Well, the 2020-21 Blue Jackets season is officially over, and while it was a truncated 56 games, this team certainly packed in more than enough drama to fill an 82-game season and then some.
In a league that once marketed itself as “soap opera-free” we felt like Columbus did their very best to refute that narrative, and so we give you the top five soap operas of the Blue Jackets’ season.
(As additional commentary on how nuts this season was, drama-wise, here’s a few things that didn’t make the cut for our Top 5 list: Pierre-Luc Dubois requests a trade; Max Domi’s healthy scratch; Mikko Koivu retires; Nick Foligno gets traded; John Tortorella decides not to return as coach; the off-season COVID outbreak; and wondering if John Davidson returns to Columbus. Whew.)
#5: General Hospital – The Detroit Debacles
Columbus started to look like they might clinch a post-season spot after all when, in mid-March they held their own against eventual Division winner, Carolina, earning 2-0-1 in a four-game mini-series against the Hurricanes. Columbus was playing better and had their fans optimistic once again.
With playoff hopes once again present, albeit on life support, the team headed to Detroit…and went 0-2 to what was, at the time, one of the worst teams in the league. The Blue Jackets mustered only two goals against (checks notes) Calvin Pickard and the frustration was obvious.
Only one person Cam clear the zone… pic.twitter.com/GyKXpeTcxL
— Alison (@AlisonL) March 28, 2021
The Blue Jackets would only win four more games the rest of the season after that.
#4: Search for Tomorrow – The Trade
It’s crazy that the most massive hockey transaction the Blue Jackets completed this season doesn’t crack the top 3 but here we are. That relative lack of drama is mostly because by the time the trade of Pierre-Luc Dubois for Patrik Laine (and Jack Roslovic – funny how must people didn’t even focus there at the time) came down, it was inevitable. But, the underlying impacts were the stuff of soap opera scripts…with an opportunity to get elite talent, a leader goes off the board shocking his colleagues by selecting against all predictions.
The talent not only proves his leader right in his analysis, he goes on to fulfill a long coveted need by his company (top line center), and then after years of investing in one another, in a flash…it’s all gone. Now, what the Blue Jackets look like in the future is a very different picture than what anyone would have assumed just a few short months ago.
#3: Days of Our Lives – The Carolina Goal That Shouldn’t Have Been a Goal
The praises of Blue Jackets’ video coach, Dan Singleton have rightly been sung for many years, so it seemed odd when, on February 7, Tortorella challenged a goal for offside that was summarily (and quickly!) dismissed resulting in a Carolina 1-0 lead with a power play to follow.
After a scurry of activity in the intermission that came immediately after, it turned out that a league trainee’s errant behavior, plus COVID protocols, plus the decision to fix some – but not all – of the mistakes made, resulted in the league removing the balance of the penalty but leaving the goal on the board. (One can only do so much that is “unprecedented” in one day, no?)
re this —
— Alison (@AlisonL) February 7, 2021
per @shelleyhawk45 it’s believed on the reverse angle that Trochek was in fact, offside, the penalty has been taken off the board. The goal remains. #CBJ #Canes https://t.co/436M41MaTo pic.twitter.com/o2L6Po99bW
You literally can’t make this stuff up, people. It’s one of the strangest stories ever. Of course the game was decided by one goal, and of course, Carolina won. It wasn’t the final straw in a disappointing season, but it sure seemed to encapsulate the lack of fortune the Blue Jackets had all year long.
#2: The Young and the Restless – Laine Benched
In Patrick Laine’s first three games in Columbus, he scored three goals. In his fourth game, he was benched.
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) February 9, 2021
As the realization started to hit those watching, eyes began scrubbing game film – was it a missed assignment? Was it benching-worthy? The evisceration of Tortorella’s hard-nosed coaching tactics began immediately, and his perceived reputation of driving talented players out of town was aflame, but later, the coach shared that Laine’s removal from the on-ice rotation was a result of him disrespecting a member of the Blue Jackets’ coaching staff.
Almost everyone who’s played for Tortorella will comment on his trademark honesty and dedication to treating everyone equally – both good and bad. Laine learned that lesson quickly, but couldn’t a new player come in without any drama...just once?
#1: Revenge – The Shi(f)t, and The Benching
The reason Laine’s benching is number two on our list, is because it pales in comparison to the benching heard round the hockey world this season – and that’s the one that was handed down to Pierre-Luc Dubois in his final game as a Blue Jacket.
Just as with Laine, when a star player stopped taking to the ice, the reason why became the holy grail to hockey pundits. Dubois had already stated a desire to play elsewhere (although reasons why were not shared), and Tortorella, during a radio show appearance, had openly questioned the player’s decision to not subscribe to the trademark culture of honesty that had been built in Columbus’ locker room. Sure there seemed to be frustration, but could that be why a coach sits his number one center?
And then people found it. The shift. Whatever the word is to describe less than lackluster, well that’s what it was.
Here's an iso of Pierre-Luc Dubois' final shift for the Blue Jackets tonight. The center saw 3:55 of ice time for the night and did not take a shift after the first period.#CBJ
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 22, 2021
More: https://t.co/dkWp3poyVI pic.twitter.com/BcGQgJwheP
With the shift perceived as an affront to teammates, the game, the coach, and the organization, Dubois was stapled to the bench. And the only possible next step became painfully clear. Dubois would be traded within days, Columbus’ center depth decimated, and the direction of the season felt like it shifted for the worst.
