There were bodies all over the ice. Nationwide Arena was so loud, it would have been hard to hear a sonic boom. There was a tidal wave of emotion. A storm of nervous energy.

This was what hockey fans envisioned when the NHL arrived here. Not just something to cheer. A game to scream about. A game that keeps people on their feet.

Blue Jackets fans wanted this one badly. They wanted it as much as anything in franchise history. They knew the local team probably wasn't going to come back from a 3-0 deficit and win its first Stanley Cup playoff series. So what?

The history only went so far. The first real playoff game after three abortive efforts didn't result in the first playoff win. With 1:34 remaining and the score tied at 5, the Blue Jackets were hit with a penalty for too many men on the ice. With 46.6 seconds left, Johan Franzen scored to give the Detroit Red Wings a 6-5 win and the series sweep.

It didn't feel as bad it might have, though. The first three games were Red Wings romps. The Blue Jackets looked completely out of the Red Wings' league, and another rout probably would have left the fans feeling cheated, even after the best season in team history.

When the game ended, the boos were for the officials, not the team. The Blue Jackets received a standing ovation. The players remained on the ice after the Detroit players departed, raised their sticks in appreciation for the fans' energy and received another ovation. It was a moving way to end the series after a difficult week.

The word embarrassing had slipped out Mike Commodore's mouth after the Blue Jackets' morning skate yesterday, and he spent the next 10 minutes trying to put it back.

It was an awkward moment. Getting manhandled by the defending Stanley Cup champions wasn't embarrassing, exactly. It was humbling. It was frustrating. It was trying. The defenseman used all of those words, and added that the Red Wings are "a world-class hockey team" and "these three games, it's the best I've ever seen any team play."

But in a way, Commodore was speaking to the city, which had waited eight years for its first playoff experience. He knew how Jackets fans must be feeling, which is probably why that awful word even came up.

For the city, it had been a lot like a kid jumping out of bed, sprinting to the family room and finding nothing under the tree on Christmas.

As a first playoff experience, it still felt a little bit like a holiday.

One present, a win, would have been nice. But this was at least a more acceptable way to go out. To get swept in four blowouts would have been tough.

Sweeps happen. As bad as they feel, it's not really embarrassing, especially when a heavy underdog gets swept. It has happened to Montreal and St. Louis, which had already been swept by Boston and Vancouver, respectively, this playoff season, and the heavy underdog description also fit Columbus. The only difference here is that this was the first, and that the fans had been waiting so long just to see a playoff game in their town.

With a little prodding, Commodore said yesterday morning that one win would "go a long way, not only in here, but with the fans." He knew that coming back from a 3-0 deficit against the defending champions would be akin to hitting the lottery, but he wanted the playoff experience to feel a little better for the fans.

Now it does.

There is no embarrassment. Last night's game is what the Blue Jackets fans will remember about the playoffs. It won't be the sweep.

Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for The Dispatch.

bhunter@dispatch.com