GDT: NHL Stadium Series | Detroit @ Columbus | 6 PM EST

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[NotWendell]

Last night, I was annoyed at all of the Ohio State stuff. This morning, I had a different feeling about it. What happened last night was a melding, a meshing, of two sports cultures coming together as one. Ours and Ohio State. Two things that make Columbus sports fun. (The third one being the Crew)

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[MAHJ71]

Last night, I was annoyed at all of the Ohio State stuff. This morning, I had a different feeling about it. What happened last night was a melding, a meshing, of two sports cultures coming together as one. Ours and Ohio State. Two things that make Columbus sports fun. (The third one being the Crew)

It felt like every other second it was "OSU this, OSU that" to the point where I don't feel it would be unjust to think CBJ wasn't the main attraction. More like a 50/50 or 60/40 split.

With that said, I'm forever grateful that the game happened at all to begin with, that I had the opportunity to attend, and if this level of OSU involvement was what it took for it to happen -- so be it. I can certainly accept it for the greater good of what last night was and meant.. 94,000+ of CBJ/DET/OSU fans in one place sharing their appreciation for the sport of hockey on a COLD @$$ night!!!

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[CharlotteJacket]

Don't get me wrong, top 3 Jackets game I have ever been to, but it felt like the Jackets had nothing to do with it. It felt to me like it was run by and for ESPN and OSU.

No Leo.
Was there even a goal horn?
There should have been alumni pumping up the crowd.
C-B-J should have been flashed on the screen to pump up the crowd.
How about a John-ny Hock-ey chant led from the screens? No, absolutely nothing.
No Mike Todd. I know some may be burned out on him, but he is part of Blue Jackets history and deserved to do that instead of sparkly show guy who has no idea who the home team was. The guy they got sucked.
No CBJ pump up between play, just OSU cheerleaders, OSU dance team, OSU band and announcer who knew morning about the Jackets.

I know I am an old man yelling at clouds. I am ecstatic that the Jackets somehow won that game. It was fantastic.

That may have been OSU's price to use the stadium or even ESPN realizes Ohio State dwarfs the CBJ in recognizable traditions.

Larkin redeemed himself after the snarky comment about Ohio Stadium earlier. His comments were welcome and appropriate.

 

[MAHJ71]

I know Viqsi already said it, but I'm also rooting for the Wings to make the playoffs with us. I see a lot of similarities between both teams so it makes it easy to root for them - when they're not the opponent.

 

[Halfboard]

That was an unbelievable experience last night. I’m still not warm
Best part were the three asshats behind me decked out in RedWings gear running down the steps after our 4th goal. Had to scurry outa there back to Detroit……errrrr Dublin, Ghanna, Hilliard…..

 

[CBJWerenski8]

That was an unbelievable experience last night. I’m still not warm
Best part were the three asshats behind me decked out in RedWings gear running down the steps after our 4th goal. Had to scurry outa there back to Detroit……errrrr Dublin, Ghanna, Hilliard…..

My buddy said a red wings fan and his friend in his section was flipping off everyone after the red wings 2nd and 3rd goal.

Guys ran for the exits after the ENG while getting peppered with middle fingers on their way out.

 

[CarolinaBlueJacket]

Last night, I was annoyed at all of the Ohio State stuff. This morning, I had a different feeling about it. What happened last night was a melding, a meshing, of two sports cultures coming together as one. Ours and Ohio State. Two things that make Columbus sports fun. (The third one being the Crew)

Nah, hold on to the hate. It keeps you warm on nights like last night.

 

[Viqsi]

Nah, hold on to the hate. It keeps you warm on nights like last night.

I've had enough hate for multiple lifetimes, kthx.

 

[KCbus]

It felt like every other second it was "OSU this, OSU that" to the point where I don't feel it would be unjust to think CBJ wasn't the main attraction. More like a 50/50 or 60/40 split.

