Columbus Blue Jackets Trivia
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49 free Columbus Blue Jackets trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The Columbus Blue Jackets took the ice in 2000 with a name lifted from Ohio's Civil War history, a mascot that is a yellow jacket, and an owner who privately promised the commissioner an arena even after the city voted one down. This Blue Jackets trivia quiz covers the whole story: the expansion draft shared with the Minnesota Wild, Rick Nash's Rocket Richard season at 19, the netting rule that followed a tragedy at Nationwide Arena, Ken Hitchcock, John Tortorella, two Vezina Trophies for Sergei Bobrovsky, the 16-game win streak, and the 2019 sweep of the Presidents' Trophy-winning Lightning. Questions range from easy ones any fan will get (what fires when Columbus scores?) to expert ones about the expansion-draft deal with San Jose, the 1857 Napoleon replica, the CBJ logo's thirteen stars and the franchise's first European-born general manager. There are questions on the arena, the uniforms, the retired number, the captains and the Johnny Gaudreau era too. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedic and reference sources before publishing, and each question carries a citation you can follow. Looking for more hockey? Try our NHL trivia and hockey trivia pages as well.
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Q 01Before the Blue Jackets arrived in 2000, Ohio's last NHL team was the Barons of which city?
Cleveland
Cleveland: the Barons lasted only two NHL seasons, from 1976 to 1978, before the club was merged out of existence, and Ohio went the next 22 years without an NHL team.
Q 02The Blue Jackets' name and logos are inspired by which chapter of Ohio history?
The Civil War
The Civil War: more than 300,000 Ohioans served in the Union Army, the third most of any state, and the club says many of the soldiers' blue coats were made in Columbus.
Q 03Which other franchise joined the NHL in the same 2000 expansion as Columbus?
Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild entered alongside Columbus, the two clubs sharing the expansion draft held in Calgary that June; the Wild brought the NHL back to Minnesota after the North Stars' move to Dallas in 1993.
Q 04What was the only other finalist name alongside Blue Jackets in the 1997 'Name the Team' contest?
Justice
Justice was the runner-up after about 14,000 contest entries were cut to ten names and then two, and the club's own history has its founder saying 'we just didn't understand' it.
Q 05Which fast-food chain helped run the 1997 'Name the Team' contest across central Ohio?
Wendy's
Wendy's, founded in Columbus in 1969, took fans' suggestions at its restaurants that August; about 14,000 came in, and the club sent a shortlist of ten names to the NHL.
Q 06The company that privately financed Columbus's arena after a failed 1997 referendum is in what business?
Insurance
Insurance: Columbus-based Nationwide said weeks after voters rejected an arena tax in May 1997 that it would build the arena with its own money, and the NHL awarded the city a team that June.
Q 07Which owner privately told Gary Bettman he would do 'whatever it takes' to bring the NHL to Columbus?
John H. McConnell
John H. McConnell, founder of Worthington Industries, grabbed his arm after civic leaders said a failed arena vote would end the bid, Bettman later recalled; the vote did fail, and Columbus still got its team.
Q 08Which ECHL club, a 1990s box-office hit, did the Blue Jackets replace in Columbus?
The Chill
The Chill played at the state fairgrounds Coliseum from 1991 to 1999, and the crowds it drew are credited with helping pave the way for the city's NHL bid.
Q 09Who scored the first goal in Blue Jackets franchise history, on October 7, 2000?
Bruce Gardiner
Bruce Gardiner scored 7:34 into the opener, and Columbus led Chicago 3–0 before the first period was half over, then gave up five straight goals and lost 5–3.
Q 10Which goaltender's 22 wins in 2000-01 tied the NHL record for an expansion-team netminder?
Ron Tugnutt
Ron Tugnutt earned win No. 22 on the season's final day, a 4–3 overtime defeat of Chicago, matching the 22 that Lorne Chabot (1926–27) and Cesare Maniago (1967–68) won for first-year clubs.
Q 11To which team did Columbus trade the third pick in 2002 to move up and take Rick Nash first?
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers moved down to third and took defenseman Jay Bouwmeester; Nash repaid Columbus by scoring in his first NHL game that October, the first of his 289 goals for the club.
Q 12A 2002 tragedy at a Blue Jackets game led the NHL to mandate what safety change in every arena?
Netting behind the goals
'Netting behind the goals' became mandatory league-wide for 2002–03 after young fan Brittanie Cecil was struck by a deflected puck at Nationwide Arena in March 2002 and died two days later.
Q 13Which NHL award did Rick Nash share in 2003-04 with Jarome Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk?
Q 21Jarmo Kekäläinen was general manager of which Finnish club before Columbus hired him in 2013?
