Historical Moments:
2000/01: Major professional sports landed in Columbus for the first time as the Blue Jackets
of the NHL made their debut. In their very first game at Nationwide Arena on
October 7th, the Blue Jackets jumped out to a 3-0 lead against the Chicago Blackhawks,
with Bruce Gardiner scoring the first goal in franchise history. However,
the sold out crowd of 18,136 would go home disappointed after the Blackhawks
scored 5 unanswered goals to win 5-3. The Jackets would get their first win 5
days later when they beat the Calgary Flames on the road 3-2. Their first home
win would not come until October 27th when they beat the Washington Capitals 3-1.
The Blue Jackets would go on to finish in last place in the Central Division
with a 28-39-9-6 record, as Geoff Sanderson led the team with 30 goals and 26
assists. Despite the team's last place finish goalie Ron Tugnutt would set a record
for wins by a goalie on an expansion team with 22.
2001/02: After a respectable inaugural season the Blue Jackets second season is full of disappointments
as they finish in last place again with a record of 22-47-8-5, that
is a full 14 points less then their first season, as goalies Ron Tugnutt and
Marc Denis would struggle with high GAA average and poor records. Providing some
notoriety would be Espen Knutsen who became the first Blue Jacket to play in
the All-Star Game scoring a goal and an assist for the victorious World Team.
However, the lasting memory of the season would be of the tragic death of young
Blue Jacket fan Brittanie Cecil. Cecil who was attending the game on her 13th
birthday was struck by a deflected puck while attending a game against the Calgary
Flames at Nationwide Arena. She would tragically die two days later becoming
the first fan fatality in the NHL's 85-year history. The Blue Jackets honor her
memory by wearing a heart shaped decal with her initials "BNC" on their helmets
for the remainder of the season. The death of Brittanie Cecil would force the
NHL to put netting up in the offensive zones in all arenas the following season
to protect the fans.
2002/03: The Blue Jackets who had the top overall pick in the NHL draft select 18-year old
OHL star Rick Nash who would make the team out of training camp and have an instant
impact as the Blue Jackets got off to a solid 7-5-1-1. However, over the
next 2 months the Jackets would struggle as Coach Dave King is fired and replaced
by GM Doug MacLean. Under MacLean the Blue Jackets would still finish in last
place with a record of 29-42-8-3. However, with a strong 17 goal 22 assist rookie
season from rookie Rick Nash the Blue Jackets know they now have a player
they can build around.
2003/04: The development of Rick Nash into one of the league's best superstars continued as
he finished tied for the NHL lead in goals scored with 41 with Ilya Kovalchuk
of the Atlanta Thrashers and Jarome Iginla. However it did not translate into
wins on the ice as the Blue Jackets struggled again, and were never a factor in
the playoff chase finishing in 4th Place with a 25-45-8-4 record, as Doug MacLean
left the bench in the middle of the season to concrete on his duties as General
Manager with Gerard Gallant taking over behind the bench.
2004/05: Season Cancelled Due to Lock Out
2005/06: Coming out of the Lock Out the Blue Jackets hoped to finally take that next step
into the playoffs as they signed Defenseman Adam Foote. However, injuries to Rick
Nash early in the season once again had the Jackets in a deep hole as they won
just 5 of their first 23 games. The Jackets continued to struggle in December
as they landed former All-Star Sergei Fedorov in a trade with the Mighty Ducks
of Anaheim. However, Fedorov continued to struggle as the Jackets continued to
lose, finishing in 3rd place with a 35-43-4 record.
2006/07: With Pascal Leclaire taking over for Marc Denis, who signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning
in goal the Blue Jackets entered their 7th season hoping for a change of
fortune. However, they once again got off to a horrible start, as Coach Gerard
Gallant was fired on November 13th after a 5-9-1 start. After being led briefly
by interim Coach Gary Agnew, who was winless in five games the Jackets named
Ken Hitchcock an experienced coach with a proven track record including a Stanley
Cup Championship to lead the team following Thanksgiving. In Hitchcock's first
game the Jackets lost to the Philadelphia Flyers who fired him only a month
earlier 3-2. Early on the Blue Jackets played well under Hitchcock winning five
games in a row in December, but the lack of scoring continued to haunt the team
all season as they set an embarrassing NHL modern day record by being shutout
16 times, as they finished in last place with a terrible record of 33-42-7.
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