from Shawn Roarke of NHL.com,
In a week's time, Columbus gets to put its hockey growth in front of fans of the NHL when the All-Star Game comes to Nationwide Arena.
The growth of the Blue Jackets, who are again morphing into a team to be respected across the rest of the League after its playoff showing last year and weathering those early-season injuries to key players, will be in the narrative.
The hockey infrastructure also will be part of the tale that needs to be told during hockey's midseason gala.
But the growth of Columbus as a city and supporter of professional hockey will be perhaps the most evident story of the weekend.
The fans who crammed Nationwide Arena last spring proved this is a major-league city that has allowed the Blue Jackets to ease, ever so slightly, the stranglehold enjoyed here by the Ohio State football program.
Word is getting out, louder and faster by the day, that hockey is a big part of the fabric.
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