design: Audrey Selsor
photos permission to print: Kari Phillips & Alec Rivers
The NHL season consists of 84 regular season games and four rounds of playoffs. With the Stanley Cup Finals ending in June and the preseason starting in September, players playing in the final only get about two and a half months off before preseason. With almost 300 days of playing with their team in the NHL, what do players do when they aren’t playing?
This year the Columbus Blue Jackets took a trip to Finland to play against the Colorado Avalanche in the NHL global series. Although the Jackets lost 5-1 to the Avalanche, Jackets players still took time to enjoy what Finland had to offer while off the ice, according to NHL.com
Goalkeeper Joonas Korpisalo endorsed the local cuisine of Helsinki saying that he has eaten reindeer before and that “if you want to really enjoy yourself, get some reindeer.” However, Head Coach Brad Larsen turned down the offer of a nice plate of reindeer.
Columbus, Ohio is certainly not a renowned city by any means as far as teams from The National Hockey League go, and former Blue Jackets player Max Domi has definitely made it known.
“I’m pretty excited, actually. My whole family’s here. I was in Columbus for two years, so I didn’t get many visitors. All of a sudden, I’m in a nice city [Chicago], so my whole family wants to come. I don’t know if it’s me or the city,” Domi said, according to Mark Lazarus, Athletic writer for the Chicago Blackhawks.
And while it’s true that Columbus doesn’t have Lake Michigan around its city borders or Skyscrapers towering the city, the players have grown more tight knit as a unit especially with the addition of Johnny Gaudreau this off-season.
After asking Blue Jackets Team Reporter and NHL Reporter Jeff Svoboda about how he keeps fresh content on the Jackets while off the ice, he responded with a story about the connection between CBJ Forward Eric Robinson and Gaudreau.
“Eric Robinson and Johnny were actually high school teammates growing up for a season, and even Johnny’s dad was Robinson’s first coach,” Svoboda said.
It’s very clear there’s a true bond being built in Columbus, with Robinson even calling Johnny’s arrival an addition of a family atmosphere at Nationwide Arena. Guy Gudreau, Johnny’s father, also referred to Robinson almost as one of his own kids, since he was always at the house, according to nhl.com.
This bond has definitely come off on the fans, including sophomore Vince Francisco.
“They’re always entertaining. The atmosphere is always electric,” he said.
While the Jackets currently sit at last in the NHL due to being plagued with injuries all season long with the likes of Werenski and Voráček, there is definitely a team bond being built in Columbus that fans can only hope will lead to the Stanley Cup coming to Columbus, Ohio in the coming years.
