The Columbus Blue Jackets are entering their 14th season (13th season of actual hockey being played) in the NHL. With the regular season still a long three months away, and the frenzy of free agency coming to a halt, we are officially in the lulls of summer. I figured what better time to look back at some of the former players that CBJ fans have loved to hate.
Coming as no surprise to anybody, first up Lucifer…I mean Jeff Carter. From the get go he put a sour taste in the mouth of Blue Jacket fans everywhere. He was traded here and refused to talk to the media, the players, and team officials. He wouldn’t come out of hiding until Rick Nash and Scott Howson got on a plane to visit him, stroke his ego, buy him a security blanket and let him know everything would be ok. This all coming off very high expectations for the Columbus Blue Jackets heading into the season. He acted like a little kid who had been sent to his room without getting dessert.
Jan 5, 2012; San Jose, CA, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets center
Jeff Carter(7) skates with the puck against the San Jose Sharks during the second period at HP Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-USA TODAY Sports
Jeff Carter even had two games where he registered a hat trick in his shortened season with the Blue Jackets. That you figure would be enough to garner some type of respect from the fans, but he wasn’t done kicking us where it hurt just yet. He visibly quit on the team numerous times during his 39 games as a Blue Jacket. He alienated the players in the locker room that were already having a hard time with what can only be described as a hell of a season. He then for lack of a better term forced the Blue Jackets to trade him or be stuck with a cancer in the locker room.
So the front office obliged and agreed to trade Carter to the Los Angeles Kings in return for Jack Johnson and a 1st round pick in 2012 or 2013. It was taken in 2013 and ended up becoming Marko Dano. The last kick might have been the worst however, after being traded to the Kings, by some logic of the Hockey Gods the Kings went on to win Lord Stanley’s Cup. Then that jabrone got to hoist it up over his horns as all of Columbus immediately reached for the Pepto Bismol.