The Columbus Blue Jackets have 31 days until opening night at Nationwide Arena. Today, we look at the history of jersey #31.
Let’s take a look at today’s edition, which is all about goalies.
Ron Tugnutt – 2001-2002 – Drafted by Quebec in the 1986 NHL Draft.
Tugnutt for President!! He played in 53 games for the Jackets in the first year of the franchise and went 22-25-5 with a .917 save %.
After two years with Columbus, he went on to play the final two years of his long career with the Dallas Stars and Utah Grizzlies of the AHL.
He played 16 years and won 186 games in the NHL. After retiring, he went into coaching, where he would coach at various levels and leagues as a goaltending coach.
Pascal Leclaire – 2004-2009 – Leclaire was drafted #8 overall in 2001 by Columbus.
He compiled a career record of 45-55-12 with Columbus and had a save % of .907%. The Jackets traded him to Ottawa on March 4, 2009, with he and a 2009 second-round pick went to Ottawa in exchange for Antoine Vermette. The pick the CBJ sent to Ottawa would wind up being Robin Lehner. Leclaire would retire on November 12, 2012. Leclaire was also in net for Columbus and gave up the first career goal to future Hall-of-Fame and all-time leading goal scorer Alex Ovechkin.
David LeNeveu – 2011 – Drafted by Phoenix in the 2002 NHL Draft.
LeNeveu played in one game for Columbus during the 2010-11 season. He played one period and gave up 2 goals on 12 shots. He never played another NHL game after his time in Columbus and finished his career in the KHL in 2014-15.
He bounced around different leagues before retiring, playing in Russia, Poland, and Slovakia. He was also the goaltending coach, President, Part-Owner, and Governor of the
Nanaimo Clippers of the BCHL from 2014 to 2017.
Shawn Hunwick – 2012 – Undrafted out of Sterling Heights, Michigan.
Hunwick famously made one appearance for Columbus, playing 3 minutes on April 7, 2012. He relieved Steve Mason in a 7-3 Jackets win. He never played another NHL game and finished his career in Germany in 2013 after just one year of professional hockey. Hunwick announced his retirement from professional hockey on August 26, 2013.
Curtis McElhinney – 2014 – Drafted by Calgary in 2002.
McElhinney could have been listed as the player who wore #31 the best. He started 66 games for the Jackets and came in to relieve the starters another 19 times. His career record with Columbus was 26-33-8. He went on to win a pair of Stanley Cups for the Tampa Bay Lightning, backing up starter Andrei Vasilevskiy. He retired on September 25, 2021.
He was the Toronto Maple Leafs Dir. of Goaltending from 2023 to 2025.
Anton Forsberg – 2015-2017 – Drafted by Columbus in 2011.
He played for the Columbus organization for three seasons but would only get 9 starts. In those 9 starts from 2014 to 2017, his record was 1-8. Where he really showed his worth was during the 2015-16 season while he was playing for the Cleveland Monsters. He had a record of 23-10-6 and also went 9-0 in the Calder Cup Playoffs. He and former CBJ goalie Joonas Korpisalo guided the team to a Calder Cup Championship.
On 23 June 2017, he and Brandon Saad were a part of a package to the Chicago Blackhawks that brought Artemi Panarin to Columbus. After five years in Ottawa, he signed a free agent deal with the LA Kings for two years.
Michael Hutchinson – 2023 – Drafted by the Boston Bruins in the 2008 NHL Draft.
Hutchinson started 10 games for Columbus after coming over from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Blue Jackets legend Jonathan Quick in March of 2023. He went 2-6-3 and made 6 relief appearances as well.
He left to play in Finland for the 24-25 season but hasn’t been signed anywhere for 25-26.
With 31 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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