All aboard! Jackets take the train from Montreal to Ottawa

From rolling through urban Montreal through the snowy fields and small towns of southern Quebec and Ontario and back into the city of Ottawa, the Blue Jackets did more than travel from Tuesday night's game locale to the site of Friday's upcoming clash.
They took a trip back in time.
In a journey that harkened back to years gone by when NHL teams would travel to one city to another via the rails, Columbus traveled via train from Montreal to Ottawa after an hourlong practice Thursday at Centre Bell.

The VIA rail car from Montreal Central Station to Ottawa Station transported Blue Jackets team members and staff over a two-hour span, with comments such as, "This is awesome," and "Nice way to travel, huh?" overheard along the way.
The Blue Jackets aren't the only NHL team to ride the rails in recent years. In the northeast corridor, where the teams are a lot closer geographically, it's more common; John Tortorella's Rangers teams in New York would occasionally do so, and the head coach was a fan.
"I am pumped for the train ride," Tortorella said before the team took off from Montreal. "I think it's great. I think that's the way we should travel everywhere, quite honestly, but it's just not feasible."

Other teams have done it as a novelty as well in recent years. When Nick Foligno played for the Senators, the team started to take the train en route to Montreal both for its simplicity and to beat the traffic. The first time they did so, players donned old-time regalia, the same thing the
Flames did when traveling
from Philadelphia to Washington D.C. in 2017.
This time around, the only Blue Jacket to get into the spirit was defenseman David Savard, who wore a wide-brimmed hat for the occasion.
"We screwed up," Tortorella admitted. "We didn't even talk about that. I think Savy is doing it up today with something on his head, I'm not sure what it's called, but I'm remiss in missing that. We should have. That's something we'll do in the future. It's good for the team."

Taking the train rather than any other mode of transportation helped break up what is a four-day road swing. Tortorella had the original idea and director of team services Julie Gamble helped make it a reality.
Team members sat in a players-only car at the front of the train, while staff members took a second car with luggage in the third. A snack and a full meal were served along the way.
"There are some guys on the team who have never even been on a train," Seth Jones said. "It should be pretty cool. It's was nice to have a couple of days here (in Montreal). This trip has been broken up a little bit. We had a good practice, and we'll get on the train and be ready to go tomorrow."