Columbus Blue Jackets leaning on each other to start NHL season: 'They’ll stick together'

SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Dean Evason expected to find a mess as the Blue Jackets’ new head coach .

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After two miserable seasons during which Columbus combined for a 91-52-21 record, a glut of injuries , a coaching controversy that led to Mike Babcock’s resignation and a regime change in the front office , Evason naturally had concerns. And that was before the team's togetherness was tested in horrific fashion on Aug. 29 when Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, were killed while riding bikes together.

With the 2024-25 season underway, however, Evason is convinced the bond his players share is one of the club's greatest strengths.

“I think this group was tight already,” Evason said. “A lot of people have talked about, ‘Oh, we’ve got to change the culture in Columbus,’ and this and that. I come into a situation where these guys are close knit already, and I think it’s a huge credit to our leadership group, starting with Boone (Jenner), who’s just a quality human being.”

Jenner, the Blue Jackets’ captain, is also scheduled to meet with a specialist Thursday to determine if surgery is needed to repair an apparent shoulder injury that happened last week in a practice. Combine that with the fact that Dmitri Voronkov is out until at least late November (also an apparent shoulder injury), and the Blue Jackets are circling the wagons again. Out of respect for Gaudreau and his family, they’re trying to keep the devastation of losing him separate from their frustration about hockey injuries, but it’s a difficult task.

The Blue Jackets are playing for the Gaudreaus, keeping the family in their hearts and a No. 13 jersey in their locker room, but they’re also playing for each other. It’s almost unfathomable that a grieving team is starting its season just six weeks after a tragedy that gutted them, but the NHL’s schedule is unyielding.

All the Blue Jackets can do is lean on each other, be present and do something that always made Gaudreau happy. Lace up their skates, head to the rink and play.

“We don’t really have an option but to be there for each other,” center Sean Kuraly said. “I think all you see is just, ‘Listen, we need each other. We need to support each other.’ And that’s our only way forward, right? How we can we honor John is just ... do it right. That’s all we’re trying to do."

Together.

“We don’t need to be feeling sorry for ourselves (because of injuries) before Game 1 even starts, but we’ve got to stick together,” Kuraly said. “We’ve got 23 guys, and we’re just going to have to stick together. We need each other. We need each other bigtime, and I think we will stick together. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

They’re also looking out for each other.

Evason’s teams tend to play with a hard-edged style built upon maximum effort, intensity, physicality and responding to confrontations as one big ornery group. Those are qualities the Blue Jackets haven’t always displayed in recent seasons, but they will now.

“We’re together,” Evason said. “That’s a tight group. They’ll be even tighter. They’ll stick together. They’ve got each other’s backs. That’s the type of thought process, the type of attitude that I want in a team and our coaching staff wants in a team, but I think most importantly ... that’s what the team wants.”

The Jackets are also supporting each other off the ice. Gaudreau’s death was a stinging loss for the entire hockey community, but especially at Nationwide Arena. He’s missed every day, but the Blue Jackets' shared memories are helping them start a healing process.

“Everybody walks in here with a smile on their face lately, and we’ve just appreciated being around each other,” defenseman Erik Gudbranson said. “At the end of the day, we’re just ... we miss our boy, and I can’t stop thinking about their family. It doesn’t make it easier, but it helps to come in here. I have really appreciated this training camp on a personal level, because just being here and being able to play helps.”

bhedger@dispatch.com

@BrianHedger

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets leaning on each other to start NHL season: 'They’ll stick together'