NHL Scientists Discover Team from Ohio

By Nathan RabeSportsonastick.comApril 10, 2009 Researchers from the National Hockey League made a surprising breakthrough last Tuesday when they discovered evidence of an NHL franchise in central Ohio.  The team, which calls itself the "Blue Jackets", actually practices and plays in downtown Columbus.   This has come as a shock to Ohio residents, including seven-year Columbus resident Jeffrey Inkowski. "I've been living here for years, and now we find out we have an NHL hockey team?  I thought all those teams were from Canada."  But scientists claim they have evidence proving the team has existed since 2000.  The team of scientists made the discovery while performing team-by-team analysis on the recently released 2009 NHL playoff picture.  Dominant NHL teams like the Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils, and Montreal Canadiens have well-established league success, and frequently appear in the NHL playoffs.  As such, they are well-known among NHL executives, researchers, fans, and even those with passing knowledge of sports.  But the Columbus Blue Jackets have never had any NHL success, and the scientists point to this as the key reason their existence has gone almost completely unnoticed.  Lead scientist Alvin Thompson presented the findings to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman earlier this week.  Bettman, too, found the discovery intriguing.  "We're very surprised to learn about the existence of the Columbus Blue Jackets.  We thought we knew about all the noteworthy NHL franchises, but this discovery gives us hope that other NHL caliber teams teams may exist." Bettman has authorized Thompson to conduct follow-up research into the discovery of other new NHL franchises.  Thompson recently revealed plans to search the American Southwest to substantiate rumors of something called the Phoenix Coyotes, but he and his team are strong doubters that they will find another team playing at the NHL level.