Jokerit
Jokerit of Helsinki lost him in February 2013 to Blue Jackets president John Davidson, who had worked with him in St. Louis, and he became the first European-born general manager in NHL history.
Q 22Columbus moved from the Central Division to which division for the 2013-14 season?
Metropolitan
The Metropolitan Division, created in the 2013 realignment, moved Columbus to the Eastern Conference after more than a decade in the West, grouping it with six former Patrick Division clubs and Carolina.
Q 23Why was Nathan Horton credited with an April 2014 goal while he was out injured?
A postponed game's resumption
Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy
The Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy goes to the NHL's top goal scorer, and Nash, Iginla and Kovalchuk all finished 2003–04 on 41; at 19, Nash became the youngest player ever to lead the league in goals.
Q 14Which Swiss club did Rick Nash play for during the 2004-05 NHL lockout, alongside Joe Thornton?
HC Davos
HC Davos won the 2005 Swiss title with Nash and Joe Thornton in the lineup, and both men went back to the same club when the NHL locked its players out again in 2012.
Q 15Which star did Columbus acquire from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim during the 2005-06 season?
Sergei Fedorov
Sergei Fedorov arrived in November 2005 for Tyler Wright and François Beauchemin, and Anaheim did well from it: Beauchemin became a mainstay of the defense that won the Stanley Cup in 2007.
Q 16Which coach, formerly of the Stars and Flyers, took over Columbus in November 2006?
Ken Hitchcock
Ken Hitchcock, who had won the 1999 Stanley Cup with Dallas, replaced Gerard Gallant in November 2006 and went on to coach the Blue Jackets to their first playoff appearance.
Q 17Which team swept Columbus in its first playoff series, in 2009?
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings, the defending champions, won all four games; Columbus had clinched its first berth days earlier in Chicago, where Rick Nash tied the game late and Fedor Tyutin won the shootout.
Q 18Which All-Star center did Columbus get from Philadelphia in 2011 for Jakub Voracek and picks?
Jeff Carter
Jeff Carter lasted only 39 games in Columbus before a February 2012 trade to Los Angeles for Jack Johnson and a first-round pick; less than four months later he scored the goal that won the Kings the Stanley Cup.
Q 19Which team acquired Rick Nash from Columbus in July 2012?
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers gave up Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon and a first-round pick for the Blue Jackets' captain, and Columbus left the 'C' vacant for almost three years afterward.
Q 20Sergei Bobrovsky was acquired from which team at the 2012 draft for draft picks?
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers, with Ilya Bryzgalov signed as their starter, sent Bobrovsky to Columbus for a second-round pick and two fourth-rounders; he was the Blue Jackets' No. 1 goalie for seven seasons before leaving for Florida in 2019.
A postponed game's resumption: the March 10 game in Dallas was halted after Rich Peverley collapsed with Columbus up 1–0 on Horton's goal, and that goal stood when play resumed on April 9.
Q 24Whose overtime goal in Game 2 against Pittsburgh in 2014 gave Columbus its first-ever playoff win?
Matt Calvert
Matt Calvert started the comeback from 3–1 down with a shorthanded goal, then won it 1:10 into the second overtime in Pittsburgh for a 4–3 victory.
Q 25Which defenseman did the Blue Jackets get from Nashville in January 2016 in exchange for their top center?
Seth Jones
Seth Jones arrived in a one-for-one swap of former fourth-overall draft picks and anchored the Columbus defense until a 2021 trade to Chicago for Adam Boqvist and the pick that became Cole Sillinger.
Q 26Under whom did Columbus rattle off a franchise-record 16-game win streak in 2016-17?
John Tortorella
John Tortorella's team won 16 in a row from late November to early January; he picked up his 500th NHL win along the way, and the season earned him the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year.
Q 27In 2016-17 Columbus won 16 straight games, one short of the NHL record set by which team?
1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins
The 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins won 17 in a row; Columbus went unbeaten through all 14 of its December games, then saw the run end one win short with a 5–0 loss in Washington.
Q 28Which opponent did Columbus beat 10-0 on November 4, 2016, for a franchise-record goal total?
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens arrived 9-0-1, without a regulation loss all season, and left beaten 10–0; backup goalie Al Montoya was kept in for all ten goals.
Q 29Whom did the Blue Jackets receive from Chicago in June 2017 when they sent Brandon Saad back?
Artemi Panarin
Artemi Panarin came from Chicago with Tyler Motte for Saad and Anton Forsberg, broke the franchise points record in each of his two Columbus seasons, then walked away as a free agent in 2019.
Q 30Which Presidents' Trophy winner did Columbus sweep in 2019 for its first playoff series victory?
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning had tied the NHL record with 62 wins, yet Columbus swept them in four games in April 2019, the first time a Presidents' Trophy winner had been swept in the opening round.