Columbus Blue Jackets

Many fans in the hockey heartlands of Canada and the northern United States were shaking their heads, and consulting maps in their atlases, when the NHL announced that an expansion team would be granted to Columbus, Ohio, in 2000. The name raised a few eyebrows too, with many kind of unsure what Blue Jackets referred to until they picked up their history books (possibly next to their atlases on the shelf) and realized it was a reference to Columbus’s significant connections to the American Civil War. When it came time for the Columbus Blue Jackets to march onto the ice, the team did not really surprise anyone, finishing in the basement of their division in their first three seasons and failing to make the playoffs until 2009, where they were promptly swept by the Detroit Red Wings. After more lackluster seasons, the Blue Jackets finally got something of a spring in their step starting in 2016, when the team embarked on a streak of five consecutive playoff appearances, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019 and Toronto Maple Leafs in 2020 for the franchise’s first-ever playoff victories. They have regressed since, however, missing the playoffs for the past three seasons and finishing rock bottom of the Eastern Conference in 2023. Despite the Blue Jackets lack of success (with just seven playoff appearances and two playoff series wins in 23 years of trying, the team has proven to be nevertheless quite popular in Columbus, attracting good crowds to the Nationwide Arena and even selling out from time to time. While it seems difficult to imagine the Columbus Blue Jackets making a deep run into the playoffs, let alone ever lifting the Stanley Cup, with fans like they’ve got, you never know.