After their 5-0 loss to Washington Thursday, the Blue Jackets’ improbable, astonishing 16-game win streak is over. That’s a shame for the hype industry and people who wanted to see them tie and break the NHL’s all-time win streak of 17 games (set by Pittsburgh in 1992-93). But as any zen master will assure you, it’s the journey, not the destination that matters most. And in that regard, Columbus’ journey – toward respectability, toward shaking off a frustrating and often-snakebitten past, toward being a genuine Stanley Cup contender – has only just begun.
Before the streak began with a Nov. 29 win over Tampa Bay, the Jackets were middling along with an 11-5-4 record that included losses in four of their first six games this season and three defeats in four games in late November. They weren’t as bad as many of us predicted they would be this year, but they certainly weren’t conjuring comparisons to the 1970s Montreal Canadiens dynasty, either.
But with every win they strung together throughout December and into the New Year, Columbus finally began to alter the perception of the franchise. Slowly, they revealed themselves as a quick, confident, resilient group that could blow off an opponent’s doors with their offense – six of their wins in the streak were by three or more goals – just as easily as they could grind out a one-goal victory (six wins in the streak came by a single goal).
And after that 16th consecutive win, the Jackets had established not only a league-best record of 27-5-4, they’d also amassed a goal differential of plus-52, which was 14 goals better than the next-best Eastern Conference team (the New York Rangers) and 15 goals better than the West’s top squad (Minnesota). Moreover, they’d put 14 points between themselves and the team in the second wild card slot in the East, virtually assuring they’d make the playoffs for just the third time in the organization’s 15-year history.
Everywhere you looked during this streak, you saw something in Columbus that made you feel like the best is yet to come. Whether it was the ascent of youngsters Alexander Wennberg, Zach Werenski and Seth Jones, or the rebirths of veteran center Sam Gagner and head coach John Tortorella, there are positives at both ends of the NHL’s circle of life, and long-suffering Jackets fans are the beneficiaries.
Tortorella in particular is a fascinating study. Goodness knows I’ve criticized him over the years, and goodness knows he deserved it – here was a coach who knew the technical side of the game as well as anyone, but who became infamous for his bluster and bullish treatment of players, and who left his previous gig in Vancouver as an object of ridicule. But he’s remodelled himself in Columbus as a kinder, gentler bench boss more sensitive to the inquisitive mindset of the modern NHLer, and he deserves credit for that, too.
But the good news doesn’t end there for Columbus. Their win streak has bolstered the reputation of GM Jarmo Kekà¤là¤inen, the league’s first European in that role. We all know there are still people in the hockey community who would’ve used the Jackets’ stumbles as justification to rip on Europeans running the North American game, so Kekà¤là¤inen’s successes here are a beachhead for others like him to be afforded opportunities in management, and the sport will be better for it.
The same goes for the future of the sport in the U.S.. The attention Columbus has generated over the course of the past five weeks is seeding for a new generation of hockey fans in Ohio and across America. Of course, there’s no specific metric for the impact of the Jackets’ streak on youth participation in the game, but the emotions and interest stirred in the U.S. populace by this win streak represents a tonic for the toxic mindset of those who take great pleasure in a protectionist/nationalist approach to the NHL product. The sport needs to expand its appeal to continue thriving, and connecting with markets that don’t have a lengthy history with hockey can only be a positive. There’s no doubt it would’ve been phenomenal to see the Blue Jackets carve out a couple more victories and increase their profile on the larger sporting stage. But to wallow in the end of their win streak is to ignore the forest in favor of 16 trees.
The best is yet to come for this team. A decade-and-a-half of disappointment can’t be changed, but the Jackets’ future is going to push that unfortunate past to the outer regions of the hive mind.
And the streak will forever be remembered as one of the seminal moments that delivered them there.