from Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News,

In the late 1980s, pioneering gangsta rap group N.W.A. changed the face of hip hop with their us-against-the-world take on life. Nearly 25 years later, the Columbus Blue Jackets have echoed those three famous letters for that team's new marketing campaign and you couldn't find a more worthy franchise to identify with the hip hop crew's tales of alienation.

Now, the team’s “Defend NWA” battle cry has nothing to do with drive-by shootings and dice games and instead stands for “Defend Nationwide Arena,” home of the Blue Jackets. But the reason those outside of Ohio have taken notice of the campaign online is obviously because of the association with the group formed by Eazy-E in Compton, Calif.

And I say the Blue Jackets embrace it.

After all, this is Year Zero for the franchise. Hip hop's N.W.A. was effectively over when rapper Ice Cube left in a financial dispute, becoming a successful solo artist (later followed by Dr. Dre). Columbus just lost its greatest artist of all-time, Rick Nash – but instead of declining, the Jackets have a chance to rise up and stake a new identity.

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