Steve Mayer, NHL President, speaks to the media at the press conference inside the ‘Shoe Wednesday. Credit: Garrison McDaniel | Senior Lantern Reporter
The Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings are set to face off March 1 in Ohio Stadium, a historic matchup that marks the Blue Jackets’ first time hosting an outdoor game.
NHL President Steve Mayer hosted a press conference Feb. 3 inside the ‘Shoe to discuss specific plans for the event, noting that this face-off marks not only the NHL’s 43rd outdoor game, but also the first time in the Stadium Series’ 25-year history that Columbus has been featured.
And the hype is certainly there, with just weeks until the game.
“We have an amazing plan, and we do think this is going to be one of, if not the greatest, outdoor game[s] that we’ve ever done,” Mayer said.
The Blue Jackets are currently in the midst of a season that has featured immense adversity, but they’ve still managed to position themselves in the heart of the Eastern Conference playoff race. Currently, Columbus sits only one win out of a wild-card playoff spot.
The Red Wings, on the other hand, currently occupy the top wild-card spot in the East as of Wednesday, which will make March’s battle that much more important.
“Even though they go from inside an arena to outside and they’re played on a different surface, in a different environment, they still are important,” Mayer said. “They’re worth points that could result in a team making the playoffs or being out of a playoff spot.”
As for the fan experience, the NHL has looked to Ohio State football culture as inspiration. Mayer said the league has attended football games in the ‘Shoe throughout the Buckeyes’ 2024 campaign and will implement some of Ohio State’s fan-favorite events.
“This is not just a one-day activity; it’s an event and our team is here to put on a fanfare,” Mayer said. “There is an event that goes on, that’s associated with the football team, that goes on in St. John Arena before the game. We’re going to replicate that in many ways.”
The event will feature Ohio State’s legendary Skull Session, and the NHL will host O.A.R, a platinum-certified band whose members all graduated from Ohio State. The Ohio State University Marching Band will also perform, and St. John Arena will serve as the first stop for the Blue Jacket players before a ceremonious walk to Ohio Stadium.
Mayer also said the NHL will soon be releasing the field design, with construction set to begin Monday.
“It’s very unique,” Mayer said. “It’s very Ohio State and Columbus Blue Jackets.”
In addition to the O.A.R pre-game appearance, the Columbus-native rock duo Twenty One Pilots will perform during the first intermission.
“It’s probably the biggest of any show that we’ve ever done related to any of our outdoor games,” Mayer said.
Select students within the student section will have the opportunity to go down on the field for the concert.
“I think it depends on the purchase date, so those who purchase tickets early are going to get the offer to come down on field for the Twenty One Pilots performance,” said Dean Matsuzaki, NHL’s executive vice president of events. “Then, depending on how many people take that offer, we will work through the list that way. And then we hope to just engage students as much as possible.”
Ohio State students can use their BuckeyeMail email address for the opportunity to purchase specially priced tickets at $20.99 to the game via Ohio State’s Ticketmaster.
“We always understood the student section and we embraced it right from the beginning,” Matsuzaki said. “We had actually reached out to Ohio State in the early planning, like, ‘How do you sell the students? What is their ticket price for football?’ We didn’t want to, you know, be over that. We wanted to be very respectful of that.”
Along with the rich tradition of athletics at Ohio State, Mayer is also excited about the size of the event and the large number of fans expected to attend.
“It’s huge. I mean, you know, when you really think of how many people we will have the day of the game in this stadium to watch hockey, it just blows my mind every single time,” Mayer said.
Along with Ohio State traditions, the NHL will also preserve some of the most famous traditions from the Columbus Blue Jackets. For example, Mayer said everything but the cannon that’s featured in Nationwide Arena during Blue Jackets games will be traveling north just for the event.
