Posted October 13, 201410 yr Columbus is hosting the 2015 NHL All-Star Game Weekend on January 24-25, 2015. The weekend will include the NHL All-Star Skills Competition and the All-Star Game in Nationwide Arena. More information about this at http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=689704 The Jackets Cannon - my go-to CBJ website, other than http://bluejackets.nhl.com/ - produced a hockey fan's guide to Columbus and the Arena District at http://www.jacketscannon.com/2014/10/6/6912093/your-2015-nhl-all-star-game-guide Columbus was originally scheduled to hold the 2013 All-Star Game. However that game was a causality of the player lockout by the owners that delayed the start of that season. In a way, it's almost better that Columbus is hosting the 2015 instead of the 2013 All-Star Game. On the ice - this season's 2014-15 team is alot better then the 2011-12 team that led into the 2013 season. So more Blue Jackets will likely be picked for this 2015 version of the All-Star Game. Off the ice - two prominent areas around Nationwide Arena have been developed since 2013. Below is a photo taken from the Nationwide HQ Tower looking toward Nationwide Arena and the Arena District. The L-shaped building at the bottom of the photo is an office building built by Nationwide Insurance that opened in early 2013. The former parking lot immediately west of the Arena (near the top left in the photo) has also been developed. The Columbia Gas HQ Building is opening this month. In 2013, an apartment building and parking garage also opened on this site.
October 13, 201410 yr Pretty cool that Ohio will be hosting two of the four professional All-Star games in 2015. "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
October 14, 201410 yr ^ And if you count the "sport" of politics, Cleveland in 2016. Who says nobody notices Ohio.
November 6, 201410 yr NHL exec on All-Star Game prep, Winter Classic at Ohio Stadium By Evan Weese, Staff Reporter Columbus Business First - Oct. 30, 2014, 5:13pm EDT National Hockey League executives were in Columbus to iron out details of the 2015 NHL All-Star Game less than 90 days ahead of festivities at Nationwide Arena. Don Renzulli, the league's executive vice president of events, said the groundwork included an arena walk-through for broadcasters to show how cameras can be set up. There's plenty of intricate planning that goes into the entire All-Star celebration that starts January 23 with the NHL Fan Fair, followed by the skills competition January 24 and finally the 60th annual All-Star Game on January 25. MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2014/10/nhl-exec-on-all-star-game-prep-winter-classic-at.html
December 15, 201410 yr Mayor Michael Coleman and Blue Jackets team executives announced last week that an outdoor Winter Park will be part of the run-up to the NHL All-Star Game to be held on January 25 in Nationwide Arena. The All-Star Winter Park will be anchored by an NHL-size outdoor skating rink at McFerson Commons park across from Nationwide Arena and a 34-foot-high snow slide along Nationwide Boulevard. These activities will run January 16 through All-Star weekend on January 24-25. More information on the Winter Park is available at http://bluejackets.nhl.com/club/microhome.htm?location=/allstar2015 and also at http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2014/12/09/arena-district-to-be-turned-into-winter-wonderland.html
December 16, 201410 yr Love the logo. Too bad there isn't an actual train station for people to arrive in...*CRIES* "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 7, 201510 yr The NHL-size outdoor skating rink is going up at McFerson Commons park. Two views from http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2015/01/arena-district-ice-rink-taking-shape-ahead-of-all.html. The first is a daytime view looking eastward toward the ice surface from West Street: The second is a night-time view looking southward from McFerson Commons after the recent snowfall: More photos at http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2015/01/arena-district-ice-rink-taking-shape-ahead-of-all.html
January 16, 201510 yr The All-Star Winter Park outdoor skating rink is now open: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2015/01/arena-district-ice-rink-ready-for-skaters-photos.html http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2015/01/16/rink-build-arena-district.html http://bluejackets.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=103124
January 16, 201510 yr Nick Foligno, Ryan Johansen, and Sergei Bobrovsky will be representing the Blue Jackets in the upcoming All-Star Game to be played on January 25th: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/1/10/7526181/3-blue-jackets-named-to-2015-nhl-all-star-game-roster/in/7282062 Even better CBJ All-Star news: Nick Foligno has been named captain of the home team - now known as Team Foligno - for the upcoming NHL All Star Game. Chicago Blackhawks Jonathan Toews will captain the other squad. http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/1/14/7546581/nick-foligno-named-captain-of-home-team-at-2015-nhl-all-star-game
January 16, 201510 yr This is right outside my office. The rink looks amazing. Hoping it might lead to an annual outdoor rink.
