The Columbus Blue Jackets are where we thought they'd be.
They just took a different path than expected.
Left for dead around Jan. 10, that was the day Columbus, the worst team in the Eastern Conference, lost 4-0 to the Colorado Avalanche. An Avalanche team that only had four regulation losses and iced what was essentially their B team that day.
It was almost a win just to keep the usual suspects, Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon, off the board.
Sputtering their way through the 2025-26 season, this was the year where things were going to be different for the Blue Jackets. They were building something meaningful, turning the corner of a rebuild that got underway five seasons ago, faced off-ice tragedy twice, dealt with on-ice struggles, were on their fourth head coach since John Tortorella, and caught lightning in a bottle under Dean Evason in 2024-25, a season in which they defied the odds, only to just miss the playoffs in the end.
But it was going to be different now. They were going to build off a surprising season and be back in the playoffs for the first time since the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
When the Blue Jackets wrapped up that 1-3-0 road trip following the loss to the Avalanche and beating the Utah Mammoth on Jan. 11, I was ready to eviscerate the Blue Jackets. The article, saved to the drafts, was going to tear down a 25-year-old franchise that, in its 25th anniversary, was doing what it always does. Surprise you with a random season of success and follow that up with a stinker.
"A couple harsh reminders out there of how to play the game the right way."– Head Coach Rick Bowness
Instead, we know what happened.
The Blue Jackets beat the Mammoth, and I decided to hold off on that article. I figured it wouldn't be long before it felt more appropriate to post than after a rare victory.
Social media thought Evason could be gone soon after the Jackets returned from the road trip and got set for a homestand on Jan. 13. I wasn't so sure management and ownership would react that way.
When the change was indeed announced on the 12th, I thought, "Let's see what happens." When the Jackets instantly started winning, the cautious excitement began anew. The vibes instantly turned around. Basically, from day one.
We talked about the "now or never" part of the season that the team found themselves in. A favorable home schedule, including six of seven, and a chance to make up serious ground at the most crucial juncture of the campaign.
And they've done it.
As hard as it was to fully quantify how the 2024-25 Blue Jackets were able to defy odds just to have a chance at the end, it was just as mystifying what was happening with the club this season before the coaching change. All the blown leads and third-period malfunctions with seemingly no answer in sight.
They played with heavy emotion last season, playing for Johnny Gaudreau, but even that's a tough energy and level to match over 82 games. At times early this season, things felt flat. Words felt hollow.
It's a good thing president and general manager Don Waddell hired Rick Bowness when he did, as Bowness had a plan on how to fix what ailed, and acquired Mason Marchment, who found new life after struggling with the Seattle Kraken. Through four games, it feels like the same thing is happening with Conor Garland.
The Blue Jackets are trying to pull off a rare feat in climbing all the way out of the Eastern Conference basement after New Year's.
One point out of a playoff spot, the Jackets' potential path could range anywhere from Eastern Conference Wild Card No. 2 to a top-three Metropolitan Division spot?
That's the new reality.
A 16-2-4 run has gotten Columbus to the precipice.
While the Jackets struggled to get the second point in overtime this past week, they are on a season-high nine-game point streak, which is glass half full. This point streak is the club's longest since 12 straight in 2019-20. They also had a separate 10-game stretch that same season.
Sometimes it was hard to know what team was going to show up.
When they dropped some of the games the way they did, it was frustrating. Sometimes, it can feel like this team is either resorting to old habits or just not as close as we thought.
Ultimately, it's the tough, grueling stretch of the National Hockey League season.
The one thought I had as the Blue Jackets cruised into the Olympic break on a seven-game winning streak was how the team would respond coming out of that three-week layoff. A fair question for every team, but few teams were hotter than the Jackets at that time.
They lost to Joonas Korpisalo and the Boston Bruins out of the break, but played well enough to win. Columbus was goalied by an old friend.
When they let a two-goal lead disappear into a 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Islanders a game later on Feb. 28, it stung like the old days, only a few months prior. Fortunately for the Jackets, Adam Fantilli's game-tying tally at 18:58 allowed them to get at least one point. The way things were going, one more almost seemed destined.
When the Jackets followed that loss next time out by nearly vomiting on themselves at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers on Mar. 2, allowing a four-goal third-period lead to dissipate into a narrow 5-4 overtime win, that's when it felt like — at least in the moment — the team might not be a serious playoff contender. Serious playoff teams don't let four-goal third-period leads crumble against the worst team in the conference, right?
But as Bowness said postgame of that Rangers win, he learned a lot about his team, and that's a good thing.
"A couple harsh reminders out there of how to play the game the right way and with the right level of desperation," Bowness said after their 5-4 overtime win over the Rangers.
"Do we make it far more interesting than we should? Yeah, we did.
"I learned a lot about our team, and that's a good thing."
Glass half full.
"You learn a little bit about your team every day, and tonight's a good example."
When they blew leads and ultimately fell short in overtime to the Los Angeles Kings, Utah Mammoth, and Florida Panthers over the last week, well, it's not ideal. Not when that second point is so crucial.
But in the grand scheme, when they play how they largely have under Bowness, it ultimately feels like they're a hell of a lot closer than we wondered a few months ago. Definitely on Jan. 10. Now they're knocking on the door of the playoffs with 16 games remaining.
When original plans fell apart, wins happened.
