Ice hockey is one of the most-watched sports in the world. It enjoys a massive reputation in Canada, Russia, the United States, and the Nordic countries. People find it extremely pleasant to watch two opposing teams competing on an ice rink, trying to control the puck and score goals against each other.
NHL is the most active league worldwide, with superstars like Alex Ovechkin, Sid Crosby and Connor McDavid in its ranks. Some of the strongest athletes are actually from Nordic countries as well, mainly playing in the Columbus Blue Jackets. Thus the following article will discuss the latter’s popularity in Northern European countries.
20 years after the creation and subsequent development
Columbus has a relatively new history. The team was established in 2000, and their initial years were characterized by struggles and failure to win the games. In 2009 they managed for the first time to qualify for the Stanley Cup (the highest trophy in NHL) playoffs but were defeated.
They ultimately clinched the first victory in 2014 playoffs and later in 2019 beat Tampa Bay Lightning which resulted in them becoming the first team to defeat a President’s Trophy winner in the first round.
Columbus Blue Jackets moved to the Eastern Conference in 2013 and had relatively fluctuating seasons. Failure to achieve the desired results led to a lot of players departing from the team, looking for new challenges.
Why is the team famous in Nordics?
It may seem unreasonable, why Columbus is still enjoying the popularity considering their results. But the point is not only in results. A lot of people root for them because they have fellow citizens playing in the team.
Besides rooting for the team Nordic people are fond of playing online casino games and place bets on their favorite clubs. Bookmakers in the Nordics are regularly trying to base their American football promotions on Columbus completely. This is especially relevant in Norway and Finland according to Spinia online casino Finland, which is not even related to sports betting whatsoever. Spinia, as an online casino, focuses on games like poker and slots, but for some reason, they are still pretty big on supporting, mentioning and using the Blue Jackets as part of some of their most extensive promotions.
In Norway, loyalty towards Columbus was mostly credited to Markus Soberg who was drafted in the sixth round of the 2013 NHL draft. Despite the fact, he did not really make an impression in the team, having one of your fellow countrymen was enough for Norwegians to root for Columbus. Right now no Norwegian player is playing at the club.
But everything is different for Swedish people. They can be proud of the fact that four Norwegian hockey players are currently competing in the team. For instance, Alexander Wennberg was one of the highest picks(14) in the 2013 NHL draft. He participated in almost all of the club’s games and amassed a solid number of goals and assists.
Finland has currently two players at the team, Joonas Korpisalo and Markus Nutivaara the latter also an integral figure for the club. Korpisalo is a goaltender and is presently injured.
So now it is clear why Nordic countries are keen on supporting the Columbus Blue Jackets – the factor of fellow citizen playing in the most popular league proves to be enough for supporting the team which is entirely in a different league.