What They Are Saying!

“Chill Factor is both an entertaining tale of an underdog sports franchise that beat the odds and a highly compelling marketing case study. It’s a terrific story, well told, and the marketing and leadership lessons will stay with you long after you put it down.”

"The on-ice success of the Chill would eventually result in a minor league record for consecutive sellouts and help set the table for the arrival of the NHL Blue Jackets in the fall of 2000. You will find Chill Factor to be a fun and informative read on the running of a successful minor league franchise in Columbus, Ohio.”

"Chill Factor is the intriguing story of this happening and the mastermind behind it, team President David Paitson, whose approach in life is akin to Jerry Seinfeld and his promotions like Bill Veeck on steroids.”

Chill Factor is a fun story of off-the-wall marketing and keen vision turning a college sports town into a major league NHL city. It is told through the words of the man responsible for setting that vision, sports executive David Paitson.

For those interested in pursuing dreams of professional sports ownership, Paitson’s plan is a lively blueprint, covered with guts, daring, and the forging into the unknown, to construct a story important in its community and powerful in its end result.

If you or someone you know is a sports management major, or you are a die-hard sports fan who wants to be led step by step on the challenges faced by team ownership and employees, then Chill Factor is the gift that will keep on giving.

Chill Factor is a darn good hockey book and marketing tool. Fun, entertaining, and all the sports inside stuff you could want. Paitson and Merz light the lamp with an overtime goal, with Chill Factor.

If you’re looking for a terrific, offbeat hockey book, I suggest you buy CHILL FACTOR — How A Minor League Hockey Team Changed A City Forever.

The first-person view of establishing and marketing a hockey team makes for a unique book. The print ads shown in the opening chapters are laugh-out-loud funny. Those who “geek out” about hockey history, minor league hockey or the evolution of Columbus as an NHL city will thoroughly enjoy it.

Hockey fans, especially fans of the Blue Jackets and those who followed the Chill will love these stories about the team that overcame long odds and proved to the world that Columbus was indeed a hockey city. It was certainly entertaining.

What the Columbus Chill had is hard to quantify, but I think it was soul. Their antics were genuine and touched their audience far deeper than anyone could expect. Their soul’s divinity was to entertain the fans. Fun was so imbedded into their DNA that their success amazingly spawned a major league team.