If you are driving near Third and Long Street in Downtown Columbus, there might be something that catches your attention.
There is now a giant outdoor billboard by the Renaissance Hotel of the Stanley Cup. Above the Cup it says, “Stanley Cup Playoffs, 2017” with the Blue Jackets insignia.
On Friday, March 10th, the Stanley Cup billboard replaced a prior banner of Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
This billboard placement a month prior to the end of the regular season concluding was a bold move by the Blue Jackets marketing department. For a team that has never made it past the first round, just seeing a picture of Lord Stanley’s Cup in downtown Columbus was somewhat startling.
When I posted the picture of the billboard on social media, some people even called it a jinx.
I started to think of the brilliance behind the timing of the billboard placement. This isn’t like the Blue Jackets prior two playoff runs where they clinched a spot in the final week or two of the season.
This year’s Blue Jackets team has been near the top of the NHL standings all season long, thanks in large part due to their 16 game win streak. Blue Jackets players and fans aren’t just happy to make it to the dance this year, they want to advance. With one of the best goaltenders in the world and a young and talented team that seems to mature by the day, who says they can’t go on a run?
Blue Jackets fans don’t have to worry about whether or not they’ll make the playoffs this year. They need to be thinking of the bigger picture, the Stanley Cup. The giant Stanley Cup billboard is proof of this.