Blue Jackets ready to celebrate the legacy of Rick Nash

In sports, with great ability comes great expectations.
And for those in the game, they have seen how difficult it can be to live up to those.
Such was the situation for Rick Nash when the Blue Jackets moved up to select him No. 1 overall in the 2002 NHL draft. General manager Doug MacLean saw his chance to get a bona fide superstar and took it, moving up from the third pick to first overall to draft the big, skilled London Knights forward.

He went to a franchise that was two seasons into its existence and still trying to establish itself. And with that in mind, there certainly were great expectations.
"He's a No. 1 overall pick, right? So there is a huge burden on being a No. 1 pick," said current CBJ coach Brad Larsen, who was playing with Colorado at the time. "You come in and everyone is expecting you to set the world on fire, and sometimes it's hard. It's a hard league."
Yet, so often, Nash made it look easy. He scored a goal in his first NHL game and never looked back, finishing third in the rookie of the year voting at 18 years old. The next season, he scored 41 goals, tying for the league lead and announcing himself as a force to be reckoned with.
He ended up skating in 674 games over nine seasons with the Blue Jackets and set just about every record you could with the franchise. His 289 goals, 258 assists and 547 points all remain CBJ records -- in fact, despite the great players to follow, no one is particularly close to any of them - and while the team success was fleeting over the years, Nash still led the Blue Jackets to the first playoff appearance in franchise history.
As Larsen said, "When you thought of the Blue Jackets, you thought of Rick Nash."
In every way, he delivered.
"What can you say?" Bill Davidge, who served as an analyst for the team's radio and television broadcasts during Nash's tenure, said when Nash announced his retirement. "He comes into a situation where he had to be a star, and he was a star. He had that inner desire. You could tell he was a scorer and you could tell he was a hockey player. You have guys who can skate and everything else, but they lack something. Rick had the greatest hands, he had the greatest compete, he had the size. He could be any player you wanted him to be."
And now, Nash will make another type of history with the Blue Jackets. Before the Blue Jackets' game vs. Boston on Saturday, his No. 61 will be raised to the rafters, making him the first player in franchise history to have his number permanently retired.
READ MORE: Revisit Nash's career, share your memories, buy tickets and more at CBJ61.com
Nash, now the organization's director of player development, was notified via a surprise announcement in the team's locker room back in November. Now, four months later, a celebration the likes of which the franchise has never seen is in the offing.
"I never really like to be the center of attention, so it was full of mixed emotions, and shock was probably the first one," he said of finding out back in November. "I even watched the video, watched myself get surprised and just be totally in shock and not let it sink in at the time."

Everything likely won't fully sink in until the end of the ceremony, which will feature many of the players he skated with during his time in Columbus as well as those around the team when he was on the squad. But one person who won't be able to join will likely be at the forefront of Nash's mind as the event goes on.
The one name that does permanently hang in the rafters already is that of John H. McConnell, the founder, majority owner, chairman and governor of the Blue Jackets who embraced Nash as the cornerstone of the CBJ franchise.
McConnell passed away in April 2008, and Nash often talks about how his proudest moment as a Blue Jacket came nearly a year later when -- during a season dedicated to the man known as Mr. Mac -- Nash scored the goal that clinched the Jackets' first playoff appearance.
"I think the first thing that came to mind when I thought about my number being retired was I'm going to be up there besides Mr. Mac's initials," Nash said. "I was like, 'Wow, if there's someone to have as a mentor or someone to try to live your life by their values, I think it's Mr. Mac.' So that came to mind first, what Mr. Mac meant to this city. You see his name all around town and you see how much he's done for the community and how much his family still continues to do and bring a professional sports team here."
Of course, there was no guarantee that Nash's story would have such an ending. After six seasons, he was traded to New York in a trade that ended up jumpstarting the most successful era in team history, and his initial returns with the Rangers were spirited affairs to say the least.
He would go on to play with and finish his career in Boston before his career ended following the 2017-18 season because of health issues. Nash finished with 1,060 NHL games played, with 437 goals and 805 points on his NHL resume.
Had Nash been able to continue his career, it wouldn't have been a huge surprise had he ended up back with the Blue Jackets, but shortly after his on-ice retirement, he joined the team's front office. This summer, he was promoted to oversee player development, and he and his family -- including his wife Jessica, sons McLaren and Finn, and daughter Ellie -- have returned to what is now home in Central Ohio.
"I am very happy that I got to see another organization and to go play for an Original Six team, but in saying that, I always felt like I was a Blue Jacket, you know?" Nash said. "I feel like me and my family invested so much in this city and the Blue Jackets, and the McConnell family invested so much in me that it always felt that I was a Blue Jacket.
"This is where I signed all my contracts -- I never signed with another team. So did I envision the number going up? Probably not, but the way that everything worked out, I think it was pretty amazing. I feel pretty lucky to have it."
Nash's impact on the franchise and the Columbus hockey community are indelible, and everything has come full circle on his life and his career. And come Saturday night, a player who has done perhaps more for the Blue Jackets will have his rightful place in the Nationwide Arena rafters.
"I think that's the biggest thing that came to mind -- it's the perfect end to the chapter," Nash said. "Of the emotions I felt (during the announcement), humbled was first. I'm so humbled to think that my number will be up in the rafters forever beside Mr. Mac. It's incredible. It's tough for me to put into words what it means."