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First of all, I never expected to be able to watch Friday night’s hockey game Columbus Blue Jackets and the Chicago Blackhawks. I made the mistake of assuming that because the game was in Chicago, it was blacked out -- a remnant of the oppressive regime that prevented even die-hard Chicagoans the privilege of watching a Blackhawks game in their own homes if the arena was not sold out on a given night. So, naturally, my significant other and I agreed to meet at our local BW3s after work for happy hour, figuring we can block out all the basketball and March Madness-related noise and just chill over a pint and some potato wedges.

So, a fellow fan walks in, and asks if they've switched over to the game yet. I inform him -- and erroneously, at that -- that the game is not televised probably because of the blackout. He then informs me that the game is televised in Chicago, and reminded me of something that should have occurred to me.

B-Dubs has DirecTV.

Yeah, I know. Duh.

So our bartender waits for the Xavier game to end and switches over to Comcast Chicago. As the last Big 10 tourney game had yet to start, my fellow fan and I asked if they could switch the audio over to the hockey game as well.

Breaking away from the story for a moment, let me share this: hearing a Blue Jackets hockey game in any bar in Columbus other than R Bar (hockey fans, give them some love) has been practically unheard of in my experience. This season, for instance -- when the Jackets have been quite good and quite fun to watch -- CBJ hockey audio has almost always been overruled by Cleveland Cavaliers basketball, OSU basketball, and on a couple rare occasions some interchangeable cop show on one of the major networks. My (least) favorite example was the night of January 9. The Columbus Blue Jackets were in the process of shutting out the Washington Capitals... for the second time this season. Were we listening to this game?

No. We were listening to the Buckeyes slaughtering Circleville Bible College.

Okay, it was actually Houston Baptist. However, let's honestly ask ourselves -- and I love the Buckeyes as much as the next guy -- why Ohio State is playing Houston Baptist. We all knew that game was over during the warm-ups.  However, Ohio State's scheduling is a topic for another day.

Back to Friday night. So, not only was nobody complaining about the audio interruption of conference tournament pregame shows and such... people cared. The noise level in the restaurant rose during scoring chances. It rose after great saves. And when Antoine Vermette scored the game's first goal only 45 seconds into the game... God help me, people went nuts. The noise level after that goal made me think of Pittsburgh fans during football season in the same bar.

"Is it possible that Columbus is becoming a hockey town?"

Was I catching this place on an off night? Did we luck out because the Buckeyes had already played Wisconsin earlier in the day, and won? I'm not quite sure that's the case, because first of all, I honestly recall that those who control the remotes are very cautious about the channels they choose, because they know their patrons. And why not? Bartenders know their clientele, and they what they're doing.

Second, they didn't switch to the Cavaliers' Central Division-clinching game against Sacramento until after the Columbus-Chicago game was over.

Now, this was also only 24 hours removed from the Jackets' shootout win over Pittsburgh in a sold-out Nationwide Arena that topped 19,000 people. And the Jackets are in sixth, and only a point out a fifth in the Western Conference. I know it's not even the first time this week that someone has asked this question in the Columbus market, but is it possible that Columbus is becoming a hockey town?

Now, I am a diehard hockey fan, a fact that puzzles and even annoys some people around me. I make no apologies for how much I love the sport. I have to tell you, I've really enjoyed not only this game, but the evening and the atmosphere in general.

The game itself was a little scary by early in the second period, when Chicago put together a couple quick goals to tie it up. But then Antoine Vermette nearly blew the roof off with a power-play goal toward the end of the period, and then the Jackets really didn't look back. All of a sudden, after a 4-2 loss to Nashville last week, Columbus has rattled off an 8-2 win against Detroit, a 2-0 shutout of the NHL-best Boston Bruins, a shootout win over Sidney Crosby and the Penguins, and the huge Central Division win over Chicago in a span of seven days. So far, Columbus is gone through Hell Week #1 looking pretty good, despite blowing a couple leads on Thursday and Friday. The team is seeing unprecedented success, but it is easy to see that the system is working, and recent acquisitions are working. Vermette got two goals Friday, and has a least one point in each of the four games he has played since coming to the Blue Jackets.

Sunday's game against Detroit should be very interesting. I am not about to tell you to expect an 8-2 to thrashing like the Jackets dished out last Saturday. I will tell you, however, to expect to see a very physical Detroit team that has performed fairly well, with the exception of the 8-0 and 8-2 losses they have taken the past two Saturdays.

As I've said before, the Central Division games are huge. The Jackets are now 7-7-1 against the Central Division, with nine division games to go. The good guys probably have to do better than 5-4 in these nine games to clinch. As for Sunday's game -- which is the last regular-season game against the Red Wings -- the Jackets go into the game with the chance to win the season series against the Red Wings, just like last year. The Blue Jackets are 3-2-0 against Detroit, having won the last three straight. Yes, they are just statistics -- but I'm enjoying the fact that Columbus has beaten Detroit the last three times. It just looks good when I read it.

Make no mistake, though. I expect a very physical game, and a very scrappy game. The Blue Jackets' role players have to step up. We saw Rick Nash get physical against Boston earlier this week. We have also seen him score 5 goals in the last four games, including that hat trick against Detroit last Saturday. We have seen some great things from Kristian Huselius this week as well -- with a goal in each of the last two games, and although his goal in the shootout against Pittsburgh does not count on his individual statistics, everyone knows what it meant to that game. And we cannot forget Steve Mason, who has carried this team throughout the season, and set a new record for wins by a Columbus goaltender Thursday night against Pittsburgh. And as I already mentioned above, Antoine Vermette is looking like a very good acquisition.

So, assuming the best for the Buckeyes’ men's basketball team, the championship game should be over in time for you to switch to the Columbus-Detroit game, in time to catch the rest of the first period.

Martin Poston can talk a lot of smack about hockey on www.tootoobites.blogspot.com, but he can’t even skate.

Tags: boston bruins, chicago blackhawks, columbus blue jackets, detroit red wings, nhl playoff push, pittsburgh penguins