When Jack Johnson signed with Columbus in the offseason, the veteran defenseman was looking forward to getting to know his new teammates.
Especially people from the same alma mater.
Johnson is a graduate of the University of Michigan, and the Wolverines have alums on their team.
They spend their time together in Ann Arbor bonding in the locker room, on the team plane, and at team dinners during away games.
“It’s definitely fun to share similar stories,” Johnson said. “We have a lot of similar stories, even though I was there much earlier than they were.”
Fellow defenseman and University of Michigan graduate Zach Werenski was one of two current Blue Jackets teammates with Johnson during his first stint in Columbus.
He was coached by Johnson when he first entered the league and was excited to have a player back in the CBJ locker room who is willing to help young players develop throughout the season.
“I was young when Jack was here, and he was someone I looked up to when I was younger,” Werenski said. “I always said he was a Michigander, so it was easy to get to know him, and he was nice and protective of me.”
Johnson played for the Blue Jackets for seven years from 2012 to 2018, playing in 445 games and scoring 154 points for the club while playing defense. Since his first stint in Columbus, he has played for four teams in six years and won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022 before signing a one-year deal to return to his hometown for the offseason. So far this season, he has appeared in five of the team’s six games.
In addition to helping players improve on the ice, Johnson was also a great friend to Werenski, even from their time playing for other NHL teams. Now that he’s back, the two have rekindled their relationship and continued to hang out with each other early in the season.
“I think in the (locker) room we were always talking about college football and the NFL and things like that. We were always hanging out together,” Werenski said. “So I’m excited to get back on the road with them and play like crazy.”
Johnson has also started working as a mentor to the team’s younger players. He sat next to Adam Fantilli on the team plane, and the two formed an important bond with Fantilli in the short time they became teammates.
“I spend all my time with him in the dining room or sit next to him on the plane, and he just tells me so many stories,” Fantilli said. “Whenever I need advice, I go to him. Whenever I need an opinion, I go to him.”
He also enjoys talking with Johnson about their time in Ann Arbor as a way to establish a mutual connection beyond the ice.
“It’s amazing,” Fantilli said. “(He was at Michigan) definitely a lot earlier than I was, but a lot of the things are still the same and we can joke about it so it’s fun.”
Johnson plans to invite all of the team’s young players to his home for dinner and meet their families.
“I told them, we have to invite them to dinner, and we have to make sure they get home-cooked food and stuff like that,” Johnson said.
He also said he plans to take them out to dinner during the team’s road trip, a commitment he has already made when the team opens the season in Minnesota.
“He was really gracious to take us with him in Minnesota,” Fantilli said. “He didn’t have to do that. But yeah, he was great.”
