from Allison Lukan of FoxSports Ohio,

A cannon isn't something that goes on an everyday shopping list, but when the Columbus Blue Jackets decided they wanted one for Nationwide Arena, nothing was going to hold them back.

"In August of 2007, we got the message that the team wanted a cannon," said Mike Todd, who has served as the team's in-game arena host since 2003. "It had been tossed back and forth if we should get it or not to match the Civil War theme, and eventually they decided to go ahead."

Through an Internet search, a potential vendor was found. Todd and then-director of game operations Kimberly Kershaw packed their bags and headed to meet Chris Olson, who built cannons for Civil War reenactments, in Pontoon Beach, Ill., about fifteen miles northeast of St. Louis.

"We pull up to this place, it's out of the way, off a gravel road and there's an older gentleman who looked like a Civil War soldier himself," Todd said. "He said, 'Yeah, I build cannons and I've got one here if you want to take a look at it.'"

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