COLUMBUS — The Columbus Blue Jackets are doing more than just building an outdoor street hockey rink in a northwest suburb.
“We are creating a legacy that is going to last for generations to come,” said Andee Cochren, Executive Director of the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation, which committed $250,000 to the project at the Liberty Township/Powell YMCA which will open this summer.
The rink is a part of the NHL’s Legacy initiative leading to the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Ohio Stadium on Saturday when the Blue Jackets play the Detroit Red Wings (6 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, Disney+, TVAS-D, FX-CA).
“The YMCA of Central Ohio aligns greatly with the mission of the Columbus Blue Jackets and our foundation to make sure that we are building stronger communities by keeping kids active, healthy and safe, and doing it by introducing them to a game we all love,” Cochren said.
A groundbreaking was held at the YMCA on Thursday and afterward former Blue Jackets players Rick Nash and Andrew Cassels were on hand for a youth street hockey clinic at a makeshift indoor rink.
“They’re having fun and smiling,” Cassels, a Blue Jackets Learn To Play ambassador said. “They’re up and exercising and they’re not sitting in front of a screen. Some of these kids, it might be the first time they’ve even seen a hockey stick or touched a hockey puck.”
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