Blue Jackets fans put their money on the board

By ERIC SMITH
FOXSportsOhio.com
Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011

One of the oldest traditions in hockey is players, coaches, general managers and even owners putting up money on the white board or old school chalkboard in an effort for a win, a goal or various other targets. This time, fans of the Columbus Blue Jackets are putting up their own money on the white board in an effort to help inspire the team to a win over the Detroit Red Wings on Friday.

Columbus has lost five straight games to fall to 20-20-3, 13th in the 15-team NHL Western Conference.

The entire "money on the board" movement started on Twitter and has been being tracked by Lori Schmidt, a reporter for 97.1 The Fan radio.

"I'm blown away by the fans on how this movement has grown on a purely grassroots effort," Schmidt said.

By mid-morning Thursday, about $3,000 has been pledged from nearly 100 fans on Twitter to the Blue Jackets Foundation or other charities in the Columbus, Ohio, area.

The R Bar in the Arena District, a self-described hockey bar, also has buckets out in their establishment to raise money and then pledge it to the “money on the board” push. If the Jackets defeat Detroit, the money will go to the Blue Jackets Foundation. If the Jackets lose, a local food bank gets the donations.

The Blue Jackets organization is even getting behind the movement. Ryan Holtmann, the team’s manager of communications, will post the number of donations, along with the dollar figure on the board and then take a picture of it. Holtmann intends to send that picture out via Twitter so fans can see exactly what the players see before they hit the ice.

"That's passion; that's true fans right there," coach Scott Arniel told American Chronicle. "Hopefully, their money will be well spent, and we can go to a nice charity with it."

Some fans are even willing to bleed with the team. They will donate blood to the Red Cross, along with money for win.

Fans who want to get involved can make pledges on Twitter by posting a pledge with a hash tag of #MoneyOnTheBoard. Schmidt will track the pledges and get them to the team.

Be up on all the latest happenings of the Blue Jackets and the NHL on Twitter by following @EricSmith_FSO