Boone Jenner, the Blue Jackets’ captain, had decided to change the team’s postgame locker room award before last season and prior to Johnny Gaudreau’s tragic death.
Getting a new head coach, Dean Evason, provided a natural transition to something other than the Civil War era Kepi hat the Jackets passed around, but Jenner needed a replacement. His light bulb moment arrived in the days after Gaudreau’s death, when a conversation with assistant equipment manager Dustin “Dusty” Halstead became the genesis of the donkey hat.
Jenner and the Blue Jackets’ leadership group suggested Gaudreau’s workout shoes be used somehow, but Halstead’s plan for Erik Gudbranson’s gear prompted a different idea.
“Dusty was joking about maybe putting a donkey on one of Goody’s pieces of equipment or something, just because John always called everybody a ‘donkey’ … but especially Goody,” Jenner said. “He was saying that, and we were talking about the player of the game award, and then me and Dusty were just sitting there, and he said, ‘We should get a hat.’ I was like, ‘Boom, there it is. Donkey hat for player of the game.’ ”
Jenner wasn’t around to give out the first one last season in Denver. He was recovering from shoulder surgery, so Zach Werenski presented it to Sean Monahan, one of Gaudreau’s closest friends. It was a touching moment, and humorous enough that even Monahan cracked a joke about Gaudreau probably laughing at him.
That was the Blue Jackets’ first win of the season, splitting a tough two-game opening trip. One year later, they did it again. After losing a tough-luck opener Oct. 9 in Nashville 2-1. the Jackets earned their first victory by lighting up the scoreboard on Oct. 11 with a 7-4 victory over the Minnesota Wild.
Jenner scored his 200th career goal into an empty net to seal it, his first as a dad, and then stood before his teammates to hand out the first donkey hat. Lauding goalie Elvis Merzlikins (48 saves) and both special-teams units, the Blue Jackets’ captain shifted to family.
“We talk about being a team, being a family,” he said. “Somebody’s battled harder than us for two-plus months now that’s in our family, and Dusty … is back with her right now.”
The first donkey hat of 2025-26 was remotely issued to 12-year old Quinn Halstead, the 12-year old daughter of the same Blue Jackets equipment manager, Dusty, who helped Jenner come up with it.
Quinn Halstead, who plays for the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets girls program, was diagnosed in August 2025 with a rare brain tumor. According to a GoFundMe page created by her relatives, she has undergone 10 surgeries, including the most recent this month.
Quinn’s recovery could keep her out for the entire season, but there’s hope she will eventually return to ice with full health. As she heals, the Blue Jackets are keeping the Halsteads in their thoughts. Multiple players made donations to the Go Fund Me drive, Merzlikins has a “Quinn” sticker on his mask, and Jenner almost choked up while awarding her the donkey hat.
“This is for Quinn, all that she’s been through, and we played for her tonight,” Jenner said. “This is going to her. We wish you the best of luck. Keep recovering, keep battling. We love you guys. This is for you!”
The Blue Jackets have talked a lot already about unity and sticking together like family. They mourned the loss of Gaudreau together, several mourned goalie Matiss Kivlenieks’ tragic death together in July 2021 and now they’re rallying around the Halstead family.
The sight of Jenner’s speech and hat decision moved Evason enough to cite the moment as further evidence of the team’s bond.
“Boone Jenner’s our captain, right?” Evason said. “At the end of the game, we give out the donkey hat. He gave the hat to our trainer Dusty’s daughter, who’s going through some stuff. And to have somebody do that is absolutely incredible. Quinn is going through a battle, and for them to think about her after a big win like that? That tells you a lot about our leadership group.”
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social