January 17, 201510 yr This is right outside my office. The rink looks amazing. Hoping it might lead to an annual outdoor rink. I've heard others say the same thing. Especially about the possibility of doing this every winter. However, I'd be surprised if the Blue Jackets/Arena District did this. The temporary outdoor rink took alot of effort and expense to construct. But for the NHL All-Star Game, it likely wouldn't make financial sense to build. Columbus once did have an all-year outdoor rink - The Centrum - on the pre-City Center Mall site downtown. But putting an all-year rink at McFerson Commons would interfere with the summer festivals held there (Jazz & Rib Fest, Columbus Marathon). Although a rink at Huntington Park, as part of an outdoor winterfest, might be doable.
January 17, 201510 yr Don't forget about Skate on State; that was a temporary rink that they set up and tore down for years.
January 17, 201510 yr Don't forget about Skate on State; that was a temporary rink that they set up and tore down for years. You're right. For a few years in the early 2000's (maybe 2 or 3 years?), the Downtown SID sponsored that "winterfest" on State Street next to the Statehouse. It got discontinued because it lost too much money. Although renting that ferris wheel (no joke!) for the first year probably didn't help!
January 19, 201510 yr Above is the new splash page for the CBJ website. It lists the four main parts of the upcoming NHL All-Star Weekend: - All-Star Winter Park: The NHL-size outdoor skating rink is already up and running at McFerson Commons park. A 34-foot-high snow slide is in the process of being built on Nationwide Boulevard next to Nationwide Arena and should be finished by Wednesday. - Fan Fair: The Fan Fair runs Friday, January 23 thru Sunday, January 25 at the Convention Center. Lots of activities for the kids. All 30 of the NHL mascots will be there! Lots of stuff for the hard-core hockey fans. Get your photo taken with the Stanley Cup! Too much else to list. More information about the Fan Fair at http://bluejackets.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=101245 and at http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=749384 - Plus the All-Star Fantasy Draft will be held at the Fan Fair on Friday, Jan. 23 and televised on NBCSN at 8 p.m. ET live from the Convention Center. This draft will choose the rosters of Team Foligno and Team Toews for Sunday's All-Star Game. The home team's captain CBJ Nick Foligno and his alternate captains will choose from the pool of 42 All-Stars and six rookies. Then away team's captain Jonathan Toews and his alternate captains (which includes former CBJ Rick Nash) will choose from the player pool until the two rosters are filled. - All-Star Skills Competition: Once the team rosters are set for the All-Star Game, fans will turn their attention to the highly-anticipated Skills Competition. The Skills Competition will take place on Saturday, Jan. 24 at Nationwide Arena. Both Team Foligno and Team Toews must select a representative from their rosters to participate in each of the following six events: Fastest Skater; Breakaway Challenge; Accuracy Shooting; Skills Challenge Relay; Hardest Shot and Elimination Shot. The NHL All-Star Skills Competition will be televised on NBCSN at 7 p.m. ET live from Nationwide Arena. - All-Star Game: And then, of course, there is the All-Star Game itself. The NHL All-Star Game will take place on Sunday, Jan. 25 and will be televised on NBCSN at 5 p.m. ET live from Nationwide Arena. Power-pop band Locksley will perform "The Whip," its hit single and the Columbus Blue Jackets goal celebration song during the NHL All-Star player introductions. Fall Out Boy will perform during the first intermission (just when I thought I'd gotten their "Centuries" song out of my head from ESPN's CFB coverage!). O.A.R. (made up of OSU alumni) will perform during the second intermission.
