Atkinson comes home to say goodbye as a Blue Jacket

Cam Atkinson walked into Nationwide Arena on a fall day in 2011 and encountered a turning point in his career.

He wasn’t supposed to make it to the NHL, the quintessential player whose big heart and burning desire weren't going to be enough to overcome his lack of size against the world’s best. He was always one of the best players wherever he skated and wanted nothing other than to be an NHL player, but he was a sixth-round draft pick, the hockey world telling him not to bet his future on sticking at the highest level.

Through it all, Atkinson always had a strong-willed belief to prove the naysayers wrong. In early October 2011, he proved he was right.

After a solid preseason with the Blue Jackets, he was called into the coaches' offices to find out his fate with the team’s Oct. 7 season opener just days away.

“At the time they were kind of messing with me and asking how I felt and how I thought I did,” Atkinson remembers. “I was like, ‘I thought I played OK.’ They were like, ‘Do you think you’ve made the team?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know, you guys tell me.’ And they said, ‘Call your parents because you’re going to be on the opening night roster.'

“That obviously was really special. Walking out from the room to go to the bench and calling my parents and looking around – that was truly a pinch-me moment. I’ll never forget the feeling, what I was wearing and looking around when no one was in the building and just thinking to myself, ‘All the hard work has paid off.’ ”

Looking back, that moment was the first step in what would become a signature CBJ career. As Atkinson said, everything he’d worked for from the first time he stepped on the ice at 2 years old was coming true, and that conversation sparked a 13-season, 809-game NHL journey that concluded Thursday night.

One of the biggest fan favorites in team history, Atkinson said goodbye to the game as a player after signing a one-day contract Thursday morning to retire as a Blue Jacket. Before the game against Colorado, Atkinson donned his familiar No. 13 sweater and took one final skate around the ice, all with the roaring backdrop of the Nationwide Arena faithful who had his back for his decade in Columbus.

Atkinson had his family – his wife Natalie; children Declan, Caden and Fallon; parents Tom and Ellen; and brothers Steve, Tommy, Brett and Scott, among others – and countless friends in attendance for a moment he could only dream of when he skated in his first NHL game.

“I think every player just wants to make it to the NHL, and it’s hard enough to play one game,” Atkinson said. “To play that many games and to play a lot of those games here with this organization and obviously retire here – everyone has individual goals, but this was never an individual goal for me.

“I’ve been very open and honest – I started my career here, and I wanted to finish it here. To go out on my own terms that way is truly humbling and a great feeling. With having my family and all my friends in town, I wouldn’t want it to be anywhere else.”

While Atkinson spent two seasons with Philadelphia and one with Tampa Bay to close his career, he became synonymous with the Blue Jackets over his 10 seasons with the Blue Jackets. His accomplishments are almost too many to list, as Atkinson leads the franchise with six hat tricks, places second all-time in goals (213) and points (402), is third with 627 games played, and tallied 41 goals in 2018-19 to share the single-season scoring record with Rick Nash.

In addition, Atkinson is the Jackets' all-time leader in postseason goals (10), assists (16) and points (26) after skating on five playoff teams during his tenure in Columbus. A two-time All-Star with the Blue Jackets, he was selected to the Jackets’ Quarter-Century Team a year ago.

“It's an exciting day for Blue Jackets hockey,” president of hockey operations and general manager Don Waddell said Thursday. “I didn’t have the privilege to be the general manager of Cam as a player, but I had the agony of playing against him for a lot of years. I know what kind of player he is, and I also know what kind of person he is.

“I got here last year, and Cam was one of the first names I heard, more among the community. He’s loved in this community and we’re proud that he’s in this community, so that’s why we’re excited about being able to officially have him sign this contract and retire a Blue Jacket.”

A Popular Teammate

Atkinson had established himself as part of the core group of Blue Jackets players by the time Zach Werenski arrived as a 19-year-old rookie in 2016, but the two quickly became friends.

Werenski remembers the “scooter gang” the two had where they would ride Honda Ruckus scooters to the rink, but when asked his favorite memory of Atkinson, one quickly came to mind.

The Blue Jackets were the surprise team of the NHL his rookie year, winning 50 games and being in contention for the Presidents’ Trophy throughout the season. After the Blue Jackets opened the playoffs with a pair of losses at Pittsburgh, they returned home to Columbus for Game 3 and Atkinson had his “Messier moment,” telling teammates they would win in front of the home crowd.

