5 offbeat stories from Columbus Blue Jackets training camp
The Blue Jackets’ preseason slate began Sunday with a split-squad doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The first roster cuts of training camp were released Saturday, as camp rolls toward the start of a new NHL season. There's plenty of time ahead for stories related to that, but the Blue Jackets started camp with 73 players and more than a few “offbeat” stories to tell.
Here are five:
Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Damon Severson made a spot start from the mound
One of the Blue Jackets’ new guys on the blue line, Damon Severson, has a baseball background to go along with his hockey career. He was a shortstop and pitcher growing up, worked at a batting cage and continued to play for fun into his 20s in a summer “senior” league.
That included a game this summer, prior to signing an eight-year contract extension with the Blue Jackets as part of a trade with the New Jersey Devils. Upon returning to his hometown of Melville, Saskatchewan, for a trip to attend a wedding in Regina, Severson’s senior league team reached out.
“The team just coincidentally had a game and they asked me, ‘Oh, you’re going to be in town, right? You want to come play?’ ” Severson said. “That was right before ... or I was in the middle of this negotiation with Columbus. I was trying to figure things out and I was like, ‘If I get hurt,’ or whatever. But then I thought, ‘If you’re scared to get hurt, that’s usually when you get hurt.’ So, I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m doing it. I’ve got to play once.’ ”
Severson, a tall righty, tossed six innings in a seven-inning game and gave up two runs in a 5-3 victory.
“I’m more of a shortstop, but they asked me if I wanted to pitch and I hadn’t pitched in so long,” Severson said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ ”
It turned out to be good practice for Severson to throw out a ceremonial first pitch at Progressive Field before a Cleveland Guardians game this summer. Severson’s in-laws were watching closely to see if he’d throw a strike to Guardians pitcher Cal Quantrill, who confirmed that it indeed caught a corner of the plate.
Columbus Blue Jackets center Cole Sillinger reclaimed a special number
Cole Sillinger isn’t making a position switch to defenseman, but his new number might cause some to wonder about that possibility. The third-year forward has worn No. 34 in his first two NHL seasons, but will now wear No. 4.
It’s the number Sillinger grew up wearing before relinquishing it in junior because it was taken by older players with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League and Sioux Falls Stampede of the United States Hockey League. It was also taken by former defensemen Scott Harrington in Sillinger’s rookie year (2021-22) and Vladislav Gavrikov last year.
The No. 44 was also taken last season in Columbus by defenseman Erik Gudbranson, who’d signed a four-year contract as a free agent. Sillinger picked No. 4 as his favorite digit because it was worn by forward Taylor Hall with the Edmonton Oilers, who drafted him No. 1 overall in 2010.
Sillinger’s dad, Mike Sillinger, was an Oilers development coach after retiring from the NHL as a player. The younger Sillinger became a big fan of Hall.
“(My dad) got to work a lot with Hall and he became my favorite player, and Edmonton was my favorite team at the time, so that’s why I wore four as a kid,” Sillinger said. “Everyone thinks it’s a defense number, but I don’t really think there’s a number for a position.”
Gunner Kinniburgh enjoyed playing for Mike Babcock at University of Saskatchewan
Mike Babcock’s tenure as the Blue Jackets’ coach ended with his resignation right before camp opened. He left at least one fingerprint behind in defenseman Gunner Kinniburgh, a 23-year old who played for the Blue Jackets at the Traverse City Prospects Tournament and enjoyed his lone NHL training camp experience.
Kinniburgh was among the Blue Jackets’ first cuts, but not before he played in a scrimmage Saturday. Kinniburgh played one season for Babcock during the coach’s one-year stint running the bench for the University of Saskatchewan in 2021-22 at the Canadian U-Sports level. He plans to return to the school eventually and finish getting his degree in agronomy.
Kinniburgh enjoyed playing for Babcock.
“I had a great experience with him,” Kinniburgh said. “He was great to me and that was my own personal experience. I think a lot of guys were excited about it, but we were a little nervous at first. We all came together and I think we really enjoyed it.”
The 'Os' have it with Oasiz Wiesblatt's family
Oasiz Wiesblatt, 19, was also cut Saturday. He’s an undersized forward with another year of draft eligibility and will return to Medicine Hat of the WHL to build upon a strong effort last season.
Wiesblatt is the second-youngest of five siblings born to deaf parents, Kim White and Art Wiesblatt, and all learned American Sign Language before speaking English. All five were born with the ability to hear, and each has a unique name starting with ‘O.’
Oasiz’s older brothers are Ocean, Orca and Ozzy, in that order, and their sister, Oceania, is the youngest. All four boys played junior hockey, Ozzy is going into his second full season of professional hockey and Oasiz has another year left in junior.
His name isn’t an ode to the rock band ‘Oasis,’ but said that Ozzy Wiesblatt – a San Jose Sharks prospect – “might” be named after rocker Ozzy Osbourne.
“I’ve had some wild questions,” Wiesblatt said. “We’re all ‘Os.’ I don’t think there’s any reason behind it, though, other than being ‘O’ names.”
Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Denton Mateychuk has baseball roots
Denton Mateychuk also has a connection to baseball. He's named after Denton “Cy” Young and his older brother, Maddux, is named after former star pitcher Greg Maddux.
In his early teens, Mateychuk excelled at hockey and baseball, playing for a 13U baseball team from Manitoba that played national tournaments. In one tournament through Baseball Canada, Mateychuk went 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and nine strikeouts over 5⅔ innings as a lefty-handed pitchers. As a hitter, Mateychuk had a .389 batting average, one home run and four RBIs in six games.
More: Traverse City NHL Prospects Tournament: 10 Columbus Blue Jackets hopefuls to watch
His baseball teammates included two other standout hockey players selected in the first round of the same draft (2021) the Blue Jackets took Mateychuk 12th overall. Defenseman Owen Pickering, Mateychuk’s cousin, went 21st to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and center Conor Geekie was selected 11th by the Arizona Coyotes — one ahead of Mateychuk.
Maddux Mateychuk is a pitcher at Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Kentucky, and their father, Jason, is a member of the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame after an impressive collegiate career at Mayville State in North Dakota.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 5 offbeat stories from Columbus Blue Jackets training camp
