Dispatch videos

Enlarge ImageNeal C. Lauron | DISPATCHSpeaker Robert Allen, left, addresses a crowd of Blue Jackets fans who gathered at Nationwide Arena to protest the state of the team and call for a change in management.

It didn’t matter. Just as church-goers in need of spiritual healing are satisfied to receive it from “Father” or “Reverend,” this victory-starved hockey congregation seemed content with the good “Capn” playing a role akin to that of a preacher at a religion revival.

He set the tone for an event that was as much a love-in for the Blue Jackets as it was a demand for team president Mike Priest and general manager Scott Howson to be replaced. He seemed to speak for all of them.

“We are here today, not of anger, but of love for this team,” CapnCornelius said.

There were several “yeahs.” Lots of cheers. No hallelujahs, surprisingly, but a spirited crowd of about 250 outside Nationwide Arena veered close to that on several occasions.

On a bright, cold afternoon that would have been perfect for a game of pond hockey and seemed less than perfect for speech-making, it was impossible not to be impressed by what happened here. Six speakers, including Bennett and the MC, delivered intelligent, well-prepared speeches critiquing the on-ice failures of the Blue Jackets and expressed their exasperation over their belief that majority owner John P. McConnell can’t see the connection between the losing and the team’s management.

“There are some who believe that a little tweaking … will turn the ship,” Robert Allen said.

Allen made the trip to Nationwide from Louisville, Ky., for the occasion, just as he often does for Jackets games.

“The current management team has already tried this several times over the years and the results are the same — losing,” he said. “Perhaps the ones doing the tweaking are doing it wrong. … I don’t think the same people tweaking in the past should be the same ones tweaking in the future.”

That sentiment was echoed in all of those prepared speeches. Then organizers invited anyone who wanted to speak to take the mike and say what was on their minds.

One by one, fans stepped up and professed their love for the team, testified to their unhappiness with the team’s management and confessed that they were willing to accept just about any solution that would lead to winning. It was a form of catharsis that these hockey devotees needed after 11 years of losing.

On a day that the NHL announced the All-Star Game will be played in Columbus in 2013, the fans made a compelling case. One speaker asked if the team would even have an All-Star on the team next year, which would be an embarrassment of unspeakable proportions. This year’s team, last in the NHL standings, has none.

Although some might question who or what is to blame for that — injuries definitely have had some effect on this disastrous season — we know that at least 250 of the team’s most devoted followers believe management is responsible. Several criticized McConnell’s recent quote in The Dispatch that Priest “doesn’t have anything to do with” the team’s on-ice performance.

As promised, McConnell made sure “hot liquids” were available for the fans, a nice gesture that provided the perfect setup for CapnConelius. He thanked McConnell for giving the fans a “cup of coffee,” then hoisted a replica of the Stanley Cup and said, “This is the cup we want.”

While the fans chanted “we want the Cup,” their preacher held the cup aloft and mugged for the cameras the way the real stars do after winning it.

Cannon Fodder Podcast

Cannon Fodder is the podcast from The Dispatch sports team covering the Blue Jackets. Tune in for lively discussions about the ta and the rest of the NHL. Subscribe to the show through its RSS feed or iTunes.

Commentary from the Dispatch

Columnist Michael Arace shares his thoughts on the Blue Jackets and the NHL.