Columbus Blue Jackets: Week 24 Power Rankings

TSN.ca - up 1 to 24
Defenseman Ron Hainsey, who had been so strong for much of the season, has just one point in the last dozen games, not exactly helping his value as he heads towards unrestricted free agency.

CBC.ca - up 2 to 22
It was a good season.

CBSSports.com - up 2 to 22
Even if the playoffs remain elusive for the only NHL team never to get there, signs of progress are real in Columbus, where the Blue Jackets have already posted a franchise-high in points.

Yahoo.com - down 1 to 23
Fredrik Norrena has appeared in 29 games for the Blue Jackets, who have seen Pascal Leclaire emerge as their No. 1 with an impressive breakout season. Norrena doesn’t have a sparkling record (8-14-5) and his other numbers (2.82 GAA and .897 save percentage) are a tad below average. With 84 games of regular-season experience, Norrena has yet to appear in the playoffs.

ESPN.com - down 2 to 24
Let the scouting begin.

CNNSI.com - stays at 20
Behind Manny Malhotra's career night (two goals, career-high three points), the Jackets knocked off the Wings 4-3 to set a franchise record of 75 points. Think that impressed coach Ken Hitchcock? "Oh really," he told the Columbus Dispatch. "Whoopee." I guess not. Then again, his team has gone just 7-9-5 since the All-Star break. Last Week: 1-1-0

FoxSports.com - down 2 to 23
The Blue Jackets split the two games they played in Week 24 and fell two places in the rankings. The Columbus penalty kill was horrendous last week, giving up four goals to their opponents on nine chances.

THN.com - down 3 to 24
The Blue Jackets have been in a win-one, lose-one mode for too long to be considered a serious playoff contender. With that said, a 4-3 win over league-leading Detroit was sweet.

Average score: 22.75 (last week 22.375)

Lots of depressing comments like "let the scouting being" and "it was a good season" littered this week's crop.

Just about everyone has written off the Jackets' playoff chances in this edition. Once again CNNSI.com has them the highest at 20 with TSN/ESPN/THN all the lowest at 24.

Hard to argue with them though, the Jackets’ Stanley Cup aspirations ended with their horrific home record post all-star break.

Lots of work to do this offseason but it would be nice to see the boys finish up strong over these last eight games and crack that 85 point barrier.

-LTL