty for Hooking
Major penalties are not uncommon in the NHL, and hooking penalties are not uncommon but a major penalty for hooking? That’s just unheard of. Well on February 19th 2016 against the Buffalo Sabres, Boone Jenner received the rare major for hooking. On top of being a weird penalty the play should have never been called a hook in the first place.
https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/700869900135366657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
That is clearly a hit from behind, but the refs called it hooking and never changed it. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, it is the first hooking major in the NHL since at least 1986. Unfortunately prior to 1986 their records for the NHL are spotty so we don’t know if this is the only hooking major ever recorded.
Good friends at @EliasSports are working on this, but it's been at least 30 years since a player was given a major penalty for hooking.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) February 20, 2016
CBJ Draft a player twice: star of the EIHL Trevor Hendrikx is the 2 time loser in the CBJ draft pool
We all know about the Jackets lack of success in the early years of the franchise but did you know the Jackets swung and missed on the same prospect twice?
Yes in the 2003 draft, the Jackets drafted bruising defenseman Trevor Hendrikx in the 9th round with the 283rd pick. Trevor was coming off a season in which he led the Petes in penalty minutes with 128 while only collecting nine points in 56 games. Now let’s be honest, for the next two seasons as a CBJ prospect, Trevor did put up good numbers with 80 points in 131 games (23-57-80). And the 2004-05 season was a career year for him because, of course, it was a contract year.
But according to an interview with Hockey’s future, it’s sounds like the only reason Hendrikx wasn’t signed is due to the fact that the team and the player just couldn’t come to terms. Since there was no agreement to be made, Hendrikx re-entered the 2005 draft.
In the 2005 draft, Trevor was drafted two rounds higher than the previous draft and 82 picks higher…but he was still a last round pick (this was the first draft after the switch from nine to seven rounds). In the seventh round and 201st overall, the Jackets again selected Trevor making him the third player selected by the same team twice from 1999 to 2010 joining Tim Brent who the Mighty Ducks drafted in 2002 (2nd Rd) and 2004 (3rd) and Mathieu Chouinard who was selected by Ottawa in 1998 (1st) and 2000 (2nd).
For his final OHL season, Trevor again had a career year with 56 points in 60 games which was good for seventh among OHL defenseman. After the season, Trevor would turn pro and join the Dayton Bombers and pretty much stay in the ECHL for most of his North American career other than two, two game stints in the AHL and a few stints with the CHL (currently in the ECHL) Allen Americans (he was part of the Americans back to back Ray Miron President’s Cup Championship runs).
After the 2013-14 season Trevor loaded up his gear and winged on over to…Cardiff to join the EIHL’s Devils serving as an alternate captain for two years while helping the Devils win the EIHL’s Challenge Cup in 2014-15 before joining the Braehead Clan for this coming season.
The Monsters Win the Calder Cup in the first year with the Franchise (and Cleveland finally gets a championship)
If you are an Ohioan who is not an Ohio State fan, you know disappointment and you know it all to well. The city of Cleveland especially has dealt with heartbreak after heartbreak. The Browns, the Cavaliers and the Indians were going through a record championship drought and it didn’t seem like it was going to end anytime soon.
LeBron James left the Cavaliers and then subsequently came back. The Browns are, well, the Browns and they haven’t been particularly good for a while. The Indians after a couple of good runs in the mid-90’s and mid-00’s, were still without a World Series title. Enter the Lake Erie Monsters, a franchise that is/was an afterthought in the scope of Cleveland sports.
After a longstanding affiliation with the Colorado Avalanche, the Monsters teamed up with the Blue Jackets. Knowing the Blue Jackets’ history and Cleveland sports’ history, it seemed like a match made in heaven. The two would be mired in mediocrity forever and as a fan their was nothing you could do about it.
What Cleveland fans didn’t know was how special of a year this was going to be for the city. Before LeBron brought an NBA title to the town, the Monsters won the Calder Cup final and officially lifted the curse from the city. Not only did they do it in their first year with the Blue Jackets, it wasn’t close either. The Monsters steamrolled teams and left very, very good teams in their wake.
We don’t know how this will effect the Blue Jackets long term but it is just another wrinkle in the Blue Jackets history that makes this franchise so darn special.
So what do you think? Did we miss anything? Any craziness that should’ve been included on our list?
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