NHL All-Star Skills Competition: Blue Jackets' Ryan Johansen steals the show

Adam Cairns | DISPATCH

Captain Nick Foligno, right, leads his team’s “Flying V” formation on the third breakaway challenge attempt by Blue Jackets teammate Ryan Johansen, left.

Ryan Johansen played to the masses, tugged at heartstrings and turned 1990s nostalgic on Saturday night, making the NHL All-Star Skills Challenge the latest stop on his ascendency to becoming one of the league’s stars.

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Michael Arace commentary: Blue Jackets' Sergei Bobrovsky deserved better fate

The Blue Jackets' Sergei Bobrovsky was to make his first All-Star appearance Sunday night at Nationwide Arena, his building. Rarely do stars align like this for any player, anywhere. Never will they again for Bobrovsky. It is not to be. A day before the All-Star break, Bobrovsky suffered an injured groin. He is a scratch — for another month, at least. There went the weekend.

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Ohio State football: Braxton Miller hints he will stick around for 2015

Adam Cairns | Dispatch

Cardale Jones, center, hands the national title trophy to fellow quarterback Braxton Miller as J.T. Barrett looks on at Ohio Stadium.

Braxton Miller took part in the celebration at Ohio Stadium for the national championship team Saturday, and he dropped a hint to the crowd of 45,000 that he wants to be part of another one in a year’s time.

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Bob Hunter commentary: Championship celebration helps cement fans' love for Buckeyes

Nothing says more about the passion for Ohio State football than a cold, mule-gray morning at the Shoe in late January.

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NHL All-Star presence testifies to John H. McConnell’s passion

Eamon Queeney | DISPATCH

Hockey fans, some wearing Blue Jackets gear, head into Nationwide Arena for the NHL All-Star Skills Competition.

John H. McConnell, the late majority owner of the Blue Jackets, bridged the old world to the new in making Columbus a hockey city. He was not alone in this formidable task, but his conviction reached down to his wallet.

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The Latest From

The Locker Room

NHL: Commissioner Gary Bettman unveils new World Cup event

Eamon Queeney | DISPATCH

Ryan Johansen of the Blue Jackets wows the home crowd with a Braxton Miller jersey during the breakaway challenge.

The NHL has long espoused to be something far more than its 30 teams playing a seasonal schedule on a single continent. On Saturday, the league and the players union announced the return of the World Cup of Hockey, taking the “first step in our joint vision for international hockey,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said during a news conference at Nationwide Arena.

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Men's basketball: Ohio State survives at Northwestern

Nam Y. Huh | Associated Press

Northwestern center Alex Olah and Ohio State center Trey McDonald wrestle over a loose ball during the first half.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Six points ahead of Northwestern after a pair of three-pointers by D’Angelo Russell, Ohio State withstood three missed one-and-one free-throw opportunities and a turnover in the final minute last night to beat Northwestern 69-67 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

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Bob Hunter commentary: NHL All-Star Game deserves spot among city’s great events

Thirteen years ago, the Greater Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau conducted a vote to determine the top sports moment in the city’s history, but the results made a lot of us glad that the hard-working people at the convention bureau weren’t handling the fall elections.

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NHL All-Star Game: New dad Nash expects to enjoy weekend here

KYLE ROBERTSON | Dispatch

At the All-Star break, the Rangers’ Rick Nash has 28 goals — tied for the NHL lead.

Rick Nash knows there will be boos this weekend when he represents the New York Rangers in the Skills Competition on Saturday and in the NHL All-Star Game on Sunday. “It’s awkward,” Nash said, with a chuckle.

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Blue Jackets: Foligno taps into potential

Lynne Sladky | Associated Press

The encouragement of coach Todd Richards helped Nick Foligno realize he can be a star player in the NHL.

Above the main entrance of Nationwide Arena hangs the supersize images of four NHL All-Stars: Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos, Chicago’s Patrick Kane, Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and the Blue Jackets’ Nick Foligno. That Foligno would ever be clustered with players of that ilk — much less part of an NHL marketing scheme — was unthinkable even three months ago.

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NHL All-Star Game players

Note: Players will be drafted by team captains at 8 tonight in the Greater Columbus Convention Center. TV: NBC Sports Network

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NHL All-Star Game: Format changes with times

Steven Senne | ASSOCIATED PRESS

Hockey greats Gordie Howe, left, and Wayne Gretzky enjoying a moment during All-Star Weekend in 1999 in Tampa, Fla.

The NHL All-Star Game in Nationwide Arena on Sunday won’t look anything like a regular league game. There will be no hits, very few penalties, only a sprinkling of blocked shots — most of them by accident — and absolutely, positively no fights.

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