“Almost there.”
Those words had to be on the minds of every Columbus Blue Jackets fan after their team scored for the third time in less than five minutes to pull within one goal of the Pittsburgh Penguins late in the third period of a contest that suddenly felt like the dramatic segue to Game 7. It wasn’t, of course, and the unfulfilled excitement was another example of why it’s always dangerous to look too far ahead.
But in the aftermath of the 4-3 Game 6 loss that ended the best season in Blue Jackets history, it’s impossible not to cast forward and expect better days for this team. The pillars are shaping up, and while Columbus supporters can speak to the fact big-picture progress isn’t always a tidy experience, there’s no question the team is better positioned for sustainable success than it has ever been.
But even with ample reason for optimism, it’s easy to understand why some Blue Jackets fans would remain skeptical—they’ve heard this whole “brighter days ahead” pitch before. Five years ago, Columbus, under coach Ken Hitchcock, made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history and even after being swept aside by the Detroit Red Wings, it wasn’t hard to believe good things were on the horizon. Rick Nash was a 24-year-old franchise player coming off his second 40-goal season; former Ohio State Buckeye R.J. Umberger was 26 and had just posted a career-best 26 goals. And perhaps most significantly, rookie goalie Steve Mason looked poised for greatness after winning the Calder Trophy, finishing runner-up for the Vezina and an impressive fourth in Hart Trophy voting.
But, just as comebacks in a single game don’t always make it all the way across the line, getting to the next level as a team is rarely about uninterrupted forward progress.
One season after the team stoked so much optimism, Columbus was once again in ruins. Mason faltered and is only now getting his game back together for the Philadelphia Flyers; Hitchcock was fired 58 contests into 2009-10 and, a couple years later, Nash was engineering his own exit from town as the club went into full rebuild mode.
So what’s different this time? It starts in the middle.
The breakout season centre Ryan Johansen had is the biggest development for this organization since Mason’s amazing rookie campaign. That comparison might make it tough to keep lunch down for some of the Jackets faithful, but don’t forget about the volatile nature of goaltending. Mason isn’t the first goalie to experience troubles once shooters got a book on him, and he won’t be the last. And the fact that so much of Columbus’s success five years ago was tied to Mason’s play meant the Jackets were vulnerable when the goalie, somewhat predictably, struggled as a sophomore.
In the case of Johansen, clubs will no doubt sick the dogs on him from Day 1 next October, but there’s only so much you can do to stop a six-foot-three, 200-pounder with soft hands. The 21-year-old had a rough transition to the NHL after being drafted fourth overall in 2010, but now he looks like the best thing to roll out of the No. 1 centre factory in a while. No team becomes a true contender without that dominating presence in the middle and, as great as Nash was on the wing, Johansen finally gives Columbus a star skater in a premium position.
Speaking of must-have ingredients, you wonder if the next revelatory Ryan will come from the back end, where Ryan Murray is just beginning to establish himself. Injuries since his draft year have slowed the 20-year-old’s progress, but Murray remains on target to become a leading man on the blueline. He’ll never catch the eye like Johansen does, but the second overall pick in 2012 is a stud who makes the right decisions while quietly contributing more points than you’d expect.
With ultra-high draft picks growing into prime roles at centre and on defence, the Blue Jackets have the bedrock on which to build their foundation. It may get better, depending on whether the real Sergei Bobrovsky is the goalie who struggled to a .908 save percentage against Pittsburgh or the one who won the Vezina Trophy last year. As Jackets fans know, nothing is assured when it comes to the crease.
While the jury might still be out on “Bob,” there’s no denying the emergence of a strong supporting cast in Columbus. Start with rookie Boone Jenner, whose rugged game is emblematic of the edgy approach this team developed while cutting its teeth in the big-boy Western Conference, before moving to the East this year. Brandon Dubinsky will never shoot the lights out, but he’s another sizeable body who slides in nicely as a No. 2 centre. Guys like Cam Atkinson, Artem Anisimov, Nick Foligno and Matt Calvert aren’t exactly a murder’s row of scorers, but they’re all capable of sniffing around that 15-to-20-goal mark. The team will also have Nathan Horton for a full season next year after the veteran missed much of this season and all of the playoffs with injuries. Jack Johnson remains a vocal leader on the blueline and 23-year-old defenceman David Savard may prove to be a real fourth-round find. And peeking ahead, don’t forget the Jackets made three selections in the first round of the 2013 draft.
If you connect the dots, from Columbus missing the playoffs by a hair last year to winning the first post-season contests in franchise history this season, it’s easy to assume the natural next step is a series victory roundabout 12 months from now. Then again, when is anything in sports that straightforward? But while there are more inevitable growing pains ahead for the Jackets, the team is finally collecting the pieces necessary to build a contender.