From gameday routines to intermission concerts, everything will be a bit different in Ohio Stadium
For hockey players, routine is key.
To play at a consistently high level throughout a demanding 82-game schedule, players try to do the same things to get ready for each and every game. Many nap at the same time each gameday, leave for the rink at the same time, and some even eat the exact same meal before every game.
There’s some superstition involved, too, and it’s all about trying to maximize themselves to be ready to play each and every night.
Well, there’s no routine for what’s about to happen for the Blue Jackets tomorrow. At the Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series game, just about everything will be unique in the hours leading up to puck drop.
NHL STADIUM SERIES: Blue Jackets host Red Wings at Ohio Stadium | Fan guide to the NHL Stadium Series
Something as easy as finding your locker room stall will be different for the Blue Jackets, as CBJ captain Boone Jenner found out Monday when he was given a quick tour of Ohio Stadium.
“There’s so many of them,” Jenner said after seeing a locker room that normally houses more than 100 football players, not 20 hockey players. “I don’t know where I’m gonna sit. It’s a big room.”
That might sound trivial, but it helps illustrate the situation the Blue Jackets will encounter when they take on the Detroit Red Wings. Of course, everyone is more than excited for the spectacle of playing in front of more than 90,000 fans in the organization’s first-ever outdoor game, but there are challenges and experiences the players won’t face on a typical gameday.
There will be a buzz unlike any other when the Blue Jackets skate onto the rink at midfield for pregame ceremonies, and that brings along a whole host of emotions the team will have to handle. Again, it’s not a bad thing – it’s a great thing, in fact – but it is different.
To head coach Dean Evason, who has coached in two previous NHL outdoor games, the key is to enjoy the moment – at the right times.
“The experiences that I’ve had is that yes, when the game’s going on, as a coach you’re watching and as a player you’re just concentrating,” Evason said. “I think the timeouts is when you have the opportunity, when you’re sitting there and you look up and you see the stars. It’s incredible. That’s where you take it all in, enjoy it, look around for sure.
“But then, when it gets dropped again, let’s get after it.”
The average game doesn’t have a pregame flyover or an intermission concert, but as Evason said, when the puck is on the ice, it’ll still be hockey.
Though weather conditions are forecast to be about as perfect as can be for the ice, there may be an odd bounce or two on the temporary surface, and the teams may have to play a bit simpler just because of the unique conditions and lighting. But at the end of the day it’s still the sport they play on a daily basis, and Evason said he won’t be making any major strategic changes to the CBJ game plan to account for playing outdoors.
Perhaps the biggest difference will be with the atmosphere. First, unlike in an NHL arena, fans will be a distance away from the rink, which is situated at the 50-yard line of the much bigger gridiron surface.
And then, of course, there’s a lot more of them. The largest attendance for a regular-season game at Nationwide Arena in franchise history is the overflow crowd of 19,434 that packed the rink March 5, 2022, for the retirement of Rick Nash’s No. 61 jersey. There will be more than four times that in Ohio Stadium, with the NHL confirming more than 90,000 tickets have been sold.
“For myself, I think playing in front of this many people, it’s probably the first time and maybe the only time ever you get this many fans in the stands of a game,” Jenner said. “The most has probably been maybe Montreal (with) 21,000, but quadruple that and you’re at 100,000 in here. That’ll be a cool experience for us and myself.
“I haven’t been part of any outdoor games, so just trying to soak it in and hopefully it’ll be a highlight of my career playing in one of these.”
Considering this is also a heavily anticipated celebration of the sport, players will also have plenty of friends and family on hand. Blue Jackets center Sean Kuraly has played in two previous outdoor games, and he noted that all of the festivities that are involved seem like they could be distractions but can actually help players focus on the task at hand.
“I think the biggest advice I’ve gotten from guys that have come before me is just keeping it simple,” Kuraly said. “You’ve got tickets, you’ve got people in town, you’ve got people at your house. There’s a lot of different things that are beyond this game, but the nice thing is when you go between the gates and step on the ice, it’s just a regular hockey game.”
Considering the Blue Jackets moved into a tie for the top wild card spot with the Red Wings with Thursday’s win, it’s an important hockey game as well. And of all the lessons Evason has learned from his previous two forays into outdoor hockey, focus remains important because the scoreboard might determine just how memorable an experience it will be.
“I’ve been involved in one where our team has won and one where a team has lost,” Evason said. “I can guarantee you the one that we won was a lot better. The experience is great, but your memories are a lot happier after a win.”
