The off-season has already begun for the Blue Jackets, as has off-season coverage. Before the off-season really ramps up through let’s take some time and look back on the season that was. The ending wasn’t great, but this was the best season in franchise history with plenty of great moments.
Honourable Mentions
The Unsustainabowl
Sergei Bobrovsky three straight shutouts
60 shots versus the Coyotes
5. Zach Werenski
The season started off less than ideal with losses to Boston and San Jose that had everyone going “here we go again.” To make things worse the Jackets had a week off before their next game to dwell on those losses. The one bright spot from those games was a young defencemen, and while it wasn’t known at the time he was about to change the course of the entire team.
Zach Werenski came into the NHL with a ton of hype as the team’s top prospect, but as a 19 year old defencemen the path for his success was supposed to be a difficult one. I wrote back in September about
Werenski and managing expectations, I projected him for around 21-22 points. He blew even the most optimistic expectations out of the water, with 11 points in his first 11 games on his way to a 47 point season and a Calder Trophy nomination. He set the franchise record for most points by a rookie and came just four points shy for most by a defencemen.
Paired with Seth Jones, Werenski thrived and it gave the Blue Jackets a legitimate top pair. The smooth skating duo gave a completely different look to the defence corps and changed the entire structure of the team. Having two puck movers made breakouts easier and gave the forwards more freedom to blow the zone and stretch the ice.
4. 7-1 over Pittsburgh
On December 22nd when these teams met for the first time, the Jackets streak had just reached 10 games and they were in the midst of the toughest stretch of the season. Their streak was starting to get more attention around the NHL and this four game stretch in late December was supposed to be the end of it. The Jackets had four home games in row, but they were against Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Montreal, and Boston. The Jackets barely got by LA winning in a shootout to push the streak to 10, and there seemed to be a feeling that this was it. No way Pittsburgh was going to lose right?
Well the Jackets had a different idea. Sidney Crosby gave the Penguins an early 1-0 lead but from there it was all Blue Jackets.
The highlights from the game include Scott Hartnell’s hat trick, and the Jackets scoring three goals in 51 seconds in the third.
3. Game #4
Sure the 3-0 comeback was improbable but at least the Jackets avoided the sweep winning game 4 of the series.
It won’t be the most memorable playoff win in the team’s history but it will always be their first regulation playoff win. Markus Nutivaara stepping into the line-up for the injured Zach Werenski and putting up two points stands out from the game.
2. 10-0 over Montreal
As far as individual games go this one has to be at the top of everyone’s list. The Jackets went into the game on a bit of a roll winning two straight, including a shutout win in Anaheim over the Ducks. It felt like the team was starting to get some attention around the league, but they were still just a team with no expectations off to a decent 5-3-1 start. This game however put the Jackets on everyone’s radar.
It wasn’t just that they scored 10 goals, but the fact that it game against the league’s best team in Montreal. The Canadiens were 9-0-1 and looking like an early season Cup contender. That night the Jackets had everyone going. Only two players, Lukas Sedlak and Ryan Murray failed to record a point. Alexander Wennberg had four points, Josh Anderson and Nick Foligno had three, and Atkinson and Hartnell each scored twice.
1. The Streak
As if there was any doubt. This was undeniably the best part of the Columbus Blue Jackets 2016-17 season. They won 16 games in a row just one short of the NHL’s all-time record. The Streak started with a convincing 5-1 win over Tampa Bay on November 29th and ended with a convincing 5-0 loss to the Washington Capitals on January 5th. In between those games were some of the best moments this franchise has ever seen.
There was the 60 shot game against Arizona that needed a shootout, since Mike Smith was stopping everything. The Unsustainabowl with the Jackets and their 14 game win streak up against the Wild and their 12 game win streak. The first time in North American pro sports that two teams with win streaks of this length squared off. Each of those games could have been a moment on its own. The 7-1 win over Pittsburgh did make this list. There were so many great moments from this streak. The one that stands out the most to me was the game on December 18th versus the Canucks.
That game stands out for a number of reasons; first of all it was a Sunday afternoon game, and the Jackets were on the third game of a Western Canada road trip. The game was really sluggish and really slow, a far cry from the speed game the team had played in the previous eight. Vancouver was not a good team and was someone the Jackets were expected to roll over. The Jackets scored twice in the second period to make it 2-0 and the game felt like it was over and the streak would reach nine. Well the Canucks answered with two early goals in the third to tie it. Brandon Saad then scored to make it 3-2 late, but Jannik Hansen tied it up with just over a minute left, to send the game into overtime. In OT Seth Jones and Cam Atkisnon hooked up on one of the nicer goals of the season, giving the Jackets the win and keeping the streak alive.
If that wasn’t enough, this was also John Tortorella’s 500th career coaching win. Only fitting it would come against his former team in dramatic fashion like this.
There you have it the top five moments from the Blue Jackets season. Agree? Disagree? Have your say in the comments.
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