Hometown friends Kent Johnson, Jake Christiansen living dream of playing in NHL together
When Jake Christiansen was called up by the Blue Jackets on Nov. 11, he arrived at the team hotel in New York late in the evening, only to find one of his teammates waiting to greet him.
But it wasn't just any of his teammates. It was fellow Vancouver native Kent Johnson. After becoming good friends "three or four years ago" by Johnson's estimate, the two are now enjoying playing together at the NHL level.
"Kent’s one of my best buddies from back home, so when I told him I was coming up, he was pumped," Christiansen said.
Christiansen and Johnson grew close during summer skates in Vancouver long before either was a member of the Blue Jackets' organization. At the time, Christiansen was playing major junior hockey with the Everett Silvertips in the Western Hockey League, and Johnson was in the British Columbia Hockey League playing for the Trail Smoke Eaters.
Each player recognized a kindred soul in the other; Christiansen describes them both as hockey nerds. Hanging out at the rink talking about hockey turned into time spent together away from the ice, often keeping the competition going by playing HORSE at Christiansen's house.
The friendship grew from there.
"We skated together for probably a year before we became really close," Johnson said. "Just skating together in the summer, I could kind of tell (from) talking to him a little bit. I was like, ‘I feel like I’d love this guy if I got to know him more.’ I think he was the same way. We just kept skating together more and just kind of kept getting closer. ... We got really tight really quickly. One of my best friends in the world."
In March 2020, the Blue Jackets signed Christiansen, an undrafted free agent, to an entry-level contract. That fall, when Johnson headed to the University of Michigan to begin his NCAA career, Christiansen began his first full professional season with the Cleveland Monsters in the AHL.
They began to dream of the possibility that Johnson could be drafted by the Blue Jackets and join Christiansen in the organization. That possibility grew in likelihood after the 2021 draft lottery, when Columbus secured the No. 5 overall pick and Johnson's point-per-game season at Michigan made him one of that year's top prospects.
When the draft rolled around, Christiansen was on vacation with his family in Kelowna, about 250 miles from Vancouver. He drove back for Johnson's draft party, because if Johnson became a Blue Jacket, he wanted to be there.
That's exactly what happened, to the delight of both.
"I didn’t want to miss it," Christiansen said. "You’re only drafted once and for him it’s a huge deal. It was super cool. I’m so happy I did it. ... We definitely talked about it a lot, and then when it happened, it was just surreal. He was obviously emotional, super excited, happy. I was like, ‘This is so cool, hopefully I’ll get to play with him.’ "
Johnson signed with the Blue Jackets after a second season at Michigan, joining the team in April. Christiansen was on a call-up when Johnson signed, but he was sent back down to Cleveland before Johnson's NHL debut. This fall, Christiansen was sent to Cleveland from training camp, while Johnson readied himself for his first full NHL season.
The rash of injuries to the Blue Jackets' blue line, though, meant Christiansen was brought back up to Columbus, and the duo finally played their first NHL game together Nov. 15. It was the culmination of a hope they'd been talking about for years, since those first skates in Vancouver.
"It’s so much fun," Johnson said. "We’re kind of keeping a tally now. We’re 2-0 together. It’s pretty funny. It’s so much fun to play with him and hopefully we can keep winning some games."
After a loss to the Red Wings on Saturday and a win over the Panthers on Sunday, they're now 3-1 together. Johnson scored his fourth goal of the season in Sunday's game, and Christiansen has been playing on the second defensive pair with Erik Gudbranson, the heaviest minutes he's seen so far in his NHL career.
Now that they're together in the NHL, after every practice, morning skate or optional on-ice session, Christiansen and Johnson are always the last skaters off the ice, soaking up every minute of an experience they could only dream about a few years ago.
"We do skills and everything in the summer together, and we’re around each other every day," Christiansen said. "We talk about it, the next year and all that stuff in the summer. It’s cool that it could all come together and play together."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets' Kent Johnson, Jake Christiansen bring friendship to ice
