From the Booth: The Monsters are back!

From the Booth: Tony Brown, Playoffs, & a Return to Normalcy

Aug 21, 2020

Hello again Monsters fans, we’re back as we approach the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs from Edmonton and Toronto. This week I thought I’d reflect on the end of the Blue Jackets’ season, what it felt like to set foot back inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse recently, and a quick word on an upcoming responsibility.

 

Tweet any questions you may have – hockey-related or otherwise – using the #MonstersMailbag hashtag for a prompt reply next week!

 

 

1. Bubble Bursts for the Blue Jackets

Despite their best efforts, the Columbus Blue Jackets’ season came to an end on Wednesday with the club’s overtime loss to Tampa Bay in the fifth game of the first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series. While the end is always unwelcomed, my first and strongest feeling in the wake of the loss was a hopeful one.

 

It’s easy to forget just where the Blue Jackets were at the start of this season – frankly, left for dead by the national media almost entirely. The team’s two free agent stars had skipped town and the talk was of unproven goaltenders and a step backwards. Then, as the season progressed and the club soldiered on, an historic amount of injuries took their toll and transformed the team out of necessity.

 

Leaning on their league-best (in my book) defensive corps, the Jackets patched things together this year, made the pundits look foolish and were determined and relentless in their drive. Unless you win it all it ends too soon, but Columbus fans should smile at the thought of next year. The future is bright and progress awaits!

 

 

2. Back in the FieldHouse

For me, as I’m sure is true for many of you, this pandemic has been a pretty scary thing to wrap my head around and the anxiety over these months has been a challenge to confront. With all that in mind, I was so surprised at how not-nervous I felt hosting a recent event at the FieldHouse with some of our most-tenured Monsters Hockey Club members.

 

Not that it’s surprising, but it certainly reassures me that Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is totally committed to distancing, masks, hand hygiene – all the things that will allow us to get back to a normal footing as soon as possible.

 

I can’t express how great it was to see our dedicated front office staff and so many familiar fan faces again. It felt like home to hear our producers and engineers crackle through the headset and it was revitalizing to sit at the Joe Tait Perch to send my voice through the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse bowl. It’s a feeling I will never take for granted.

 

We will get back to normal eventually, but our return will truly be hastened by the commitment from RMFH and all of us to do the right thing and take care of one another every day. Keep fighting – we can do this!

 

 

3. Vote!

You may have already seen the recent announcement from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, but in a move that makes me even more proud to be a member of this organization, the FieldHouse will now serve as a polling location for the general election this November. 

 

With fewer than 80 days remaining before the election, check your voter registration, make a plan to vote in whatever manner works for you, and take pride in exercising these rights. They are so very important.

 

You can find more info online about Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse’s recent announcement.  

 

 

Take care everyone, so much hockey still to enjoy and the intensity builds each day. It’s a beautiful thing!

 

TB

 

Back to All