Kuraly, Blue Jackets excited to play on ‘hallowed grounds’ at Stadium Series

COLUMBUS -- Although Sean Kuraly was born in Niagara Falls, New York, he grew up in the Columbus suburb of Dublin, and like many kids in the area, he had the opportunity to attend Ohio State football games in the cavernous Ohio Stadium.

“More than I can count on my two hands, for sure,” the Columbus Blue Jackets center said.

But he didn’t gravitate toward football and instead concentrated on hockey, in large part due to his Canadian parents. He played for the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets program from 2008-10, but at no time did he imagine that he would one day skate on the same field that he watched the Buckeyes play.

That made Monday afternoon meaningful for Kuraly, who joined captain Boone Jenner and coach Dean Evason to get a closer look at the rink that is in place for the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series on Saturday (6 p.m.ET; ESPN, TVAS-D, FX-CA), when the Blue Jackets will play their first outdoor game against the Detroit Red Wings.

“These are hallowed grounds in Columbus, so to be out here and playing hockey is going to be neat,” Kuraly said. “And I think what makes these events so special is all the people that can get in here and fit in here. It's not a thing that can happen often in a hockey game to get this many people together.

“It’s going to be a big celebration of Columbus and hockey in the community that's been here for a long time, but especially since the Blue Jackets came to town 25 years now, for all of us to get together and celebrate and be proud of what we've built here and what's been done over the last 25 years with this organization in the city.”

Kuraly has experienced the added attention of an outdoor game before. He played in the NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe for the Boston Bruins on Feb. 21, 2021, but his best memory is scoring the winning goal for the Bruins against the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2019 Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

“It doesn’t beat a playoff goal, but it’s my favorite regular-season goal,” he said. “It's funny. It's just one goal, but I've heard about that goal, I've seen that goal in highlights so many times that you kind of realize, looking back, how these games are only worth two points. This one's got a little extra significance of being the first outdoor game in Columbus and playing Detroit, who's neck and neck in a playoff run with us, but these games seem to hold a little bit more than a regular game.”

The Blue Jackets are tied with the Ottawa Senators, who have lost four in a row, for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. They are two points behind the Red Wings, who hold the first wild card.

Adding more intrigue, Detroit hosts Columbus on Thursday, which could make for a lively rematch before an expected crowd of more than 90,000.

“Yeah, that'll be interesting because it'll probably, hopefully, it gets a little feisty,” Evason said “That'd be a lot of fun.”

Besides Kuraly, no one on the ice will appreciate the game more than Jenner. Not only is he the longest tenured Blue Jackets player, having played 716 games since debuting during the 2013-14 season, but he targeted the Stadium Series for his return after undergoing shoulder surgery on Oct. 9. He played his first game of the season on Saturday against the Blackhawks.

“Super fortunate,” he said. “When it (surgery) happened, you're obviously looking at the schedule, kind of circling dates and this is one I definitely wanted to be back for, knowing this was coming.

“You know how big of a deal it is for us. I’m just happy that it worked out with the work that I put in and the rehab and everything sticking to the plan. And here we are, happy to be back with the guys and be a part of this playing with them.”