Blue Jackets look to have breakout season

On the eve of the season opener for the Columbus Blue Jackets, the goal is simple: win. Win enough games to earn a playoff spot. Win enough games to earn one of the top four seeds in the Eastern Conference, assuring them home ice advantage at in the first round of the playoffs at least.

With a potential line that includes Ryan Johansen, Nick Foligno David Clarkson, the newly acquired Brandon Saad, and (when he returns from injury) defender Ryan Murray, that doesn't sound too hard (at least on paper). After all, last season the CBJ were able to amass 42 wins despite the fact they were one of the most injured squads in the NHL.

So it should be easy for the Jackets to take the next step and have the kind of breakout season fans are expecting, right? Not exactly. For whatever reason, it seems that the Blue Jackets (playoffs or not) are notorious for getting off to slow starts. And for a team that is looking to secure one of the top four seeds in the East, you just can't do that. Fans and experts will point to injuries (time missed by goalie Bob- Sergei Bobrovsky was certainly huge) and unfufilled expectations (see former Blue Jacket alums Marian Gaborik and Jeff Carter, among others) as reasons the CBJ just can't seem to break through.

But whatever the reason, the fact remains that Columbus can ill afford to have a slow start again. Especially considering the fact that they not only missed the playoffs by nine points last season, but they also only finished five points better than Philadelphia. It's not going to be easy as the Jackets face the New York Rangers(a team that they lost the season series to in '14-15) in the first to games.

This year will be different. At least Todd Richards and the Blue Jacket faithful hope so.

Kardiac Blue Jackets Have Made Me A Believer

The Columbus Blue Jackets had just fallen to 3-0 in the first period of game four of the best of seven series with the Pittsburgh Penguins. It looked as if their window to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals was slowly closing.

Watching from home as I had done for the past three games, I wasn’t worried. In fact, armed with the knowledge the previous three games were all come from behind victories, I watched the next two periods with relative calm.

The Blue Jackets did not disappoint, as they slowly clawed their way back to a 3-2 deficit more than midway thru the 3^rd period. Center Ryan Johansen once again showed a flare for the dramatic, as it was his power play goal that would cut the Penguins lead to one.

Yet there was still work to do. Columbus needed at least one more goal to send the game into overtime, or they faced the prospect of heading to Pittsburgh facing an elimination game. I still believed they could do it. After all, this team has literally faced adversity all season long, and every time it seemed they bounced back even stronger.

Within the final minutes, my best friend and I sent dozens of text back and forth. Such as who would 

be the hero to send the game into OT (I said Johansen, naturally), and also that if the CBJ were to pull out game four, I would get tickets to game six.

As the game entered the final minute of regulation, it appeared that it was over. Then Brandon Dubinsky became the hero Columbus fans were looking for, and my friend and I are of course heading to game six on Monday night.

The outcome has typified what is now a very different hockey club. A few years ago I had almost written off the Jackets completely. Yet now the mixture of veterans such as Dubinsky and RJ Umberger, along with rookies such as Ryan Murray and Boone Jenner—both of whom are playing like veterans—has transformed this franchise into a contender. They are also making me believe that the Blue Jackets—who have established three franchise firsts in the past three weeks—have a legitimate shot to win this series.