Nathan Horton decided to give back to the Columbus community on Thursday night.
Nathan Horton has been a welcome addition to the Columbus Blue Jackets on the ice this season, and on Thursday night, he was a welcome addition to the community off the ice.
Horton, whose father is a police officer, purchased 1,000 tickets to the Blue Jackets' game against the San Jose Sharks and gave them to local police officers, firefighters and EMTs.
Big thanks to Nathan Horton, who bought 1,000 tickets for police officers, firefighters & EMT's for tonight's game! #CBJ
— NHL Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) March 13, 2014The Blue Jackets signed Horton to a seven-year, $37.7 million contract as a free agent this past summer.
He missed the first three months of the season while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and has four goals to go with 11 assists in 25 games since making his debut. With him in the lineup Columbus has won 17 of 25 games and has climbed to one of the top-three spots in the Metropolitan Division as the team tries to make the playoffs for the first time since 2008-09 and just the second time in franchise history.