Postcard: Columbus, Ohio

COLUMBUS -- As Team USA took its team picture Thursday at Nationwide Arena, Cory Vail stood in the stands holding his 3-year-old son, Jack. They had come to watch an open practice on the fourth day of training camp for the World Cup of Hockey 2016. Jack had come dressed as Superman.
"These are superheroes!" Jack shouted.
"These are hockey superheroes," Cory said with a smile.
"They're better than me," Jack said.

"Yes, they're better than you at hockey," Cory said. "They're also better than Daddy at hockey."
Not long ago, the only hockey superheroes in Columbus were imaginary.
As recently as the 1990s, Columbus was a minor-league town in terms of professional sports. It had a small group of hockey fans who rooted for Ohio State University, the Chill of the ECHL or some NHL team in another city. An abandoned prison crumbled on West Spring Street.
"Some people were Pittsburgh fans, some people were Chicago fans, but it wasn't a big thing in Columbus," Vail said. "I jumped on the Avalanche train there for a couple years when they were really good. … But I was in my teens, so it was just kind of like, 'This is cool. I like the Avalanche jersey. I'm going to root for the Avalanche.'"

Today, Columbus has the Blue Jackets in the NHL, and it has a growing group of hockey fans. The prison has been replaced not only by a beautiful arena, but by the Arena District -- bars, restaurants, offices, homes, hotels, brick streets for pedestrians -- a model of urban renewal other cities hope to emulate.
It is a distinctly American city in the heart of the Midwest with a distinctly American mix. Right outside the rink, you can eat Italian and Brazilian and Mexican food and more, and you can drink an Irish adult beverage and a Tim Hortons coffee. Inside the rink, you can watch players from all over North America and Europe play hockey during the NHL season.
Nationwide Arena hosted the NHL All-Star Game in 2015, and now it is hosting a Team USA World Cup training camp for the second time.
The stands were nearly full at the Ice Haus, the practice rink attached to Nationwide Arena, on Thursday. There were a few people in Blackhawks and Penguins gear, not to mention other NHL teams, but there were lots of people in Blue Jackets and Team USA gear. The Blue Jackets have created new hockey fans and made casual hockey fans, like Vail, more interested in and attached to the game.
"Definitely," Vail said.
And for fans like Jack growing up in Columbus, the hockey superheroes aren't imaginary. They're real.