He backed it up by scoring just 11 seconds into the game and adding a second goal five minutes in. Though the Blue Jackets would go on to lose in overtime – and Werenski was infamously blasted in the face by a puck moments before a Pittsburgh goal in the second period – Werenski said Atkinson’s belief in the team will always endure in his mind.

“One of my favorite memories is probably Game 3 against Pittsburgh,” Werenski said. “Cam scored 11 seconds into the game. I want to say he said before the game that we were going to win at home. We ended up losing that game, but I’m almost positive that’s how it went. He scores 10 seconds in after saying that, and that was my first playoff game at Nationwide, so that’s a great memory.”

Names such as Werenski, Atkinson, then-captain Nick Foligno, current captain Boone Jenner, Seth Jones, Brandon Dubinsky and Sergei Bobrovsky would go on to become the core of the most successful Blue Jackets teams of all time. Columbus made the playoffs each season from 2017-19, eventually authoring one of the biggest shocks in NHL history when they swept a 62-win Tampa Bay team in the first round of the 2019 playoffs.

Foligno and Atkinson returned home after Game 4 to find that neighbors had stacked brooms on their porches, signs of a team and a community that shared a bond together. While there were many fan favorites, Atkinson was beloved by the 5th Line not just because of his skill but what he represented as the underdog who used his hard work to overcome the odds and become one of the NHL’s best goal scorers.

“It goes without saying that every time he came back here to play, you see Cam Atkinson jerseys,” Jenner said. “He was Camsanity here. I remember that. He was such a likable player for the fans. Right from when I got here, I knew that. You can see the energy he brought on the ice. I think he really brought that excitement to (our fans) and was a fun guy to watch out there.”

In the end, as often happens in hockey, many of those players went their separate ways, but Atkinson looks back fondly at that memorable time in CBJ hockey.

“Some of those teams were some of the most fun I’ve ever had,” Atkinson said. “All the wives and our families would get together all the time. Foligno would have parties at his house for everyone. It didn’t matter who was in town, just coming together as a team and growing and winning.

“We did it the right way in how we went about our business on the ice and off the ice. Those guys are truly special people. I’m glad that hopefully we made the organization and the fans proud during those times.”

For The Community

At Thursday's press conference, Atkinson began with an emotional statement in which he thanked everyone who made his career possible, from his family to former teammates and coaches to those he played against across the NHL.

But one group he couldn’t leave out was those who supported him with their cheers throughout the years.

“To the fans, you're the heartbeat of this league,” he said. “Blue Jackets, Flyers and Lightning fans, you’re the best fans in the world, but especially the Blue Jackets and the 5th Line. You show up for this team every single night, win or lose. Your love for this city, your team and its players is unconditional.”

Yet, as a native of Greenwich, Conn., who lit up scoreboards at Boston College as a college player, Atkinson fully admits that he didn’t know where Columbus, Ohio, was on a map when the Blue Jackets selected him 157th overall in the 2008 draft.

It didn’t take long, though, for him to embrace the Central Ohio community when he arrived. He’s fond of noting that all three of his children were born at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, and Atkinson became known around town for his charitable efforts, from donating to businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic to his support of first responders charities through the Force Network Fund to co-founding the Battery Hockey Academy in 2018.

Now that Atkinson is back in Columbus, he’s already coaching Declan’s first travel team through The Battery, and he said he hopes the Jackets’ success during his tenure inspired the next wave of players to hit the ice in Columbus.

“When I think about my legacy in hockey, I want it to be that I made a difference, whether it was through my philanthropic work with the Force Network Fund or the Battery Hockey Academy,” he said. “I just hope that when people think of me, they think of not only the things I accomplished as a hockey player but the things I’m passionate about as a person. Growing the game of hockey – the game that I love so much, the game that has given me and my family so much – especially in Columbus, Ohio, is so important to me.”

Atkinson and Waddell also noted that the two have talked about Atkinson joining the Blue Jackets organization at some point down the road should the opportunity arise, but for now, he’s back in Columbus and adjusting to retirement life.

Thursday was one last time to put on the skates and jersey and take a twirl in front of the Nationwide Arena crowd, and Atkinson said he couldn't wait.

"Taking my final lap will be one of the most humbling moments of my career,” Atkinson said. “Getting to finish my career where it all started in a city that became home, with fans and the people that took me and my family in as one of their own, with my family and friends is nothing short of a dream come true. Thank you to the Blue Jackets organization for welcoming me back home.”