#CanesDads: A Day in Columbus

WASHINGTON - The Carolina Hurricanes are traveling with a larger-than-usual crew this weekend, as player and staff fathers have joined their sons for the team's annual Dads Trip.
Along for the ride are dads trips veterans like Henry Staal and Ken Ward and some rookies like Harri Aho, Robert Hanifin, James McGinn and Brian Pesce.

After taking in Friday night's tilt against Pittsburgh in Raleigh, the dads joined their sons on Canes Air for the short flight to Columbus.
The Canes didn't skate as a team on Saturday morning, but Eddie Lack and Bryan Bickell went over to the rink for some on-ice work. Wille Lack tagged along.

At noon, it was time for a visit to the Jack Nicklaus Museum, which is located on the campus of Ohio State University.

"You don't recognize this group, but they shouldn't be self-guided," Ken Ward joked.

The 24,000 square-foot facility featured an impressive wide array of educational material and mementos and memorabilia from Nicklaus' historic career.

On the ride back to the hotel, the bus driver drove the dads past Ohio Stadium, a massive structure that is cathedral-like in nature. I couldn't imagine what the scene is like on a college football Saturday.
That night, the Canes dads settled in to their suite at Nationwide Arena, where they watched their sons battle the Blue Jackets in a Metropolitan Division match-up.

The result didn't pan out in the Canes' favor, but the dads did get to see their sons erase a 2-0 deficit in the second period - and that didn't disappoint.

The Hurricanes and their dads then made their way to our nation's capital, where the Hurricanes will square off with the Washington Capitals on Monday night. First up on Sunday: a team practice at Verizon Center, followed by a team dinner and NFL conference championship Sunday viewing.