Kelly Patterson didn't know whose jersey she would get Saturday night, but looking back, she probably could have predicted it.
A Blue Jackets season ticket holder for nearly two decades, Patterson was one of the winners of the team's "Jersey Off Our Backs" promotion following Saturday night's 5th Line Celebration Night game.
When she stepped onto the Nationwide Arena ice and picked the card that had her player on it, Patterson received the signed jersey of Lane Pederson.
Blue Jackets fans excited to win player jerseys off their backs
For one longtime member of the 5th Line, being part of it was a highlight of years of fandom
Patterson. Pederson.
"It must have been meant to be for the play on words, right?" she said afterward with a laugh.
For Patterson, it likely didn't matter whose jersey she got as long as she was a winner. She's been a dedicated fan through thick and thin, and for years, she thought it would be pretty cool to take part in one of the team's time-honored end-of-season traditions.
"I would always wonder about those lucky people that got to go down on the ice and get the jersey right there off their backs," she said. "It's very exciting to be one of those people. I think I went a little crazy out there."
Right now, just being in Nationwide Arena is a victory for Patterson. The resident of suburban Columbus hasn't been able to make it to many games this season because last fall, she was diagnosed with colon cancer.
While she was going through treatments, she made sure her tickets went to good use, but she's been quite excited to feel healthy enough to return to Nationwide Arena in recent weeks.
"I think I said it to my friends today that this is my second home, so it just feels good to be here," Patterson said. "Even if we don't have the score that we want, because I have not been able to come to many of the games this season, just to be here, it puts the situation that I went through at the end of last year and the beginning of this year more in the past. Now I feel like I'm back into my normal routine and being with my friends and cheering for the team."
It also means a lot because Patterson has developed a group of friends in her corner of the arena that have stood the test of time.
"We've watched the team grow and change," she said. "The kids that are there that used to be in grade school have now graduated college. It's been fun because it's a sense of community."
Patterson's introduction to the sport came growing up in the Toledo area, as her father was a fan of the Detroit Red Wings. Before she even saw the game on television or in person, some of her earliest memories include being in the car and being transfixed by the play-by-play on the radio.
She eventually moved to Columbus in the mid-1990s and went to some Columbus Chill games, but her excitement reached another level when it was announced an NHL team would be coming to Columbus. It took some time for her to convert fully to the Blue Jackets -- she was quite excited when the team acquired Detroit legend Sergei Fedorov -- but it's happened.
One thing that is also now important to Patterson is that she's been able to return the favor of hockey fandom to her father.
"My dad was the one that got me into hockey, so to bring him to some of the games, it's been nice -- even though he's still a Red Wings fan," she said. "We have fun razzing each other during the games."
Some of the highlights of her years of being a season ticket holder include the Game 4 victory over Pittsburgh back in 2014, when Nick Foligno's overtime goal gave the Blue Jackets their first postseason victory in Nationwide Arena, as well as the sweep of Tampa Bay in the 2019 playoffs.
"The goal in the playoffs (vs. Pittsburgh) when we won the fourth game, I cried," she said. "My friend and I were jumping up and down and crying. Of course, Tampa Bay, wiping them out in four is one of the highlights to me for sure. Again, tears, right? Those games were just beautiful."
Despite the tough season for the Blue Jackets, Patterson said she remains proud of the team and expects big things in the future. She'll hope Pederson is part of it now that she has the jersey off his back, even if he wasn't able to take part in last night's game because of injury.
"I don't know much about him," she said of a player the Blue Jackets acquired in January. "I did say to him, 'I'm sure you would rather be here on the ice,' and he said, 'Absolutely.' I'm looking forward to seeing more of him."
And if there was one benefit to Pederson's unfortunate injury, it's that the jersey she received Saturday night won't require cleaning, as hockey sweaters tend to live up to the name and get quite drenched during games.
"I can frame it and not have to worry about it steaming up the glass," she said with a laugh.
