It's time for a trip down memory lane.
On October 8-9, 2010, the Columbus Blue Jackets faced off against the San Jose Sharks. Why is that significant? It marks the last and only time the Jackets have played in Europe, as those two games were played in Stockholm, Sweden, as a part of the NHL's Premiere. This year, the club will travel to Tampere, Finland, the hometown of winger Patrik Laine, and play the defending champion Colorado Avalanche on November 4-5.
The Jackets would drop the first game to the Sharks 3-2 before picking up an OT victory the next night. Following their return to North America, the club won 13 of their next 18, capped off by a five-game winning streak just before American Thanksgiving, posting a record of 14-6-0
Unfortunately, being eight games over .500 would be this team's ceiling. They lost their first five games after Thanksgiving and finished the 2010 calendar year with a record of 20-15-3. By January 11 they were 20-20-3, having lost all five of their games in 2011 to that point. In that five-game stretch, they were outscored 22-8.
They would improve over the next six weeks or so, posting a 31-23-6 record on February 25 after winning their third straight game. But, that's well things went downhill. They lost their next seven games and won just three of their last 22 games of the regular season, finishing the 2010-11 campaign at the bottom of the Central Division with a 34-35-13 record.
That record is not too dissimilar from the Jackets' 2021-22 record of 37-38-7. Hopefully, for the Jackets, they can start hot like the 2010-11 team, but avoid the late-season collapse.
