Okay, it’s a slight exaggeration. However, while visiting my daughter in the wilds of Ohio, I attended a Columbus Blue Jackets game. Lest you think I abandoned my beloved Devils, it was not so. I wore my Devils hat proudly, as is evidenced by the photo below:
The Blue Jackets lost to the Anaheim Ducks, and, honestly, it wasn’t a very good game. However, I enjoyed seeing former Devil Scott Niedermeyer, now a Duck. And I was interested in watching Jackets goalie Steve Mason, who, like me, named his dog after Devils goalie Martin Brodeur. Here’s Steve in goal:
Other than that, it was fun to see the different touches the Jackets brought to Nationwide Arena, a very nice place to watch hockey. They fire a cannon when they score a goal:
They have a drum line, the Boom Jackets, which my Darling Daughter, the former marching band drill sargeant, appreciated.
The one slightly creepy aspect was their mascot Stinger, who is a weird cross between a hornet and a frog. Seeing him dressed in a Santa suit just added to the general impression of strangeness.
They had a massive cleaning crew who streaked onto the ice and madly scraped and hauled during every break in the action.
In addition, I got into a conversation with one of the ushers who spotted my Devils hat. Rather than harassing me, he praised Marty Brodeur, saying that he was in a class by himself. Only in Ohio….
All in all, it was a lot of fun to see a different team’s arena, and to feel a different hockey vibe. It beats hanging out with llamas.
