Blue Jackets fan tweets facts, wears his love

Orient man shares his wealth of knowledge, jersey collection

Jason “Jas” Chaffin is a Columbus Blue Jackets savant of sorts.

Ask him the height of a certain 2002 Columbus Blue Jackets draft pick from Russia and he’s quick to recall just how tall Sergei Mozyakin stands, even though the winger didn’t play a game in the NHL.

And Chaffin can easily rattle off the players who attended the 2011 Blue Jackets training camp — or any training camp really.

“That seventh-round draft pick from wherever in Saskatchewan – I can talk about him until your ears go bloody,” Chaffin said with a laugh.

A fan of the Jackets since the inaugural season and lifelong hockey fan, the 37-year-old Orient resident from Pickaway County has run a Twitter account called @cbjprospects since March 2010. The

account chronicles each of the team’s draft picks and how they’re doing on their collegiate, minor league or international team.

“When I started this, it was back when Twitter wasn’t as big,” said Chaffin, who works in distribution. “You didn’t hear a lot about these players … until they made their debut.”

So he started researching them extensively and tweeting out what he discovered.

Now, nearly 12 years later, that account has roughly 4,500 followers, including players, their families and journalists who have at times quoted Chaffin because of his expertise.

Jeff Svoboda, team reporter for the Blue Jackets, said it’s clear how much time, research and passion Chaffin puts into the effort.

“He’s a good resource,” Svoboda said. “He has an encyclopedia of knowledge and can remember when a guy was drafted or even if he just came to a try out.”

Svoboda is quick to point out that perhaps even more impressive than Chaffin’s ability to keep track of all the team’s prospects is the jersey collection he has of those players and other hockey legends.

There’s the Edmonton Oil Kings jersey featuring 2017 draft pick Trey Fixwolansky, who played for the Cleveland Monsters in the American Hockey League until an injury sidelined him in March. He also has a French men’s national hockey team jersey for current Blue Jackets forward Alexandre Texier.

Two personal favorites, Chaffin said, include his Jody Shelley Halifax Mooseheads sweater and a Chewbaccathemed one from New Albany native Kole Sherwood’s time with the Flint Firebirds.

As the Blue Jackets open their season at home Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes, Chaffin will be in Nationwide Arena wearing a Sioux City Musketeers jersey. That’s the juniors team Matiss Kivlenieks – the Blue Jackets goalie who died this summer after a fireworks accident – played for when he was younger.

Chaffin, whose collection boasts more than 160 jerseys, rarely wears one with a Blue Jackets logo.

“People will stop and ask me, ‘OK wait, what is this jersey?’” Chaffin said. “People love it.”

Often, Chaffin and his father, Randy, attract the attention of players’ family members, and the unique game attire

provides a fun way to meet people – especially those who think they’re related to the players.

“People always ask me, ‘Are you his dad?’” Randy Chaffin said about other fans’ reactions to him wearing a young

prospect’s jersey. “I tell them it’s just a fun jersey in my son’s collection.”

Tracking down those jersey’s isn’t always easy, either. It has involved traveling to minor league games across the country and navigating difficult customs regulations for players competing abroad.

The Chaffins travel to the draft most years as well as the prospects tournament in Traverse City, Michigan.

Jas Chaffin said he can’t wait for opening night this year, not only to see how prospects like right winger Yegor Chinakhov and center Cole Sillinger begin to fit in on the team, but also just to be back for hockey in Nationwide Arena with a full house at a regular-season game.

Crowd sizes were severely limited last season due to the pandemic.

Win or lose Chaffin typically has a positive attitude surrounding his team, Svoboda said, as he always has one eye on the future with his passion for younger players.

“It’s an exciting time to care about Blue Jackets prospects,” Svoboda said. “We had a great draft and brought in a lot of fun guys. We had three first-round draft picks. The team definitely restocked its prospect pool.”

Even with all the new faces around the team, Chaffin said he’s optimistic Columbus won’t be terrible this year. But even if they are, the sport is about much more than winning to him.

“Just enjoy the year,” Chaffin said. “People will be in the arena again. It’s a full 82-game season. Hockey makes me happy. I’ll be happy to be there.” award@dispatch.com @Allisonaward

ADAM CAIRNS/COLUMBUS DISPATCH Jason “Jas” Chaffin, sifting through his massive hockey jersey collection, runs a Twitter account that chronicles each of the Columbus Blue Jackets’ draft picks and how they’re doing on their collegiate, minor league or international team.

PHOTOS BY ADAM CAIRNS/COLUMBUS DISPATCH Jason “Jas” Chaffin wears the Russian KHL club Avangard Omsk jersey of Blue Jackets right winger Yegor Chinakhov. Some say his jersey collection, which has not been easy for him to put together, is more impressive than his knowledge.

Chaffin shows off his collection of jerseys. His Twitter account has roughly 4,500 followers, including players, their families and journalists who have at times quoted Chaffin because of his expertise.

Chaffin holds up the jersey he will wear to Thursday's season opener - a jersey from the Sioux City Musketeers, where Matiss Kivlenieks, who died in a fireworks accident, played when he was younger.