The Curse?

Sports curses are as old as the games themselves. The Chicago Cubs went 108 years without a World Series title, haunted by the legend of the Curse of the Billy Goat — a tavern owner who swore the Cubs would never win again after being thrown out of Wrigley Field with his pet goat in 1945. The Boston Red Sox suffered 86 years of heartbreak under the Curse of the Bambino, paying the price for trading Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1920. The Cleveland Browns have the Curse of Modell, born the day owner Art Modell ripped the franchise from Cleveland and moved it to Baltimore in 1995 — a city that hadn’t won a playoff game since. Even the Madden NFL video game has its own curse, with cover athletes dropping like flies to injury the season after they appear. Curses are the language fans speak when logic runs out — when talent and effort still aren’t enough to explain the suffering. And few franchises have suffered quite like the Columbus Blue Jackets.

This week,  marks the 96th anniversary of one of the darkest days in Ohio history. And if you’re a Columbus Blue Jackets fan, it just might explain everything.

On April 21, 1930, Easter Monday, a fire tore through the Ohio State Penitentiary in downtown Columbus. 322 inmates were killed and roughly 130 more were injured in what remains the deadliest prison fire in American history. The blaze started when a candle ignited oily rags on the roof of the West Block, set intentionally by three prisoners hoping to use the chaos as cover for an escape attempt. But the fire smoldered too long, erupting just after inmates had been returned to their cells for the evening. Many guards, upon seeing the smoke, ran — refusing to open the cell doors. The prisoners were trapped in cages as the fire grew and smoke filled their lungs.

322 people died on those grounds. Screaming for their lives. Locked in. No one coming to try to save them.

The area that is now occupied by Nationwide Arena, Huntington Park, Lower.com Field, and the surrounding entertainment district was once occupied entirely by the Ohio Penitentiary, which operated from 1834 until 1984. It sat vacant for over a decade before being completely demolished in 1995, making way for what is now the Arena District.

In the fall of 2000, the Columbus Blue Jackets played their first NHL game on that ground.

And nothing has gone right since.

Look, we’ve all heard about the Blue Jackets’ injury curse. It’s become almost a punchline at this point — except it’s NOT funny when you’re the fans living it. Season after season, the story is the same: promising roster, devastating injuries, missed playoffs. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

This year was SUPPOSED to be different. After the firing of Dean Evanson and the hiring of Rick Bowness on January 13^th. The Blue Jackets surged to second place in the Metropolitan Division at one point. The fanbase was BUZZING. Zach Werenski was playing like a Norris Trophy winner. Kirill Marchenko led the team with 27 goals and seven game-winners. Adam Fantilli, just 21 years old, chipped in 24 goals. This was REAL. This was the year.

Then the curse woke up.

Damon Severson — a stabilizing force on the top defensive pair — went down with a season-ending shoulder injury on March 26th. His absence was immediately felt: Columbus went 2-6-1 and allowed 3.44 goals per game without him. Dmitri Voronkov, a power forward who could’ve helped the offense down the stretch, also went down after blocking a shot on March 28th. Mathieu Olivier — the team’s best forechecker and an identity player — had his season ended too breaking his hand on Kasterlic’s face in the March 29^th battle with the Bruins.

The Blue Jackets went 2-7-1 in their final 10 games and fell completely out of playoff position. They finished 40-30-12 with 92 points, which points wise has been one of their best seasons in the 25 years. Any other year, it would’ve been good for at least a wildcard spot. This year? Fifth in the Metro. Out of the playoffs for the sixth straight season.

Sixth. Straight. Season.

Is it a curse? Rationally? No. Of course not. Curses aren’t real.  But RATIONALLY, how do you explain this franchise? Some of the Columbus residents who remember the history of the Ohio Penitentiary often express discomfort with how the arena dominates that site, feeling that the victims of the 1930 fire have never been properly honored. And here’s the kicker: to this day, there is no official state historical marker recognizing the tragedy. No one has even applied for one.

322 souls. Forgotten under the ice.

Maybe THAT’S the problem, Columbus. Maybe you can’t build a house of glory on top of that kind of pain and just pretend it never happened.

