2 star Blue Jackets players say goodbye, fans react



millennial | writer | human
The fears all season finally came to fruition for the Columbus Blue Jackets as star winger Artemi Panarin and star goalie Sergei Bobrovsky both signed to new teams on July 1, the first day of free agency in the NHL.
Panarin will be suiting up for the New York Rangers now as the highest paid winger in the league, reports ESPN. Bobrovsky took his talents to the Florida Panthers on a seven year contract, reports NHL.com. Additionally, center Matt Duchene signed with the Nashville Predators.
After the best playoff run in franchise history, both Panarin, affectionately known as The Bread Man, and Bobrovsky, Bob for short, took to social media to thank Columbus one last time before heading to their new squads.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
Bob was the first of the day to announce his move.
“I decided to move on. I write my own story and today that’s my decision. I want to thank fans from the bottom of my heart for all support and excitement during my 7 years in CBJ. I want to thank city of Columbus. This city has been treating me and my family very well, no matter what.”
Shortly after, Panarin announced his decision, too.
“I was very happy to play for Columbus. I hope you won’t be too mad at me😉 You live only once.”
And as always, fans had opinions. Some chose to focus on the good times we had. And, boy, were those times good.
bye bread 🍞
— Nasher (@TheNasher61) July 1, 2019
whatever happens, we’ll never forget this moment. #CBJ
pic.twitter.com/1yHegrXcMy
An absolute unit on the ice. It won’t be as fun to match up against him divisionally, but his time here was an absolute blast and I’m gonna miss him!
— Kyle (free trial) (@arnottky) July 1, 2019
no reason we can’t be classy and hurt at the same time.
— jp (@hotspurjp) July 1, 2019
Wish you the best Bob, we didn’t always get yours in the playoffs but I appreciate the effort you put in for our team over the years.
Others weren’t as gentle. It’s all apart of the healing process, Columbus. We’ll get through this together. That being said, it seems like there’s different emotions for Panarin’s departure compared to Bob’s.
Example for Panarin:
Amen
— Sultan of Swing (@LucasLightle) July 2, 2019
Compared to Bob:
— Alex Bates (@CBJAlex_lax) July 1, 2019
But in reality, this pretty much sums up all of yesterday for Jackets fans.
— Scientific goalie (@keepaofdabonez) July 1, 2019