Right around the turn of the century, the NHL finally made its way to Ohio. The Columbus Blue Jackets became one of two expansion teams (along with the Minnesota Wild) to join the league in 2000, bringing the NHL to 30 teams. Despite the team’s mascot being a large bug, the name Blue Jackets is actually a reference to the important role that both Columbus and Ohio played during the Civil War.

Singing the Blues

Columbus followed the pattern of most expansion franchises, which is to say that they struggled early in their history. The Blue Jackets failed to qualify for the playoffs in their first seven seasons, never finishing any higher than 11th in the Western Conference during that time. It wasn’t until the 2008-09 season that they broke through and reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs, only to get swept by the Red Wings in the first round. That turned out to be the team’s only playoff appearance in their first 12 NHL seasons.

In Their Rightful Place

For the 2013-14 season, the NHL finally got around to implementing some much-needed realignment, which resulted in Columbus being moved to the Eastern Conference. In addition to being where they belonged geographically, the switch seemed to suit the Blue Jackets. That season, Columbus reached the playoffs for the second time in franchise history. They may have lost the series to the Penguins, but they did win their first two playoff games ever, dropping the series 4-2.

The Eastern Conference has continued to be far more friendly and forgiving to the Blue Jackets than the Western Conference. Columbus reached the playoffs in three consecutive years starting in the 2016-17 season. More importantly, the Blue Jackets finally won their first-ever playoff series in 2019, sweeping the Lightning in the first round before falling to the Bruins in the second round. The team can only hope their first playoff series win is a sign of things to come as they enter their third decade in the NHL.

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