The Columbus Blue Jackets have 35 days until opening night at Nationwide Arena. Today, we look at the history of jersey #35.
Let’s take a look.
Jean-François Labbé – 2003 – Labbé was undrafted out of Sherbrooke, Quebec.
Jean-François Labbé played in 14 games with the Blue Jackets over the course of two seasons. He went 3-5 with an .890 SV%. He spent the bulk of his time playing in the AHL for the Syracuse Crunch.
He left North America in 2003 for Russia. He then played in Germany and Poland before returning to Canada in 2009. After playing a season for Sherbrooke Saint-François in the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey, he would retire.
Labbé was primarily an AHL goalie, playing in a total of 261 games. He had a record of 131-97-25 and had 13 shutouts. He has won numerous awards in the AHL, including Best Goaltender and Most Valuable Player. For his efforts, Labbé was inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame in 2016.
After retiring, he moved into coaching, where he was either a head coach or a goaltending coach at different stops.
Martin Prusek – 2006 – Prusek was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the 6th round of the 1999 NHL Draft.
Prusek played in 9 games for Columbus during the 05-06 season and had a record of 3-3. He also played 23 games for the Syracuse Crunch that year.
He returned to Europe after his time with Columbus, where he would play in Russia and Czechia until he retired in 2011. He moved directly into coaching, where he has been a goaltending coach in Czechia with various age levels ever since.
Brian Boucher – 2007 – Boucher was in 1995 with the 22nd overall pick by the Philadelphia Flyers
On February 27, 2007, he was acquired on waivers by the Blue Jackets from the Chicago Blackhawks. He played in three games for Columbus and went 1-1. That would be the only games he would play for Columbus, as he would sign elsewhere the following season.
He played in the NHL until 2013, and then left for Switzerland, where he played one season before retiring.
Nowadays, you can find Boucher doing Flyers games on NBC Sports Philadelphia, and doing between the bench work for TNT during National games. Boucher has turned into a very respected member of the hocket media.
Ty Conklin – 2007 – Conklin was undrafted out of Phoenix, Arizona.
Conklin’s time in Columbus was short but somewhat eventful. He was signed by Columbus on July 1, 2006. He was expected to be the starter for the Jackets, but head coach Gerard Gallant went with Frederik Norrena instead. So, Conklin was put on waivers and sent to the AHL.
He was recalled by Columbus in December of that year when Pascal LeClaire went down with an injury. He played in 11 games and went 2-3-2 during his time with the CBJ. On February 27, 2007, he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres, and immediately had a 42-save win. His last season in the NHL would be the 2011-12 season.
He moved into coaching, where he worked for the Blues and Univ. of New Hampshire for several years.
Jan Hejda – 2011 – Hejda was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in 4th round of the 2003 NHKL Draft.
Hejda signed with Columbus in 2007 after playing one year with the Edmonton Oilers. In all, he played with Columbus for four seasons and totaled 302 games. He scored 11 goals and 67 points playing on the Columbus blue line.
He left for the Colorado Avalanche in 2011 when free agency opened. He would play there until 2015. He signed a PTO with the Lake Erie Monsters in December of 2015 and was released in January of 2016 and would retire.
Veini Vehviläinen – 2021 – Vehviläinen was drafted by Columbus in the 6th round of the 2018 NHL Draft.
Vehviläinen was supposed to be the goalie of the future in Columbus, or at least that’s what many people thought. It turns out, he was a forgotten goalie.
Due to COVID, and the Blue Jackets having Elvis Merzlikins, Joonas Korpisalo, and Daniil Tarasov waiting in the wings, he never really had a chance. After appearing in just one relief appearance, he would never sniff the NHL again.
In March of 2021, he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He would play in a few games for the Marlies, picking up a single win, but that was it.
He left to play in Sweden in 2021 and now plays in his home country of Finland for TPS.
With 35 days until opening night at Nationwide Arena, the anticipation for the season is in full swing. Take a look at the schedule of events below.
Blue Jackets Participate in 2025 Prospects Challenge in Buffalo
The Blue Jackets will take part in the Prospects Challenge in Buffalo from Thursday, Sept. 11 to Sunday, Sept. 14. They’ll play three games and have one day off.
The schedule looks like this:
Thursday, Sept. 11 7 p.m. vs. New Jersey Devils
Friday, Sept. 12 `No Game Scheduled
Saturday, Sept. 13 7 p.m. at Buffalo Sabres
Sunday, Sept. 14 3:30 p.m. at Pittsburgh Penguins
This will be the second year Columbus has participated in the Prospects Challenge. Before that, they played in the NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City. As for the roster, it won’t be released until closer to the tournament.
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