"Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash will play in Nationwide Arena today for two points in the NHL standings. After the game, he expects to board a chartered jet bound for Vancouver, where he will play for the pride of his nation.

Representing the home team is about to take on a different meaning for Nash, 25, a member of the Canadian Olympic hockey team. He'll leave behind a fan base that celebrated a seventh-place finish in the Western Conference last season for one that will mourn any result short of a gold medal.

Playing in such an environment of high expectations, one that cannot be simulated in Columbus, could have a positive impact on Nash and the Blue Jackets should he succeed.

"It will be good for him. It certainly will be the most pressure he's ever felt in his career," Jackets general manager Scott Howson said. "He's going to be able to draw on this experience going forward.

"Hockey supremacy goes right to the heart of Canada. It's really important to Canadians that we believe we are the best at it."

Four years ago, Nash was a bit player on a Canadian team that finished a shocking seventh in Turin, Italy. He was never so pleased to see Port Columbus and land in a city far removed from the Olympic fallout.

"It was embarrassing, obviously," Nash said. "I was happy I didn't have to go back to Canada."

But the four-time NHL All-Star, who is sheltered by this market's relative anonymity, will have no safe harbor if things go poorly this time.

How has Nash's status evolved over the past four years? He might be a wingman for a fellow passenger, Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, when their plane touches down in Vancouver."