The 2016-17 Columbus Blue Jackets season was one for the record books – in more ways than one. 1st Ohio Battery looks back at the individual and team records from the campaign.
The NHL is a league of turnarounds.
Teams can shoot up the standings or drop back down. There are a few franchises in the league that can be found at the top each year, but as players move around the league, coaches get hired and fired, and standout rookies hit the scene, things can change in an instant for league teams.
And while Columbus' history is one of general disappointment, the Jackets have had some good turnarounds before. However, nothing quite compares to what the Blue Jackets did this past season.
The Old Record: From 2011-12 to 2012-13 Seasons
Columbus has had a big turnaround before. You just might not remember it.
The Jackets had a rough season in 2011-12. The ill-fated Jeff Carter season ended with Columbus posting a record of 29-46-7, good for 65 points or a point percentage of .396.
After that, the league promptly went into its second major lockout in eight years. The threat of another wiped out season loomed, but the owners and players came to an agreement and the season began in January.
And it didn't begin auspiciously. After a 3-2 overtime win at Nashville, Columbus fell apart, going just 4-12-4 in its next 20 games. Nearing the midway point of the year, the Jackets were nowhere near playoff contention, but a funny thing happened – behind the hot play of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus started winning.
The streak started with five in a row, four in overtime or a shootout, and ended with a flourish, with Columbus winning eight of its final nine. Though a 3-1 win on the final night vs. Nashville in front of a raucous Nationwide Arena crowd was for naught when the team lost the final playoff spot via tiebreaker, Columbus finished 24-17-7 (55 points). That gave the team a point percentage of .573 and a point percentage turnaround of .177.
Record Breaker: Columbus adds .196 in point percentage in 2016-17
OK, going by point percentage is a bit lame, but when one season thrown in has only 48 games, you do what you can.
But either way this year, Columbus finished 50-24-8, good for 108 points, or a point percentage of .659. In missing the playoffs in 2015-16, the Blue Jackets went 34-40-8, a mark of 76 points. That's a point percentage of .463, giving the team a gain of .196. By another measurement, the Blue Jackets went from 27th in the league's overall standings to fourth, an impressive vault up the league table.
This year, much like in 2012-13, Columbus' season didn't begin with the most positive of signs. The Blue Jackets opened with back-to-back home losses, falling 6-3 vs. Boston in the opener and then dropping a 3-2 final vs. San Jose two nights later.
From there, Columbus didn't panic. As captain Nick Foligno said after the season, the Jackets knew what they had in the room.
"Everyone was like ... how is this going to go?" Foligno said. "And we just took off from there."
Next up, Columbus had five days off, and things were righted a bit with a home win vs. Chicago. The team was 2-3-1 after six games before back-to-back wins before the team's first statement, a 10-0 victory at home vs. Montreal.
From there, things just kept getting better. A Sunday win at Washington moved the team to 10-4-2, and after four points in the next four games, history happened.
The team beat Tampa Bay by a 5-1 score Nov. 29 then didn't lose again until 2017. The 16-game winning streak not only made Columbus the talk of the NHL, it cemented the best start in franchise history. The Blue Jackets continued from there, racking up wins on the way to the first 50-win season in franchise history.
So, will this record ever be broken? Of course, there's a chance, but hopefully not anytime soon. It takes a poor season to be followed by a good one, and the last thing Columbus needs is to fall back into a non-playoff team with the momentum the franchise build this past season.
Turnarounds are good, but becoming a consistent winner is better.
