Must See Columbus Blue Jacket Games: 2014-2015
By Clint Linn
The Columbus Blue Jackets will play many a meaningful game this year, some will be on the road in a different venue, and some will be in the comfy confines of Nationwide Arena. I am going to take a look at 3 of the more highly anticipated games that the Columbus Blue Jackets will play at home in front of their raucous fans.
Mar 21, 2014; Columbus, OH, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets Ryan Jahansen (19) hits
Ryan McDonagh(27) in the face during the third period of the game at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rob Leifheit-USA TODAY Sports
The first home game of the year is going to be against the New York Rangers, on Saturday October 11th, 2014 and will be the Columbus Blue Jackets second game of the year. It will be against the defending Eastern Conference Champions, albeit a different looking Rangers team from the one that made only its second appearance in twenty years in the Stanley Cup Final. The atmosphere for this game is going to be unreal, the fans that will pack Nationwide Arena that night are going to have pent-up excitement from waiting some 6 months to watch this team. If the Rangers had won the Cup I would expect the Blue Jackets faithful would have ripped Rick Nash apart. Now I think the fans will be more looking forward to seeing THEIR team play, but you can bet there will still be some boo’s sent Nash’s way.
Saturday December 13th, 2014 the Blue Jackets will welcome in the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time since they were bounced from the playoffs by them. Just like with the Rangers the Penguins are going to look a lot different, maybe not the top line but the 2nd-4th lines will be reshaped and have a few new faces. It will be the first game against their new rival, and will give the Blue Jackets an idea as to how they stand up against them a year after giving the Pens all they could handle in the playoffs. We could be looking at a great rivalry for years to come here, this game, with the other ones could go a long way to deciding if this is going to be a back and forth rivalry or a one-sided affair like last year’s regular season.
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This next game might not be one you expected, but on Friday April 10th, 2015 the Blue Jackets will take on the Buffalo Sabres. This will be the last home game of the regular season for the Blue Jackets, however hopefully not the last home game of the season. The last 2 home finales have seen fans bring some charisma into Nationwide Arena, something tells me this game will be no different. The Columbus Blue Jackets will have one more game left in the regular season, but will hopefully have a playoff spot wrapped up long before this game finishes. The end of this game will see the entire team at mid ice saluting the fans with their sticks, no matter what, that will be a sight to see. Here’s to hoping that won’t be the last salute the fans of Nationwide Arena will see in 2015.
The Blue Jackets will have 42 homes games in the regular season, all of which will have some meaning to them. These are 3 games that will be interesting to watch and that I am looking forward to, let me know what games you can’t wait to see.