OK, this is getting absurd.
The Blue Jackets used to find it difficult to win one game. Now they’ve won 16 in a row.
One more victory and the Jackets tie the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins for the longest winning streak in NHL history. The opportunity comes Thursday at Washington.
Why?
Why this team?
Why now?
None of this makes any sense when placed in the context of the Blue Jackets’ own history, and that makes this magic carpet ride even more enjoyable for the team’s long-suffering fans.
Hard-core folks have stuck with the Jackets even though they’ve made the playoffs only twice in their first 15 seasons. Columbus has had one home playoff win. One.
No wonder people are screaming, jumping, firing off the team’s cannon.
A crowd of 17,169 was rocking Nationwide Arena again Tuesday night when the Jackets won their sweet 16 th in a row, 3-1 over the Edmonton Oilers.
The Blue Jackets are 27-5-4 this season.
Last season they lost their first eight games and finished eighth in the Metropolitan Division. They were a tire fire.
Now they’ve won the second most consecutive games in the history of the NHL.
Why?
Why are they winning?
Even one of my daughters asked me that question last night. She doesn’t really follow sports, but she knows a good story when she hears one. She’s been hearing a lot about the Jackets.
She wants to know why this team, why now, why?
At the Fiesta Bowl last week in Arizona, several reporters from around the nation asked me the same question: “What’s up with the Blue Jackets?”
Everyone wants to know the secret now. Even the BBC is including Blue Jackets' scores in their overnight roundups. Columbus is big news in England.
Why are the Jackets winning?
Why now?
Michael Arace, our veteran sports columnist at the Dispatch, has covered hockey for a quarter-century dating to his days in Connecticut working at his hometown Hartford Courant. He’s been around the Jackets since they were created. He knows the game.
Why are they winning?
Here is what what Arace wrote in his column today from last night’s latest victory: “These Jackets are deep, well-structured and mentally and physically tough. Their power play is a force of nature. Their goaltending is sublime.”
William Karlsson’s power-play goal Tuesday night crystallizes this season. He hadn’t scored on a man advantage in his previous 136 games for the Blue Jackets.
As Tom Reed wrote in today’s Dispatch, the Jackets don’t have many stars, but they have plenty of heroes. Ten different players have scored game-winning goals during the 16-game winning streak.
BROOKE LAVALLEY | THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Why is this team winning?
Why now?
Aaron Portzline knows as well as anyone. He’s covered the Blue Jackets for the Dispatch since their first game in 2000. He’s chronicled enough losses to be paid by FEMA.
The man knows of what he speaks.
Why are they winning, Porty?
Trust is at the core.
If you want to know why the Blue Jackets are doing what they’re doing, read t his feature story Portzline wrote before Tuesday’s game about the mutual trust between the players and their coach, John Tortorella.
The Jackets are a cohesive bunch, everyone rowing in the same direction. How refreshing.
Unity hasn’t been part of this team’s moribund past. The Jackets have had three different general managers and seven fulltime coaches. They’ve all had plans.
In the past, we’ve heard the team trot out slogans such as “Carry the Flag,” or “Ignite the Night” or “March with Us.”
Now the Jackets don’t need to sell anything. They’re winning.
Why?
Sometimes in sports the right people come together at the right time. It’s happening now for the Blue Jackets, the youngest team in the NHL. They go for 17 in a row Thursday.
Amazing.
BROOKE LAVALLEY / DISPATCH
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The Ohio State football program has been a bubbling cauldron since the Buckeyes were humiliated with a 31-0 loss to Clemson on Saturday in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
OSU coach Urban Meyer hired Ryan Day as new quarterbacks coach on Tuesday as the school announced Tim Beck was moving on to pursue other options.
Tim May of the Dispatch reports that’s not likely to be the only major change on the offensive staff. Sources tell him that Meyer is interested in bringing in former Indiana coach Kevin Wilson as offensive coordinator.
Meanwhile, the OSU secondary is leaking players. Junior cornerback Gareon Conley is the latest to leave after announcing on Tuesday that he’s entering the NFL draft.
LISA MARIE MILLER | DISPATCH
Conley’s announcement came one day after All-America safety Malik Hooker said he’s departing OSU to enter the NFL draft. And cornerback Marshon Lattimre, a third-year sophomore, could be next to turn pro.
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Changes are happening at Minnesota, too. The Gophers fired football coach Tracy Claeys and nearly all of his assistants on Tuesday.
Claeys, 48, recently supported his players’ two-day boycott of the team after 10 players were suspended following a school investigation into a sexual assault allegation.
Leila Navidi | Minneapolis Star Tribune
Minnesota has previously said Claeys would be back next season. He went 11-8 as Gophers head coach, including 2-0 in bowl games, after replacing Jerry Kill in October, 2015.
Brian Hamilton of Sports Illustrated wrote an interesting column about the various scandals that have plagued Minnesota’s athletic program since 1999.
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The Ohio State women’s basketball team managed to avoid an upset Tuesday night at Northwestern.
Junior guard Kelsey Mitchell’s 33 points made sure of that. Read about No. 11 OSU’s 94-87 win in Andrew Erickson’s story in today’s Dispatch.
The OSU men’s team plays its Big Ten home opener on Thursday against Purdue.
Adam Jardy has a follow-up on the Buckeyes’ loss Sunday at Illinois in his Dispatch basketball blog.
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Crew SC made a big move on Tuesday by acquiring Ghanaian center back Jonathan Mensah.
Erickson wrote about Mensah, the team’s second designated player. He most recently played for Anzhi Makhachkala of the Russian Premier League.
Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports
More news about Mensah and the Crew can be found in Erickson’s latest post on his soccer blog.
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20: The number of goals scored by Toronto Maple Leafs rookie Auston Matthews in his first 36 NHL games. At age 19, he’s on pace to finish this season with 46 goals, which would rank sixth among rookies in league history.
Dan Hamilton | USA TODAY Sports
Bravo: Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was been namedthe NHL’s “first star of the month” for December after going 12-0-0 with a .939 save percentage and 1.75 goals-against average. He’s the first player in franchise history to win the league’s top honor for monthly play.
Brick: Might be time for the Cincinnati Bengals to part ways with Adam “Pacman” Jones after the veteran cornerback’s latest trouble with the law.
This mugshot from the Hamilton County Jail shows Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones, who was arrested early Tuesday.
