COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The countdown to the Columbus Blue Jackets’ outdoor game at Ohio Stadium is getting closer and leaders at Ohio State are ready to see it come to life.
Construction of the first NHL ice rink inside Ohio Stadium began Monday and continues through this week as the March 1 Stadium Series game between the Jackets and Detroit Red Wings gets closer. The city’s excitement continues to grow as does the excitement of Ohio State president Ted Carter, who has a deep hockey background.
“I am so fired up,” said Carter. “This is really exciting. Think about it: we just had our first home game in December last year in the ‘Shoe. Historic. And that required us to winterize the stadium and now we’re going to have the first hockey game in the 100-plus year history of the Horseshoe.”
Carter, who became the Ohio State president in 2024, said he grew up playing hockey on a pond outside beginning at the age of 3. He then played for four years at Navy and was a team captain in 1981. Now at 65-years-old, he still plays having just skated for an alumni game this month.
WATCH: Ted Carter speaks on excitement for Stadium Series
Part of Carter’s excitement for the Stadium Series game is hockey returning to its roots outdoors here in central Ohio. “It brings back what you learned to do as a youth,” said Carter. “Most hockey players grew up in some place cold and I remember getting on a pond at 8 o’clock in the morning and coming home at sunset and my feet being frozen. Every hockey player has gone through that.”
Carter will be joined by Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork at the game with the atmosphere expected to feature numerous nods to the Buckeyes. And it wasn’t just Ohio State looking forward to seeing its branding and traditions for an NHL game.
“As far as the elements of it and tying in the Buckeyes and Ohio State, that was all the NHL,” said Bjork. “They really wanted to embrace that. They really wanted to tie in the mystique of Ohio State.”
WATCH: Ross Bjork on Stadium Series game
The March 1 Stadium Series begins at 6 p.m. with game-day festivities also including performances by Twenty One Pilots and O.A.R.