This franchise increased its point total for the fourth consecutive season. They ARE getting better, despite the fan frustration. The young core is real. Werenski is elite. Fantilli and Marchenko are ascending. Olivier is the Heavyweight Champion of the NHL, he’s feared by everyone, and he’s committed to Columbus for 6 more years. Conor Garland is a solid second liner, that’s locked up for 6 years. The future is genuinely bright. But until this city properly reckons with what happened on that ground 96 years ago; until those 322 names are acknowledged don’t be surprised if the hockey gods keep finding new and creative ways to break your heart.

Maybe curses can be broken. The Red Sox finally slayed the Bambino in 2004, ending 86 years of suffering with a historic comeback against the Yankees and a sweep of the Cardinals — and they’ve won three more titles since. The Cubs exorcised the Billy Goat in 2016 with one of the greatest World Series games ever played, ending a 108-year drought in extra innings on a rain-soaked night in Cleveland. But speaking of Cleveland — the Guardians haven’t won a World Series since 1948. The Browns haven’t sniffed a Super Bowl. The Cavaliers got their miracle in 2016, but LeBron had to come back to make it happen. Maybe it really IS just an Ohio thing. Or maybe — JUST maybe — the Blue Jackets can take a page out of the Columbus Crew’s book. This city watched the Crew nearly get relocated, fight back, build something real, and win MLS Cup championships in 2020 and 2023. Columbus has seen redemption before. The Blue Jackets have the young core, they have the talent, and they have the hunger.

The Blue Jackets deserve better. The fans deserve better.

And maybe, just maybe, so do the 322.

Follow RSN for more Columbus Blue Jackets coverage all offseason long. #HeavyReCoyle #RSN #RegenerationSportsNetwork #CBJ #BlueJackets #NationwideArena

Sources:

·  Union and Blue — “It’s time to genuinely admit that the Columbus Blue Jackets are cursed” (October 28, 2024) — https://unionandblue.com/it-s-time-to-genuinely-admit-that-the-columbus-blue-jackets-are-cursed-01jb7cxg3hmq

·  Columbus Navigator — “Forgotten History: The Great Columbus Prison Fire Of 1930” (November 4, 2021) — https://www.columbusnavigator.com/ohio-penitentiary-fire-1930/

·  American Hauntings — “Where The Dead Still Linger: Ohio State Penitentiary” — https://www.americanhauntingsink.com/ohiopen/

·  Morbidly Beautiful — “Ghosts on Ice: Haunted History of Nationwide Arena” (July 12, 2025) — https://morbidlybeautiful.com/columbus-nationwide-arena/

·  FM 96.9 The Game — “The Most Haunted Stadiums in the USA” — https://969thegame.iheart.com/featured/game-on-wygm/content/2019-10-11-the-most-haunted-stadiums-in-the-usa/

·  Wikipedia — “Ohio Penitentiary” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Penitentiary

·  10TV (WBNS Columbus) — “Ohio Penitentiary fire was worst in US history, but no historic marker exists” — https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/ohio-penitentiary-fire-worst-in-us-history-no-historic-marker-exists/530-466c1abb-391e-4c98-bdda-252f4dbba6ca

·  Ohio Memory / Ohio History Connection — “Fire at the Ohio Pen” — https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/archives/591

·  ABC 6 On Your Side (WSYX) — “Arena District’s tragic past: How overcrowding led to the 1930 Ohio prison fire tragedy” (May 12, 2025) — https://abc6onyourside.com/newsletter-daily/hidden-histories-ohio-state-penitentiary-1930-deadliest-fire-in-us-history-prison-system-reform-ohio-parole-board-established-arena-district-downtown-columbus

·  The Hockey News — “The 2025-26 Columbus Blue Jackets Injury Bug Wasn’t That Bad For A Change” — https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/columbus-blue-jackets/latest-news/the-2025-26-columbus-blue-jackets-injury-bug-wasnt-that-bad-for-a-change

·  NHL.com — “Blue Jackets struggle down stretch, miss playoffs for 6th straight season” — https://www.nhl.com/news/why-columbus-blue-jackets-are-eliminated-from-2025-2026-postseason-race

·  NHL.com (Blue Jackets) — “3 takeaways from start of the CBJ offseason” — https://www.nhl.com/bluejackets/news/three-takeaways-from-end-of-blue-jackets-season-rick-bowness

·  Yahoo Sports — “2025-26 Columbus Blue Jackets season recap” — https://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/teams/columbus/