With that said, I'm forever grateful that the game happened at all to begin with, that I had the opportunity to attend, and if this level of OSU involvement was what it took for it to happen -- so be it. I can certainly accept it for the greater good of what last night was and meant.. 94,000+ of CBJ/DET/OSU fans in one place sharing their appreciation for the sport of hockey on a COLD @$$ night!!!

I still think it would absolutely ROCK if they put one of these things in LDC. A similar feel, but with the roof to hold noise in, and a crowd that would be more on top of the action than they are in a football stadium.

 

[NotWendell]

I've had enough hate for multiple lifetimes, kthx.

You should talk to someone about that.

Nah, hold on to the hate. It keeps you warm on nights like last night.

Well, the Buckeyes DO play my Ohio Bobcats this fall. We'll keep it more interesting than Akron.

 

[Viqsi]

You should talk to someone about that.

Frequently do. Unfortunately it's more of an issue with incoming rather than outgoing.

 

[NotWendell]

Frequently do. Unfortunately it's more of an issue with incoming rather than outgoing.

I like the first sentence. I support you as you deal with the second.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Nicely said.

 

[CarolinaBlueJacket]

Well, the Buckeyes DO play my Ohio Bobcats this fall. We'll keep it more interesting than Akron.

Just drove through Athens today on the way home. I'm a Jackets fan so I always pull for the underdog.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

My buddy said a red wings fan and his friend in his section was flipping off everyone after the red wings 2nd and 3rd goal.

Guys ran for the exits after the ENG while getting peppered with middle fingers on their way out.

The very definition of F*ck around and find out.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

I have no idea Elvis has a 2nd child on the way. Congrats to him. He definitely has matured along the way. I see no reason to try to move him. He's finding some stability now along with the rest of the organization and I feel he could have a big 25-26 season if he finishes this season strong. He's gotten better and better as the season has gone along.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Item No. 1: A new day​

Two worlds collided Saturday in Columbus in a way many locals never imagined.

Script Ohio was formed in the middle of Ohio Stadium, but in a hockey rink, not on a football field. A crowd of nearly 95,000 chanted “Johnny Hockey” one minute and sang “Hang On, Sloopy” the next. The Ohio State University’s championship football team was honored in the middle of a hockey game.

And in the afterglow of the Blue Jackets’ 5-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL’s latest Stadium Series game, the band played and the crowd sang “Carmen Ohio,” Ohio State’s alma mater.

Most of those fortunate enough to attend the NHL’s 43rd outdoor game seemed almost to float out of chilly Ohio Stadium late in the evening Saturday, convinced that they’d witnessed one of the truly unique and memorable nights in the long sporting history of Columbus.

Maybe some were wondering, too, if this is the beginning of a new day in Ohio’s biggest city, one in which Columbus’ major sports franchises do more than simply co-exist, but start working on ways to support and elevate each other.

It hasn’t always been that way.

When the Blue Jackets first arrived on the scene in 2000, Ohio State acted like a big brother who never really wanted a sibling. If not for Blue Jackets founder John H. McConnell, who pushed to build Nationwide Arena beginning in 1998, the Jackets would have played in Schottenstein Center and lived under OSU’s thumb.

Even though Nationwide Arena and Ohio Stadium are barely three miles apart, the Blue Jackets and Ohio State existed in almost separate universes during the early years of the Blue Jackets.

This has never made sense, of course. Fans in Detroit have no issue cheering for the Red Wings, Tigers and Lions and either Michigan or Michigan State. Fans in Boston support the Red Sox, Bruins, Patriots and either Boston U. or Boston College.

Too often, fans in Columbus have been placed in different buckets, in which they either cheer for Ohio State or the Blue Jackets or the Columbus Crew, one of Major League Soccer’s top organizations. In fact, that’s never been true. The vast majority of fans have no issue supporting all three.

For fans of certain age, Columbus had a certain sporting hierarchy for most of their lives. The block ‘O’ of Ohio State loomed large above the local sporting scene, with the Blue Jackets and Columbus Crew fighting to be seen in the periphery.


