Columbus Blue Jackets
For current information on this top-
ic, see 2008–09 Columbus Blue Jack-
ets season.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Conference
Western
Division
Central
Founded
2000
History
Columbus Blue Jackets
2000–present
Home arena
Nationwide Arena
City
Columbus, Ohio
Colors
Goal red, capital silver,
union blue, white
Media
FSN Ohio
WWCD (101.1 FM)
WBNS (1460 AM)
Owner(s)
JMAC Hockey LLC
General manager
Scott Howson
Head coach
Ken Hitchcock
Captain
Rick Nash
Minor league
affiliates
Syracuse Crunch (AHL)
Johnstown Chiefs (ECHL)
Youngstown SteelHounds
(CHL)
Stanley Cups
None
Conference
championships
None
Division
championships
None
The Columbus Blue Jackets are a profes-
sional ice hockey team based in Columbus,
Ohio, United States. They are members of the
Central Division of the Western Conference
of the National Hockey League (NHL). Pre-
ceded in Ohio’s capital by the Columbus Chill
of the ECHL, the Blue Jackets were founded
as an expansion team in 2000.[1] The team
qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the
first time in 2009.[2]
The Blue Jackets’ name and logos are
rooted in Ohio’s rich Civil War history. Rick
Nash, David Vyborny, Ray Whitney, Fredrik
Modin, Steve Mason, Geoff Sanderson, R. J.
Umberger and Sergei Fedorov are some of
the prominent NHL figures to have donned a
Columbus sweater. Ken Hitchcock has been
their coach since late 2006, and current gen-
eral manager Scott Howson started in 2007.
The Blue Jackets play their home games in
downtown Columbus at Nationwide Arena,
which opened in 2000.
Franchise history
1997–2000: Building a new
franchise
After the Cleveland Barons left in 1978,
Ohio’s hockey fans had to wait 22 years to
host another NHL team. Columbus entered
an expansion bid in 1997, along with several
other cities.[3] The voters of Columbus were
considering a referendum to build a publicly
financed arena, a major step toward approval
of their NHL bid.[4] When League Commis-
sioner Gary Bettman visited Columbus to
meet with the community’s leaders about the
franchise proposal, there was