Blue Jackets Vow to Push Forward This Season

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The Columbus Blue Jackets are spending the week before the start of Training Camp in Buffalo at the Prospect’s Challenge. Although the final score of 3-1 Sabres didn’t go their way in Game 1, one important thing was able to go their way.

The Blue Jackets are playing hockey again.

That’s about the best thing that could be happening to them right now. After spending the last couple of weeks trying to process everything that happened, the Blue Jackets are able to find a little normalcy while trying to prepare for the 2024-25 season.

Pushing Forward Together

We could talk about the game itself that saw Sabres’ star prospect Jiri Kulich factor into all three goals his team scored. We could discuss Nolan Lalonde turning in an outstanding performance to keep his Blue Jackets’ in the game as long as possible.

The story of the night was what the Blue Jackets’ vowed they’re going to do this season. Cleveland Monsters’ head coach Trent Vogelhuber is running the bench for the Prospect’s Challenge. He spoke postgame about the approach the team must take.

“Thinking of hockey the last few weeks seems like the last thing on your mind, right? But the reality is they’re not pushing the start date back for us,” Vogelhuber said. “And these guys still have to be ready to go. And us as a staff and as an organization still have to be ready to move forward and push forward.”

“So again, as difficult of a two-week span as I think an organization can have, but a little bit of comfort and some normalcy of being in a group and these guys being together and being able to play hockey. You’re not forgetting (Johnny Gaudreau.) You’re moving past it, but we’re moving with it together. That’s all we can do.”

Trent Vogelhuber Cleveland Monsters
Trent Vogelhuber says the organization will push forward while not forgetting what happened. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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

“I think it just pulls everyone in the hockey world closer together and especially the guys in Columbus,” Brindley said. “I’ve been there for a little bit now and just seeing all the guys and the interactions and it is just good to see everyone and have everyone’s company and be around the locker room. Obviously, it’s been tough but I think it’s hopefully forming the guys together. This is how you push forward.”

Building Deeper Relationships

Teammates who share the same locker room already have a special bond. That bond only gets magnified in this situation for the Blue Jackets.

The coaching staff as a whole, both the Blue Jackets and Monsters, will work to foster an environment where they continue to build those relationships. To Vogelhuber, this brings unity.

“You get through things like that together. And that’s something we’re talking about with our group,” Vogelhuber said. “It’s a five-day, three-game tournament but some of these guys you’re going to be playing with for a long time and hopefully in Columbus. And so you start coming together and building those relationships. That’s how you get through tough things is leaning 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 performing, the team has started the process of building those deeper relationships with each other.

Friday night started with a moment of silence for Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau. But as soon as the anthems were sung, it was game time. For at least two hours, the Blue Jackets were back together doing what was normal to them. They were playing hockey together.

Don’t underestimate just how important this step was on their path to pushing forward this season.