The new Columbus Blue Jackets schedule is full of pranks.
OK, well, not exactly. The NHL team’s 2025-26 schedule itself is straightforward, but its July 16 release was accompanied by a team-produced prank video mimicking the “Jackass” television series. Call this one the “Blue Jackass” edition.
The Blue Jackets are not rookies when it comes to sending up widely watched programs. Their 2022-23 video is set to a Stranger Things theme.
The 2025-26 video begins with a warning for viewers not to replicate any of the ensuing pranks. Below that is a logo rendering of the team’s Stinger mascot and two crossed hockey sticks replacing the “Jackass” logo of a skull and crutches.
The video cuts to the first scene featuring head coach Dean Evason, an avid golfer, looking into the camera before teeing off on a golf course. Wearing dark sunglasses and holding a driver, Evason says his name and, “Welcome to Jackets,” before pulling the club into his backswing.
Unaware that Blue Jackets president/GM Don Waddell has tossed a prank ball straight into his swing path from the back side of the tee box, Evason follows through and literally smokes both balls — the real one flying downrange and the fake one exploding in a puff of smoke.
There is much rejoicing. (The scene, it’s later revealed, was done in one take.)
Then, the sound of a familiar guitar riff from the “Jackass” show plays to usher in a host of other pranks played at the expense of mostly Metropolitan Division rivals, plus a few other popular draws to Nationwide Arena.