By a miracle, I was bestowed some free tickets to Friday's game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the San Jose Sharks.
The 7 p.m. contest at gorgeous Nationwide Arena in Columbus was more than just the clashing of two National Hockey League teams - jockeying for early Western Conference position. It was my up close and personal reintroduction to the NHL and a sport I have loved since as long as I can remember.
I had seen the rebirth of the league on television and had seen that the NHL was living up to its own hype. The games were higher scoring, the action was faster paced and Don Cherry was back on my TV screen- I was in heaven. That was until my free preview of the NHL Center Ice package ran out. Outdoor Life Network has the NHL television contract and, for lack of better words, the station is doing a terrible job. I will bite my tongue for now.
FOX Sports Ohio has even done a poor job covering the Blue Jackets and, because Ohio University does not get the Canadian Broadcasting Channel, there is absolutely no solid outlet to watch NHL hockey in Athens now.
Just as I was about to lose it, the sky opened and a beam of light shot me down free Blue Jackets' tickets. While angels were harmonizing in the background, I got a hold of a good friend from back home and it was on. We met in Columbus and I attended my first professional hockey game since I was seven.
How long ago was that? Wayne Gretzky wasn't coaching; he played for the Los Angeles Kings. Mario Lemieux was then a star player - not a star player-owner - and my Pittsburgh Penguins were making runs for a Stanley Cup, not rebuilding to get out of the NHL cellar.
The Blue Jackets' game not only reintroduced me to the sport but also surrounded me with the fans. I was curious to see what the pulse of the fan base was after the unfortunate 2004-05 lockout.
Honestly, I must say I never expected to see such a crowd at a Blue Jackets game, especially one against a west-coast team like the Sharks. I think I counted less than 10 San Jose fans in the entire crowd.
Despite his current injury, everywhere I turned I saw the number 61 jerseys and young star Rick Nash's likeness. Ohioans are still getting used to having a professional hockey team and they are turning out like this? I wonder what it is like in Toronto.
Thanks to humorous goings-on during the TV timeouts and intermissions, including a Mt. Dew sponsored zamboni-tank that fired t-shirts after the first period, I was having the time of my life. Promotions, like one earning everyone with a ticket free Wendy's chili if the Jackets tallied three goals, really showed the NHL's commitment to winning back its fans and making new ones.
To top it off, Columbus won 4-1. Little kids were cheering, adults were having a good time and I knew one thing for certain: even better than the nachos was knowing that the NHL is back, both on the ice and on the fast-track to fan's hearts.
I recommend getting out of Athens some weekend and making the easy trip to Columbus to catch a Jackets' game. I promise you will, as I did, have a great time.
- Shugar is a junior journalism major and sports editor for The Post who would like to thank Adam Foote for scoring him free chili. Send him an e-mail at ms314803@ohiou.edu.
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Mark Shugar
