The Puck Drops Here 11.18.15: What's Happened With The Blue Jackets? #CBJ

By @CLulovics

Well let's face it. The start to the 2015-2016 NHL season for the Columbus Blue Jackets did not start how anyone including national annalists envisioned it. After starting the season 0-8, Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen to fire head coach Todd Richards and replace him with John Tortorella. Tortorella who previously coached for the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers and most recently the Vancouver Canucks brings an overall head coaching record of 444-371 to go along with 8 playoff appearances and 1 Stanley Cup Championship.

Boone Jenner, Brandon Saad, Scott Hartnell and Brandon Dubinsky have been their usual selves providing the offense with the needed spark along with scoring points. Sergei Bobrovsky has not been his usual stellar self. Not all the blame can be put on Bobrovsky though. As national writers along with annalists said before the season even started, the Blue Jackets defense hasn't helped out their goalie. Some lapses along with miscues have spelled doom for both Bobrovsky and the blue line in the early stages of the young NHL season. But with Tortorella at the helm now it seems to be that those little yet huge mistakes seem to be disappearing and the Blue Jackets are playing a better overall game.

The Blue Jackets minor league affiliate the Lake Erie Monsters currently sit at 8-3-0-2 on their young season for 14 points and 3rd in the Central Division in the Western Conference as of this writing. Leading the Monsters in points is Kerby Rychel sitting at 4 goals 7 assists for 11 points while splitting time between the Monsters and the Blue Jackets. With a lot of young talent the Monsters will continue to be fun to watch downtown at Quicken Loans Arena and is a good event to take the family too.

While the Columbus Blue Jackets are currently 7-12, anything can happen in the NHL and they certainly are not out of it. But they have to pick up the pace soon otherwise their playoff hopes and dreams might fade quickly. This team has the talent to turn this whole thing around as long as they play their type of game which they didn't in the start of the season but seem to be coming back around too. Tortorella might just be the spark that this team needs especially with a lot of hockey left to be played.

As always CARRY THE FLAG, MARCH ON, WE ARE THE FIFTH LINE, ALL OF US and see you guys either at Nationwide Arena in Columbus or in downtown Cleveland at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Puck Drops Here 1.7.15: Blue Jackets December 2014 Review

By @CLulovics

This is the Columbus Blue Jackets December month in review. First off my apologies for the delay in the article, as I had neck fusion surgery and am currently trying to write this in a neckbrace while using a tablet. So if there are any mistakes I apologize in advance.

After a horrendous month of November where we saw the Jackets lose many games in a row and saw countless players go down with injuries, the Jackets had a huge turnaround in December going 10-1-1 climbing from the bottom of the NHL standings to right back into the playoff picture. Along with the rise in the standings, we also saw the return of some injured players, some making their season debut with the rest just coming back from a short term injury stint.

Brandon Dubinsky who had been sidelined all season made his debut in December and his veteran leadership on the ice has shown through his puck skills and ice presence helping the younger players be in the right position.  Boone Jenner, who was on a hot streak, has been sidelined for 2 months with a bad back. But all in all, the Jackets are getting healthy and slowly returning to playing the type of hockey that got them into the playoffs last year.

Offensively the Jackets are being lead by Nick Foligno who leads the team with 35 points  (17 goals 18 assists). Ryan Johansen is right behind him with 12 goals 22 assists for 34 points. Scott Hartnell has 8 goals and 13 assists for 21 points. Jack Johnson has 3 goals and 16 assists for 19 points. And rounding out the top 5 point leaders is James Wisniewski has 3 goals and 13 assists for 16 points.

The Jackets acquired Kevin Connauton off of waivers from the Dallas Stars. They also traded defenseman Tim Erixon to the  Chicago Blackhawks for Jeremy Morin. Then just 2 days later they traded Luke Adam to the Buffalo Sabres for Jerry D'Amigo. Also acquired was Jordan Leopold from the St. Louis Blues for a 5th round draft pick.

Once again after the horrible month of November, the Jackets are right back into the playoff picture but must stay healthy and play a complete team game staying out of the penalty box to keep making the movement up the standings. If they do that then they should be enjoying the playoffs again like last year but with 3 months left in the season anything can happen. Also don't forget that the All-star game is in Columbus with a week long list of events enjoyable for the entire family. Check out the full list here.

As always Carry The Flag, March On, and "We Are The 5th Line"