Blue Jackets Vow to Push Forward This Season – Hockey Writers – Columbus Blue Jackets

The Columbus Blue Jackets are spending the week before the start of Training Camp in Buffalo at the Prospect’s Challenge. Although the Sabers’ final score of 3-1 did not win Game 1, one important thing did go their way.

The Blue Jackets are playing hockey again.

That’s about the best thing that could happen to them right now. After spending a few weeks trying to process everything that happened, the Blue Jackets are able to find some normalcy as they try to prepare for the 2024-25 season.

We Push Forward Together

We can talk about the game itself which saw Sabers star Jiri Kulich score in all three goals his team scored. We can talk about Nolan Lalonde playing admirably to keep his green jackets in the game for as long as possible.

The story of the night is what the Blue Jackets have vowed to do this season. Cleveland Monsters head coach Trent Vogelhuber runs the Prospect’s Challenge bench. He spoke after the game about the way the team should take it.

“Thinking about hockey a few weeks ago seems to be the last thing on your mind, right? But the truth is that they don’t postpone the first day for us,” said Vogelhuber. “These guys still have to be ready to go. We as workers and as an organization must still be ready to move forward and push forward.”

“So again, it’s just as tough a two-week period as I think an organization can be, but it’s a little bit of comfort and familiarity to be on the team and have these guys be together and be able to play hockey. You don’t forget (Johnny Gaudreau.) You go through it, but we go through it together. That’s all we can do.”

The Blue Jackets are putting the team first and doing everything they can together to get through this incredibly difficult situation. Gavin Brindley believes this approach will benefit everyone.

“I think it brings everyone closer to the hockey world and especially the guys in Columbus,” Brindley said. “I’ve been around for a while and I see all the lads and the teamwork and it’s good to see everyone and be around everyone’s company and around the locker room. Obviously, it was difficult but I think it brought the boys together. This is how you move forward.”

Building Deeper Relationships

Teammates who share the same lobby already have a special obligation. That relationship only grows in this situation for the Blue Jackets.

The entire coaching staff, Blue Jackets and Monsters, will work to promote the area as they continue to build that relationship. For Vogelhuber, this brings unity.

“You go through things like that together. And that’s something we talk about with our team,” said Vogelhuber. “It’s a five-day tournament, with three games, but some of these guys you’ll be playing with for a long time and hopefully in Columbus. And so you start meeting and building that relationship. That’s how you go through difficult things depending on each other. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish here this week.”

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The Blue Jackets play two more games in Buffalo before heading home to start Training Camp. By being in Buffalo and playing, the team has begun the process of building that deep relationship with each other.

Friday night began with a moment of silence for Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau. But when the hymns were sung, it was game time. For at least two hours, the Blue Jackets were back together doing what was normal for them. They played hockey together.

Don’t underestimate how important this move was to their progress this season.