It’s too big to be acting that way.

This is a surprise to many, even locals, but Columbus is Ohio’s largest city, with 913,000 residents, according to the latest U.S. Census. It’s bigger than the combined populations of Ohio’s better-known big cities Cleveland (362,000) and Cincinnati (311,000) by nearly a quarter-million residents.

Judging by online comments on this site and others, there were some Blue Jackets fans who felt as if Saturday’s game had too much of an Ohio State touch.

I’m sure there are Ohio State fans who weren’t too excited to have an NHL game played in “their” stadium, especially one featuring a Columbus dressed in blue and the Michigan team wearing red. (Hey, at least it wasn’t scarlet!)

Each of those opinions are valid, but both of them, I believe, are in the minority. Sports, like politics, can make for strange bedfellows. Most fans, especially those 30 and younger, see Ohio State sports, the Blue Jackets and the Crew as existing on even footing.

Most on hand for Saturday’s festivities seemed to stand in awe of the scene and the atmosphere, the perfect melding of the city’s two biggest sports franchises.

Saturday’s game probably wouldn’t have happened if not for key developments at Ohio State and in college athletics, specifically football. The expanded college football playoffs, now at 12 teams, requires universities to host opening-round games, meaning teams (especially in the north) needed to get their buildings ready for winter. Ohio State took steps to winterize Ohio Stadium — the tune of $8 million — in the event that it hosted a game.

And wouldn’t you know, they hosted Tennessee in a first-round game on Dec. 21. Before the grand old stadium was winterized, the water would have been shut off by that date, leaving it unable to host events such as an outdoor hockey game.

It’s likely that Ohio State president Ted Carter (an avid hockey fan) and new athletic director Ross Bjork will signal a change in the future relationship, too.

There were minor quibbles behind the scenes of Saturday’s events.

An NHL executive told The Athletic that Ohio State at first resisted allowing the league to refer to the game as “the” Stadium Series because OSU has trademarked “THE” on clothing and other branded products.

The school also wouldn’t allow Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins to put buckeye leaves on his helmet, and they wouldn’t allow the NHL to use its name for the pre-game football pep rallies — Skull Session — to promote its own pep rally in St. John Arena.

But to get stuck on these details is to ignore the big one: Ohio State opened up its grand stage, the largest stadium in Ohio and one of the largest in the country, so that the Blue Jackets and the NHL could have a celebration. Saturday is a night many will remember forever.

In the minutes after the Blue Jackets clinched the win and the cannon blasted for a final time, fans filed out of Ohio Stadium singing “We Don’t Give A Damn for the Whole State of Michigan,” just as they do on football Saturdays.

Except this time they wore Blue Jackets sweaters.

Well into the fall, there was private concern within the Blue Jackets and the NHL that ticket sales were lagging for the Stadium Series and Ohio Stadium might not be close to sold out when Saturday’s game was staged. But NHL president of content and events Steve Mayer said the league was impressed by the brisk pace of ticket sales as the game drew near. Early last month, Mayer said the league was expecting about 85,000 fans. By the early part of last week, he indicated that it would clear 90,000. The final count: 94,751.

The league did not announce a capacity, but it took roughly 10,000 seats out of “inventory,” Mayer said, because the large section of seats behind the Twenty One Pilots’ stage was obstructed. Also, the league had to create camera decks in C-deck sections on both sides of the stadium.

 

[NotWendell]

I feel like I've read that somewhere before.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Love this picture.

Interesting they were allowed to place buckeye leaf tarps on the field as filler but Elvis wasn't allowed to have any on his helmet design. Yet the crown of the helmet that ESPN awarded the winning goalie was metallic gray with a scarlet stripe just like a football helmet.

 

[CBJ goalie]

Love this picture.

Me too.
I went into Getty Images and saved a bunch of the games photo, especially the ones of Elvis.