Blue Jackets Play Inspires Hope for the Future

The Columbus Blue Jackets have two games remaining on their 2015 schedule.  While they were eliminated from playoff contention over a week ago, many people would say their season has been a failure.


Yet there are many reasons that Blue Jackets have been anything but a failure this year. For starters, the team will post its second consecutive season of 40 or more wins, and do so having lost more players to injury than any other team in the NHL. In addition, even if Columbus loses their final two, the worst they can finish is 40-37-5. This means they will finish the season above .500 for the third consecutive year, another franchise first.


Individual performances that should give fans reasons to be excited for the future include winger Nick Foligno, who scored 30 goals for the first time in his career this season. Foligno would also post the first hat trick of his career in a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this season.


Also notching hat tricks (3 goals in the same game) for the Blue Jackets this season were Scott Hartnell and Cam Atkinson in victories over the Ducks and the Blackhawks, respectively.


The Blue Jackets are also 5th in the league on the power play, something that should carry over into the 2015-2016 season. With a little luck when it comes to player health next year, Columbus could be a top 5 team in the Eastern conference.


So while in previous years a CBJ finish outside the playoffs would be cause for concern, this year's team is clearly different. Look out NHL, here come the Jackets.

Have the Columbus Blue Jackets rediscovered their swagger?

As if expecations for the Columbus Blue Jackets weren't enough at the end of last season, the way the team started their 2013-2014 campaign certainly had to be disappointing. After just missing out on the NHL playoffs to then division rival Detroit by the narrowest of margins, many people believed that not only was this the year Columbus would return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a vengeance.

Yet, while the Jackets limped their way to a 2-5 record to open the season, the boo birds were out in full force once again ready to point their collective fingers, first at goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (even if it wasn't necessarily deserved) and then at head coach Todd Richards. How could a team that finished last season by winning eight of their last nine games start out so poorly?

But it appears that after last night's 4-1 win(their second straight, bringing their record to 4-5), the Jackets may have regained some of the swagger they had at the end of last season. Marian Gaborik, having scored his fourth goal already last night, appears to be the scorer that fans had hoped Rick Nash would turn into. Brandon Dubinsky proved that not only can he score when called upon to do so, but that he doesn't take crap from anyone. (His takedown in the 3rd period of Devils defender Anton Volchenkov was absolutely bad-ass.) And it is definitely nice for the CBJ to have their enforcer, Jared Boll, back on the ice as well.

The biggest takeaway from last night's game, however, is that even while up 3-1 in the 3rd period, the Jackets weren't content to sit on the lead. They took it to New Jersey until the final horn. Which is why I believe they might have rediscovered their swag.

Blue Jackets take opener on the chin 4-3: Observations

For the soldout crowd at Nationwide Arena last night in Columbus, Ohio this was not the result they had expected.

Over 19,000 strong attending the game, and over 2 million across central Ohio have high hopes that their hometown team will not only make the playoffs, but advance beyond the first round as well.

After last night's 4-3 loss to Calgary, the more that expectations change for the Columbus Blue Jackets, the reality is that nothing will come easy for this team.

Fans had to be inspired by the play of the offense, who despite scoring only three goals, had numerous shots-on goal, and a power play goal to boot, courtesy of last season's star acquisition, striker Marian Gaborik. In fact, in the 1st period alone, the Jackets showed the same never-say-die attitude they displayed at the end of last season, scoring a goal each time the flames scored.

Yet it was the play of the defense and fan favorite, goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, that left fans wondering what this team will really look like this season. Giving up four goals is never good, and to do so to a team that you nearly dominated the previous season only adds insult to injury.

But it was only one game, and hopefully a contest that Jacket players have by now forgotten. A strong start will be essential to the Jackets making a successful playoff run, especially now that they are in what might be the toughest division of the NHL. Being able to bounce back from adversity, like they did toward the end of last season, is crucial for any pro hockey team looking to take the next step.

Prior to last night's game, I pondered what would be the Jackets' new slogan or theme song. You know, something catchy like the Clippers' Our Team, Our Town, but with the edge of  AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck', the song that blares over the PA during Ohio State football games. As I am sure there are many diehard fans who would be content with 'Feel the Power'/'Machinehead (the song by rock group Bush that blares over the PA at Nationwide Arena, for those of you who haven't been to a CBJ home game), it is a new season with new expectations. It's high time that the CBJ show the rest of the nation they mean business.

Columbus Blue Jackets: The New Kardiac Kids?

The Columbus Blue Jackets are the new version of the Kardiac Kids. Don't believe me, I 'll be happy to explain.

The Kardiac Kids originally referred to the 1980 Cleveland Browns and their quarterback, Brian Sipe, who won numerous games in the the final moments on the way to an 11-5 record.

Recently it seems the Blue Jackets have stolen a page from those Browns playbook, with two of their last three straight wins coming in overtime, and the other one a shootout victory over the Minnesota Wild. And while it appears controversy can't elude the reincarnated version of the Browns, the Blue Jackets keep on brimming with excitement.

Take last night's game against Anaheim for instance. I tuned in a little late, and the Ducks scored the first goal to take a 1-0 lead in 1st. After the Jackets tied the score at 1 in the 2nd, the game would be a back and forth affair that would end a 2-2 tie in regulation. Then, just as they did two nights before in Denver, the Jackets would escape with another overtime road win.

It's an amazing turn of events, especially since not more than a couple of months ago my best friend and I were looking ahead to the NHL Draft, and the Jackets' prospects of securing the no. 1 overall pick. No way either of us thought that the Jackets had a legitimate chance to make the playoffs. Yet with four games remaining, they are in sole possession of eighth place, with a chance to improve on that tonight vs. the Kings.

And it all starts with the play of their goalie wunderkid, Sergei Bobrovsky.  While I don't totally understand stats such as GAA (Goals Against Average, where  Goalie Bob's 2.03 is .3 better than last years best goalie,) or save % (Bobrovsky's .93 is also better than anyone on Columbus in the 2011-2012 campaign), I really don't need to. The eye test tells me that this kid is good, and that anyone would compare him to the likes of Dominik Hasek, Patrick Roy, or Henrik Zetterburg after being in the big league for a month is saying something. To be honest, I have watched Marc Denis, Pascal Leclaire and Steve Mason tend goal for the CBJ, and none of them showed the quickness that I have seen in Bobrovsky.

Lost in all of this might be the job that head coach Todd Richards has done with this team, however. I must admit that, following the departure of both Ken Hitchcock and Claude Noel, I thought Richards would be no more than a stopgap coach. But he has the team believing the can play with anyone, and the sky is the limit.

So while many people are quick to look to next season( in addition to their first round draft picks, the Jackets will also return this season's top pick, Ryan Murray, who never set foot on the ice), I am looking forward to seeing the Jackets make waves in this years playoffs. And to all the doubters who say this is just a product of a lockout shortened season, I say this: we shall see.