The Columbus Blue Jackets are heading into unfamiliar waters.
The 9-year-old National Hockey League team has suffered its fair share of grim times and lean seasons, but things are about to change.
And it all starts at the top.
When Scott Howson was hired to replace Doug MacLean as the team's general manager in 2007, he didn't have any degree of name recognition. But what he has done in two years has not gone unnoticed.
After a colossal roster makeover this past summer, the Blue Jackets are a new-look, hard-nosed group that in the words of its coach, Ken Hitchcock, leans on people.
Acquisitions such as defenseman Mike Commodore and wingers Kristian Huselius, R.J. Umberger and Raffi Torres have infused fresh blood into the team, and, most important, re-energized the city.
Team captain Rick Nash, one of the league's dynamic players, is having a career year with 38 goals and 38 assists.
Hitchcock, a Stanley Cup winner with the Dallas Stars in 1999, has instilled a hard-working philosophy that befits the personality of Columbus. A team that in past years would have gone quietly, the Blue Jackets have shown resiliency that resembles Hitchcock's teams in Dallas and Philadelphia.
The emergence of 20-year-old rookie goalie Steve Mason hasn't hurt.
Heading into last night's game in Chicago, the Blue Jackets were within one point (equal to an overtime loss or shootout loss) from clinching their first playoff berth. With three games remaining (including last night), they appear poised to make their first foray into the playoffs.
They occupy the sixth seed in the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Anaheim Ducks and St. Louis Blues. If things ended today, they would face the Calgary Flames in the first round beginning next week.
For many of the team's younger players, this is foreign territory. But it is equally foreign to fans that have longed to see a winning team in Columbus.
Inside the arena, the atmosphere is markedly different.
No longer are the Blue Jackets playing for pride in March and April. Every shift, every shot and every period of hockey has the weight of the season riding on it.
The Stanley Cup playoffs are one of professional sports' most intense competitions - hard-checking, fast-skating and emotionally engaging, even through a television screen.
The people of Columbus have waited nearly a decade for a team they can be proud of. They have become hungry for a shot at the Stanley Cup.
It appears they will get what they have been waiting for.
And they deserve it.
- Rob Mixer is a senior studying journalism and the softball reporter for The Post. If you are one of those playoff hungry Blue Jacket fans, send him an e-mail at rm234405@ohiou.edu.
2 Sports
Rob Mixer
