Yesterday, we wrote about TJ Oshie and how he’s basically perfect. We didn’t know how right we were.
Friday morning, Oshie was interviewed by Aaron Portzline, the Columbus Blue Jackets beat writer for The Columbus Dispatch. Oshie had a strong opinion he wanted to share about the Blue Jackets’ cannon at Nationwide Arena.
T.J. Oshie on the #NationwideArena cannon: "It's the worst thing in hockey."
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) September 9, 2016
The cannon is shot off before the game and after every goal. It was brought in during the 2007-08 NHL season and the Jackets have used it ever since.
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“In August of 2007, we got the message that the team wanted a cannon,” said Mike Todd, who has served as the team’s in-game arena host since 2003. “It had been tossed back and forth if we should get it or not to match the Civil War theme, and eventually they decided to go ahead.”
Through an Internet search, a potential vendor was found. Todd and then-director of game operations Kimberly Kershaw packed their bags and headed to meet Chris Olson, who built cannons for Civil War reenactments, in Pontoon Beach, Ill., about fifteen miles northeast of St. Louis.
“We pull up to this place, it’s out of the way, off a gravel road and there’s an older gentleman who looked like a Civil War soldier himself,” Todd said. “He said, ‘Yeah, I build cannons and I’ve got one here if you want to take a look at it.'”
The cannon has become an iconic part of the Blue Jackets’ game-day experience since, which is cool I guess. But I’m with TJ. I would be fine if I never heard that thing ever again.
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