COLUMBUS, OHIO - Individual game tickets for Columbus Blue Jackets 2005 pre-season home games at Nationwide Arena will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, August 12, at the Nationwide Arena Ticket Office, the Blue Jackets Zones at Chiller Easton, Chiller Dublin, Chiller North and at all Ticketmaster Ticket Centers, the club announced today.

The club also announced individual game ticket prices for 2005-06 pre-season and regular season games (on sale Friday, September 16) will be $15, $22, $31, $40, $53, $69 and $71. Prices on sixty percent of the total seats available at Nationwide Arena, or nearly 10,800 seats, have been reduced. In addition, the price for Dispatch Family Night Packages to select games has been reduced from $88 to $80. The packages include four tickets, four Pepsis, four hot dogs, four popcorns and four UDF ice cream vouchers.

"We are entering into an exciting new era for our team and the NHL and it is important for us to give as many people as possible an opportunity to enjoy the great game of hockey," said club President and General Manager Doug MacLean. "We're happy to be able to offer our fans additional family friendly programs and pricing for what promises to be the best season yet of Blue Jackets hockey."

The Blue Jackets previously announced a new program that will offer a minimum of 250 tickets priced at $10 that will be available for purchase exclusively at the Nationwide Arena Box Office on the day of the each game only beginning at 5 p.m.

After opening the nine-game pre-season schedule with three home contests, the Blue Jackets hit the road for four straight before returning to Nationwide Arena to play the final two. The schedule features home-and-home match-ups with Central Division rivals Detroit, Chicago and Nashville along with a series against the Pittsburgh Penguins featuring the first overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, Sidney Crosby. The opener against the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday, September 18, which is free to all season ticket holders, rounds out the pre-season home slate. The following is the Blue Jackets' 2005 pre-season home schedule:

Date - Opponent (Location, Time)
Sunday, Sept. 18 - Buffalo Sabres (Nationwide Arena, 5 p.m.)
Monday, Sept. 19 - Pittsburgh Penguins (Nationwide Arena, 7 p.m.)
Thursday, Sept. 22 - Detroit Red Wings (Nationwide Arena, 7 p.m.)
Friday, Sept. 30 - Chicago Blackhawks (Nationwide Arena, 7 p.m.)
Sunday, Oct. 2 - Nashville Predators (Nationwide Arena, 5 p.m.)

The Blue Jackets pre-season schedule also includes four road games: September 23 at Nashville; September 25 at Chicago; September 27 at Pittsburgh; and September 28 at Detroit. For further details on the complete 2005-06 schedule, visit www.BlueJackets.com.

Tickets for Blue Jackets regular season games go on sale Friday, September 16 at 10 a.m. Tickets may be purchased at the Nationwide Arena Ticket Office, the Blue Jackets Zones at Chiller Dublin, Chiller Easton, Chiller North, all Ticketmaster ticket centers, by phone at (614) 431-3600 or via the internet at www.BlueJackets.com and ticketmaster.com. For information on full season tickets starting as low as $13 per game, mini-season ticket plans or group tickets, call (800) NHL-COLS.