BOLL HAS HUGE IMPACT IN FIRST YEAR WITH BLUE JACKETS

Former Whaler Jared Boll continues to make an impact in Plymouth as well

It’s fair to say that Jared Boll makes an impact, whether he’s on the ice with the Columbus Blue Jackets, interacting with Blue Jacket fans or coming to the Compuware Arena for a visit.

“He’s in the middle of the action in every game he plays,” Blue Jackets head coach Ken Hitchcock told the Columbus Dispatch early in the season. “That’s just the way he plays. He’s right up in your face.”

Boll spent some time at Compuware Arena Monday afternoon before visiting with billets Tom and Margaret Predhomme and then heading to Comerica Park to watch the Tigers take on the Minnesota Twins.

A season after spending two years with the Whalers, Boll didn’t look much different after a playing in the NHL. The smile and his pleasant tone of voice was exactly the same, in fact.

In an eventful rookie season in the National Hockey League, Boll scored five goals with five assists for 10 points in 75 games with Columbus this season while leading the Blue Jackets with 226 penalty minutes and leading the NHL with 27 fighting majors.

Boll made Columbus out of training camp, playing the same style there that won him so many fans during two seasons with the Whalers.

"I knew he was a prospect trying to crack the lineup. I knew of him but I didn't know him personally," Rick Nash said recently in BlueJackets.com. "In camp he was unbelievable, he was fighting everyone. He fights right now. He made a name for himself so quickly in his first year. He leads the league in fighting. You look at guys around the league like Darcy Tucker, Steve Ott and some of the other agitators. He's right up there in that class. He's going to have a long career disturbing their best players."

“Right after training camp, they told me to get a place (to live),” Boll said. “So I felt pretty comfortable then, but when you’re up there, you’re can never get too comfortable. Everybody’s trying to take your job and you can be sent down just as fast as you can make the team.”

He was busy at the NHL-level at the time, but Boll still had a long-range impact with the Whalers this year. Columbus games were shown regularly via satellite on the team bus, during team meals on the road or in Ginopolis on the Ice at Compuware Arena.

There was the night the Whalers defeated Sudbury, 5-3, on a Saturday night last November. Although there was plenty of good cheer in Ginopolis afterwards following the Plymouth victory, Boll’s scrap with Detroit’s Aaron Downey that evening was the buzz around the arena. 

Boll is soft-spoken about his craft.

“There were a lot of strong guys,” Boll said of his NHL fights. “I fought (Jarome) Iginla, (Jamal) Mayers and then towards the end of the season I fought an OHL grad – Cam Janssen – and he’s a pretty tough guy. So there’s a lot of tough guys and Janssen and Iginla are up there.”

Boll quickly became a fan favorite in Columbus this year and developed cult-hero status around the NHL. The beauty of the Ontario Hockey League is that fans of the OHL – love Boll or hate him – already appreciated what Boll brings to the rink.

“It was a blast,” Boll said. “Columbus has great fan support. I love doing my job and getting to know the fans in Columbus off the ice.”

Off the ice, there’s an adjustment for any rookie towards becoming an NHL regular.

“Getting adjusted to things was unbelievable,” Boll said. “My parents were down quite a bit. The older guys were a big help and even though we lost (Jody) Shelley and (Adam) Foote, they were a big help before getting traded. Mike Peca and our captain, Rick Nash, were a big help, too. They helped show me how to grow into a professional.”

Boll was asked to talk about the differences in the NHL and OHL. Current Whalers Chris Terry, Brett Bellemore and Jeremy Smith are getting a taste of professional hockey now.

“You have to work hard, no matter if it’s practice, games, pre-game skate, everything. You have to play your game, don’t change anything. Keep playing the way that got you there.”

Boll remembers his time in Plymouth fondly.

“It’s was unbelievable playing here. We had a great run last year and couldn’t have done it without the fans,” Boll said. “They supported us when we weren’t doing so well at the beginning of the year and they supported us is a big way during our run. I still remember a lot of them and thank them a lot. Hopefully, we’ll be off sometime next season and I’ll be able to come to a game.”

Plymouth fans would love to see that.