January 22, 201510 yr Here’s the schedule of NHL All-Star Game festivities: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2015/01/here-s-the-schedule-of-nhl-all-star-game.html
January 23, 201510 yr The 34-foot-high snow slide is now up on Nationwide Boulevard: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/print-edition/2015/01/23/1b-arena-district-getting-its-close-up-during-nhl.html
January 24, 201510 yr The Jackets Cannon fansite has become my go-to site for most CBJ information. Its also becoming a fine site for ASG information as well. Here's the site index for their continuing All-Star coverage, their first wrap-up and a primer on tonight's skills competition: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/1/8/7518021/2015-nhl-all-star-game-coverage http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/1/23/7877011/and-so-it-begins-the-nhl-all-star-experience-in-columbus-part-i/in/7282062 http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/1/24/7882621/nhl-all-star-skills-competition-2015-online-streaming-events-time-tv-schedule/in/7282062
January 24, 201510 yr Here are the results from last night's All-Star Draft to choose the two team rosters for Sunday's All-Star Game: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/1/23/7880615/2015-nhl-all-star-draft-results-foligno-takes-johansen-with-first-pick/in/7282062 The previous two ASG drafts produced some awkward moments, what with one legit star player getting chosen last, like he was the worst athlete in some middle school playground game. In the second ASG draft they added the "sweetner" of a new car to the last-picked player. But a brand new KIA being awarded to a multi-million dollar NHL'er seemed kinda insulting. So this year, Alex Ovechkin made fun of that and stole the draft show with his "I want to be drafted last" antics: http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/1/24/7881047/alex-ovechkin-had-more-fun-than-anyone-at-the-fantasy-draft/in/7282062 --- Ovechkin (whose salary this year is $10million) made a sign that said "I want to be last, I need a car"! (And no, I don't know why the image is backwards): But this year, they had fans choose the final player from the last two unpicked players via twitter vote. It turned out to be rookie Filip Forsberg from Nashville (who is having a great year BTW). But in a surprise twist, both of the final two players received a new car - a 2015 Honda Accord. --- Ovechkin was not one of the final two because his ended up getting choosen third from last, missing out on his wish of getting a new car! When the new cars were awarded, Ove was seen shaking his head in the background!
January 27, 201510 yr Some pics of the All-Star 5K held Saturday morning from http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/nhl-2015-all-star-game-in-columbus/page/2: Looking east on Nationwide Blvd. (compare w/ similar view upthread) Looking west on Nationwide Blvd.
January 27, 201510 yr On Saturday night, the best part of the All-Star Weekend (IMO) was held in Nationwide Arena: The Skills Competition http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/1/24/7885631/2015-nhl-all-star-skills-competition-results/in/7282062 It's fun to see all 30 NHL team jerseys on the ice at the same time. Team Foligno's roster in their home jerseys. Team Toews' roster in their road jerseys: Team Foligno won the overall competition. And you can get all the info on who won which individual event at the above link. But it was the Columbus Blue Jackets Ryan Johansen who stole the show in winning the Breakaway Challenge (aka, the trick shot event). Each participant got three shots. For his first shot, RyJo started to take the puck toward the net, then stopped, pulled his CBJ jersey off, revealing an OSU football jersey (Braxton Miller's #5) then drove toward the right post, did the hockey version of a Moon Walk, reversing direction and putting a wrister in the net. There's a Vine-video of it at http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/1/24/7885887/ryan-johansen-revealed-an-ohio-state-jersey-under-his-cbj-jersey/in/7282062 In the next round, he similarly started his approach, stopped, discarded gloves and stick, and went back to his bench to retrieve Cole Vogt, the young son of Blue Jackets' trainer Mike Vogt. Carrying him to the goal, Cole put stick on puck and found the back of the net. (Jake Voracek later imitated the move, but instead grabbed 18-year-old Johnny Gaudreau - the youngest player at the ASG). In the final round, Johansen did a "Flying V" attempt (an homage to the Mighty Ducks movie). He earned a whopping 44.3% of the fan vote to win the event:
January 27, 201510 yr Then on Sunday night came the reason for the entire weekend: The 60th All-Star Game If you've ever wondered what hockey would look like without all that hitting and defense - you saw it during this game. 29 goals, 96 shots-on-goal, zero hits and zero penalties(!) But the All-Star Game was all for fun as Team Toews won 17-12 http://www.jacketscannon.com/2015/1/25/7890453/2015-nhl-all-star-game-final-score-team-toews-17-team-foligno-12/in/7282062
January 27, 201510 yr The only negative for the ASG weekend? Our goal cannon apparently scared the freak out of the visitors: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/columbus-cannon-causes-havoc-during-2015-nhl-all-star-game-024541389.html
January 27, 201510 yr All-in-all; a great weekend for the NHL, CBJ, Arena District and C-BUS: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/morning_call/2015/01/morning-roundup-columbus-shines-during-all-star.html http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2015/01/26/all-star-finale.html HAPPY HOCKEY FROM COLUMBUS!!!
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