Blue Jackets share their outdoor game memories

Dean Evason has been lucky enough to stand behind the bench for two outdoor NHL games, including as Minnesota’s head coach Jan. 1, 2022, when the Wild hosted St. Louis at Target Field.

In his words, it was “the most awesome miserable experience I’ve ever had.”

Awesome because every NHL outdoor game is exactly that, a celebration of the game as it returns to its natural roots underneath the open sky.

Miserable because, well, we’ll let Evason tell you.

“It was frickin’ freezing,” Evason said with a hearty laugh. “It was amazingly cold.”

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Indeed, with a game-time temperature of minus-5.7 degrees Fahrenheit, it was the coldest outdoor game of the 42 the NHL has staged since it started to take the game outdoors on Nov. 22, 2003, for the Heritage Classic in Edmonton. (It also didn’t help that St. Louis beat the Wild by a 6-4 score on that night.)

The good news for Evason? Forecasts in Columbus for the NHL’s 43rd outdoor game – set for Saturday in Ohio Stadium when the Blue Jackets host the Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series vs. Detroit – call for high temps in the mid-40s, cooling off into the 30s once the game faces off at 6 p.m.

It should be a perfect setting for a historic moment for the Blue Jackets and hockey in Columbus, with the first outdoor game in franchise history taking place in one of the most iconic venues in sports. And it’s something Evason, having been there before, wants his team and the community to enjoy.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Evason said. “It’s exciting. I’ve been fortunate, I’ve been through a couple now, and I just really want to embrace it, I want the guys to embrace it. Of course we’re not going to forget about the end result is the two points that night, but embrace everything that goes with it and the excitement level and this stadium and being outside and families being there – enjoy all of it, and then when the puck is dropped, play hard.”

While Evason has been involved in two previous outdoor NHL games – he was an assistant in Washington for the 2011 Winter Classic in Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field – a handful of Blue Jackets players also have been lucky enough to take part as well. Forward James van Riemsdyk is the NHL’s dean of outdoor games, as he’s skated in a league-record seven previous events, while active players Zach Aston-Reese, Dante Fabbro, Jack Johnson, Sean Kuraly and Ivan Provorov have also done so.

“It’s kind of a little bit of luck when you look at it,” van Riemsdyk said of his record. “I think I came into the league at the right time when it started to be an every year sort of occurrence. And playing in some markets that seem to get a lot of them, that doesn’t hurt your chances to play in a lot, too.

“There’s really unique in their own way, but ultimately getting a chance to share it with a lot of the people that helped you along the way in your journey and have time to spend with them, I think that’s what makes it fun for me. It always makes it uniquely special.”

Indeed, many of the players who have taken part in previous outdoor games have said that while the game itself certainly stands out, what they’ll remember most is sharing such a special moment with family and friends. After the Blue Jackets practice at Ohio Stadium for the first time Friday afternoon, they’ll have time to invite those close to them on the ice for a skate.

“It’s a cool kind of event for everyone, and I know they do a great job with the families,” Fabbro said. “It gives them a little peek into what our day-to-day lives are like on a little bit of a bigger stage, but I think everyone’s family is super excited to be here and proud to be here. I think it’s just another way to give back to them a little bit and get to spend some time with them.”

Fabbro is also lucky enough to have scored a goal in an outdoor game, tallying in the 2020 Winter Classic between Nashville and Dallas in front of more than 85,000 fans at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

“It was definitely a special moment for sure,” Fabbro said. “Honestly, I scored and I blacked out. I didn’t know what I was doing, celebrating or whatever. I think looking back on it, I’ve obviously rewatched it, and getting to see that kind of reaction and stuff like that, you giggle at it and have a good laugh.”

Given that he’s played in seven previous outdoor games, van Riemsdyk has had his fair share of success as well, notching three goals and three assists. As you might imagine, though, there are other things that stand out.

“First and foremost, I would say the first one was my first year (2010) at Fenway Park – that was one really memorable,” van Riemsdyk said. “Then the one in Ann Arbor (2014) was super memorable. I found out I made the Olympic team that day and they announced it after the game. We actually won that game in a shootout, too, which was really cool. The Naval Academy one (in 2018), that one was great. Lake Tahoe (in 2021) you mentioned.

“Jeez, they’re really unique in their own way. I’m probably forgetting a couple of them in there, but they’re always a lot of fun. They’re always something I look forward to playing in.”

For Provorov, some of the things he remembers most are the conditions, including playing in the rain in the 2019 Stadium Series vs. Pittsburgh and dealing with blinding sun at the Lake Tahoe game in 2021.

“You’d skate out there for 10 seconds and you’d have so many raindrops on your visor,” he said of the Stadium Series game. “You’re like ‘Holy (cow)!’ (In Lake Tahoe), it was like the sunset, so in the first period, you were fine going one way, but then the other way the sun was blinding you the whole way. You couldn’t see anything. Eye black didn’t help. It’s mostly for the lights, so I should have just had sunglasses on.”

All of the players who have taken part praised the NHL for the way they tailor the events to the cities involved, and for this one, that will include embracing the Columbus surroundings. Two prominent bands with Central Ohio ties have already been introduced as entertainment – O.A.R. will play the pregame pep rally at St. John Arena on Saturday at 2:30 p.m., while Twenty One Pilots will perform during intermission – and plenty of Ohio State ties are expected as well.

Not only is the century-old Ohio Stadium one of the most historic and easily recognizable venues in sports, it’s the home of the reigning College Football Playoff champions in Ohio State. The school’s athletic band, students and traditions are expected to play a big part in the show as well.

It’s a lot going on, but Kuraly said the events surrounding the game can help the players focus on the task at hand.

“To me, it feels like such a big moment,” he said. “I think there’s not a risk of not taking it seriously. I think you just have to realize it’s just another game. There are some, I guess you could call them distractions, but those distractions all seem to narrow your focus and make it feel like more of a game.”

One aspect of this year’s game that is unique is that both teams are in the mix for the postseason, which makes the two points on the line extremely important for both. Detroit holds the first wild card spot with Columbus just two points behind, which means that when the puck drops, a lot will be on the line.

As van Riemsdyk said, “You look back on these things way more fondly if you win the game,” and Kuraly noted a victory can be a springboard for a team going forward.

“Weirdly, those games always feel like they carry more than two points for whatever reason,” Kuraly said. “I don’t know if it’s because there’s more eyeballs on it or a little more attention. It’s just one regular season game, but for whatever reason, those games feel like they can carry you thought a little bit longer stretch than just one game.”

When it’s all said and done, though, the memories that will be made Saturday will likely last a lifetime.

“I still have all my jerseys from (my previous outdoor games), a bunch of photos and all the equipment I played with in all those games,” Fabbro said. “It’s cool to keep those as memorabilia, and I think 10 or 15 years down the road, you get to look back and see all the stuff you used during these outdoor games and get to have that special moment and memory.”