Columbus Blue Jackets Top Three Most Hated Enemies
The Columbus Blue Jackets are one of the youngest teams in the league, but that hasn’t stopped us from making enemies.
Being a bad team for many years can lead to hating others and a mutual feeling from the other side. This is certainly the case for many fans, and it is no different for us at Union and Blue.
Although we’re are pretty neutral toward most around the continent, there are three people/teams that stick out as enemies in our mind.
#3 – Detroit Red Wings
Although the rivalry has cooled recently due to the Red Wings struggling, the Jackets have battled with that team up north for years. In fact, the Red Wings are the most frequent opponent in CBJ history as the two teams have met 86 times on the ice.
Unfortunately, Detroit has gotten the better of Columbus in most of those matchups. In those 86 games, the Blue Jackets are 31-42-1-12. That .436 points percentage against the Wings is sixth-worst in franchise history.
Aside from falling to them more times than not, Columbus and Michigan sports teams usually don’t get along anyway. The Ohio State vs. Michigan collegiate rivalry is arguably one of the most historic and most-heated of all-time.
Detroit is only about an hour away from Ann Arbor too, so Michigan fans usually root for the Red Wings. Nationwide Arena also sits just miles away from the OSU campus. The campuses (and therefore the NHL franchises) are also fairly close to each other, so it’s pretty common to have the opposing team’s fans try to take over the other’s arena/stadium.
And on top of the amateur history, the Red Wings were not too kind to the Blue Jackets in the latter’s first playoff appearance. In 2008-2009, the defending champs stomped out the Jackets in four games. Columbus didn’t really show any fight until the final game, where they fell 6-5 after Johan Franzen netted the game-winning dagger with less than a minute to go.
If the Blue Jackets continue to have success and the Red Wings find it again, it should be a fun time watching these two teams play.
#2 – Jeff Carter
I sense that thousands of Columbus Blue Jackets fans just threw up a little in their mouths. And for good reason because Jeff Carter is our second most hated enemy. For the fans that may be unsure on why so many CBJ fans hate Jeff Carter, let me break it down for you.
Carter had signed a massive, long-term deal with the Philadelphia Flyers in late 2010, and expected to spend the rest of his career in the City of Brotherly Love. He was wrong.
On June 23, 2011, Jeff Carter was traded by the Flyers to the Blue Jackets. To get Carter, Columbus sent Jakub Voracek, the 2011 eighth overall pick, and a 2011 third-round pick to Philly.
Carter didn’t like that he got traded to Columbus, and basically refused to report. It wasn’t until Rick Nash visited Carter and convinced him to come play that he finally did so. Still not happy, Carter reportedly was difficult to work with in Columbus and was shipped out to the Los Angeles Kings after requesting a trade. The Jackets got Jack Johnson and a conditional first-round pick in return.
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All in all, he’s not the absolute worst guy to ever come to the Blue Jackets. Adam Foote probably beats him out because he actually threatened to poison the locker room’s chemistry and tank his play if he wasn’t traded. But Jeff Carter came just a few years after Foote, and got most of the hate shifted toward him.
Carter’s post CBJ career has also been much better than Foote’s was. He won two Stanley Cups with the Kings while the Jackets struggled to make the playoffs. He’s also still playing at an extremely high level while Foote’s retired and mostly forgotten.
In ten years when Carter’s career is over, he probably won’t be the second most hated enemy, probably just the third or fourth.
#1 – Pittsburgh Penguins
As expected, the flightless birds of the NHL are topping the list.
The two teams’ relationship has turned into pure hatred over the last half decade. Similarly to the Red Wings hatred, some of it is due to the close proximity to each other. Pittsburgh is just three hours away from Ohio’s capital so it’s common to see the fans travel to the opposing team’s arena for games.
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Pittsburgh is also a massive sports rival city for Ohio teams. Both the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals hate the Pittsburgh Steelers due to being divisional foes, while the Cincinnati Reds share a division with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In addition, Jackets’ alternate captain Brandon Dubinsky has long been a Penguins foe. When he played for the New York Rangers, Dubinsky was tasked with playing across Sidney Crosby. He did so with a very aggressive attitude, something he continued to do when he got traded to the Blue Jackets.
John Tortorella also doesn’t like the Penguins. After losing a game without Dubinsky, who had been rightfully suspended for a cross-check to Crosby’s neck, Torts voiced his displeasure of the team.
On top of all of this, the two teams have met in the playoffs twice. The Jackets have only made the postseason three times so two series is a lot, especially when you lose both.
Fortunately, the Jackets seem to be trending upward, and they will have to continue improving to catch up to the Pens. Coming off a second-straight Stanley Cup, Pittsburgh is definitely riding high. That intensifies the hatred.
Neither side wants each other to do well, and that’s the beauty of it.