33 Days Until Opening Night At NWA: The History Of Jersey #33

The Columbus Blue Jackets have 33 days until opening night at Nationwide Arena. Today, we look at the history of jersey #33.

Let’s take a look.

Petteri Nummelin – 2001 – Nummelin was drafted by Columbus in the 5th round of the 2000 NHL Draft.

After playing just 61 games for Columbus during its inaugural season, Nummelin bolted back to Europe to play for HC Lugano of the Swiss National League. He would return to the NHL in 2006 to play for the Minnesota Wild for two seasons but would again leave for Europe.

During his career, he played in Switzerland, Finland, Norway, and even Japan before retiring in 2019. Nummelin was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2024 and is currently an assistant coach for HC Ajoie of the Swiss National League.

Jamie Allison – 2002-2003 – Drafted in 1993 by the Calgary Flames

Allison played 55 games for Columbus from 2001 to 2003 and had one point. After leaving Columbus in 2003, he went to play for the Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers.

Before retiring in 2006, Allison had a wild thing happen. On December 13, 2005, goalie Chris Mason got hurt during the pre-game, resulting in the Predators having no backup goalie. As he was scheduled to be a healthy scratch that game, Allison was dressed as the backup goaltender instead.

Jeremy Reich – 2004 – Drafted in 1997 by the Chicago Blackhawks

Reich played 9 games for the Jackets during the 2003-04 season and had one point. He spent most of his time playing for the Syracuse Crunch, where he had 118 points over five seasons.

He would go on to play in 90 games for the Boston Bruins, and played a season in the DEL. He played semi-pro hockey off and on until 2024 and was a coach for several years in minor hockey.

Fredrik Modin – 2007-2010 – Drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 3rd round of the 1994 NHL Draft.

On June 30, 2006, Modin was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Marc Denis. Modin played in 176 games for Columbus and had 85 points. After playing four seasons with the CBJ, he was traded to the LA Kings on March 3, 2010.

On May 11, 2011, he announced his retirement due to back issues. He came back to the Columbus organization in 2015 and worked as a Hockey Operations Advisor until 2018.

Tomáš Kubalík – 2011-2012 – Drafted by Columbus in 2008

Kubalík played in 12 games over two seasons from 2010 to 2012. He spent most of his time playing for the Springfield Falcons of the AHL.

He left for Europe in 2013 and played there until he retired in 2024. He’s played in Czechia, Finland, Poland, France, and Germany. For the last couple of seasons, he was an asst. coach for ERV Schweinfurt of Germany’s fourth division.

Adrian Aucoin – 2013 – Drafted by Vancouver in 1992.

Aucoin signed a one-year contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets on July 1, 2012. He played 36 games for the Jackets and had four points. Following his one season with the CBJ, he would retire on November 19, 2013.

Aucoin has been coaching various age groups of youth hockey since his retirement.

Markus Hännikäinen – 2016-2017 – Hännikäinen was undrafted out of Helsinki, Finland.

Hännikäinen had signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets on April 20, 2015. Over parts of four seasons, he played in 91 games for Columbus and had 15 points, which included 8 goals. He spent most of his time playing for the Lake Erie/Cleveland Monsters.

In February of 2020, Hännikäinen was traded by the Blue Jackets to the Arizona Coyotes, ending his time with Columbus.

Hännikäinen left for his native Finland when the COVID pandemic hit and never returned. He’s played in the KHL(Finland), DEL, SHL, and is signed with HC Litvínov in Czechia for 2025-26.

With 33 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.

Blue Jackets’ 2025-26 Training Camp and Pre-Season

Next up is training camp, which kicks off on Wednesday, Sept. 18. Camp will run until the pre-season begins and then transition directly into the full pre-season schedule. Here’s what the Blue Jackets have lined up so far.

After the first few days of camp, most rookies who received an invite will be cut and sent back to their junior teams. From there, the cuts will come more often as pre-season play gets underway.

The pre-season schedule is as follows:

Sunday, Sept. 21 vs. St. Louis Blues, 5 p.m. ET

Monday, Sept. 22 vs. Buffalo Sabres, 7 p.m. ET

Tuesday, Sept. 23 at Buffalo Sabres, 7 p.m. ET

Wednesday, Sept. 24 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, 7 p.m. ET

Saturday, Sept. 27 at Pittsburgh Penguins, 7 p.m. ET

Tuesday, Sept. 30 vs. Washington Capitals, 7 p.m. ET

Saturday, Oct. 4 at Washington Capitals, 7 p.m. ET

* Games in bold are home games *

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