The Columbus Blue Jackets are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio, United States. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). They are the easternmost team located in the Western Conference, being only a three-hour drive along Interstate 70 from the nearest Eastern Conference team, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Preceded in Ohio's capital by the Columbus Chill of the ECHL and the state of Ohio in general by the Cleveland Barons, the Blue Jackets were founded as an expansion team in 2000. The team qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 2009. They had previously been the only active NHL team not to qualify.

The Blue Jackets' name and logos were inspired by Ohio's rich Civil War history. Rick Nash, David Vyborny, Ray Whitney, Fredrik Modin, Steve Mason, Geoff Sanderson, R. J. Umberger and Sergei Fedorov are some of the prominent NHL figures to have donned a Columbus jersey. In February 2010 Ken Hitchcock was fired as head coach; Scott Arniel was hired as the new head coach on June 7, 2010. Current general manager Scott Howson started in 2007. The Blue Jackets play their home games in downtown Columbus at Nationwide Arena, which opened in 2000. In 2010, they afflilated with the Fort Wayne Komets of the CHL.