Blue Jackets Fans Hoping Offseason Changes Bring Heart and Talent

Although the Columbus Blue Jackets have only been around since 2000, it’s not hard to consider their fans “long suffering.”  The team’s busy off-season gives these fans renewed hope for a winning season and more importantly, a team with a distinct identity.

Wins have often been few and far between and the hockey has, at many times, been unwatchable.  The team has often lacked talent, but it has also lacked character and a soul that fans can rally around. 

In the 1970’s the Philadelphia Flyers were the Broad Street Bullies.  They played tough, physical, intimidating hockey and their rough and tumble fans loved.  Other teams, including Russian teams, hated it.  In the 1980’s, the Islanders and Oilers dominated with a blend of immense talent and gritty toughness. 

True, the Islanders had Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy and the Oilers had Gretzky and Tikkanen to put the puck in the net. However, outside Long Island and Edmonton, people tend to forget the Islanders had Gary Howatt, and Clark Gillies and Edmonton had Mark Messier, who was the most ferocious competitor ever to play the game.

These teams could beat you with talent.  They would also beat you on the sheer force of their iron will, and fans ate up every minute of it.

That is what the Blue Jackets need and their fans desperately crave.  Columbus fans aren’t tired of losing as much as they’re tired of having a team that gives them so little to cheer for.  Fan favorite R.J. Umberger plays every game like it’s the seventh game of the Stanley Cup finals, but all too often he looks like the only one.

True, the addition of Jeff Carter will give Rick Nash the playmaker he needs.  Carter will draw attention away from Nash and give him more opportunities to score.

But GM Scott Howson’s other additions will be the “make or break” acquisitions for this team, as they will determine if the Jackets finally have the character and soul they’ve lacked.

James Wisniewski is the kind of guy the Jackets need.  He can shoot, score and play defense.  His early-season suspension is proof positive that he will stand up for his teammates.  He also brings the attitude that this team will not be pushed around.  Vinny Prospal and Radek Martinek play with tremendous intensity and a pressing, exciting style that will make them fan favorites.  They’re also highly emotional players who will not let their teammates roll over in tough games.

Rookies Cam Atkinson and Ryan Johansen will also bring youth and energy to the team, which fans will love after ten seasons of witnessing Rusty Klesla lumber around the ice like a moose along the highway.  That is, when he wasn't injured.

Blue Jackets fans are hoping that the talent upgrade brings character and an identity that they can support.  Past teams have looked like a bunch of guys thrown together in an adult league that charges high prices to watch.

Columbus is a great sports town.  Fans are knowledgeable and loyal and will put up with changes if it seems like the team is trying to improve.  What they won’t tolerate is a losing culture and a soulless team.  Scott Howson is a smart hockey guy.  He’s smart enough to know that talent is one thing, but many teams have done well on minimal talent. 

He also knows that every successful team over the past thirty years has had players the rest of the team rallies around and players that give their heart and soul on every shift.  Those are the players he needs. 

If he’s found them in this year’s additions, the fans will rally around them too and the Blue Jackets will finally have the identity they need.