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All right, Blue Jackets fans.  Our team is 4-1-0 in the first five games of the NHL season.  Sure, we are only five games into an 82 game season, but you have to admit it's pretty darn cool to see four wins in five games... especially when two of those four wins came on the road, and road wins have never necessarily been easy to come by for the Blue Jackets.  So, eight standings points in five games is certainly nothing to sneeze at.  The Jackets have had the opposite record twice before through five games (in the inaugural season, and in ‘05-‘06).  In their second season didn't get a win until the seventh game of the campaign, although four ties in that span provided them some points in the standings.

"It's pretty darn cool to see four wins in five games... especially when two of those four wins came on the road"

However, those are just numbers.  That was then, and this is now.  Third-year GM Scott Howson has built a pretty good hockey team here in Columbus – one that made the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time last year, and could very well be a playoff contender for years to come.  Thus far, the Jackets have had fairly solid goaltending, and the defense has been respectable, considering they have been missing Mike Commodore since the early preseason.  We still probably haven’t seen this team at its best yet.  A big test lies ahead now, since Jan Hejda is out for the next 4-6 weeks with a knee injury.  The defense now has to hold down the fort until Commodore gets back from his groin injury, which is hopefully soon.  Meanwhile, the Jackets hope to handle the Los Angeles Kings at home on Saturday, before hitting the road again for four games in six nights in Alberta (Calgary and Edmonton) and California (Anaheim and Los Angeles).

But, back to the strong start.  It is really nice to see the Blue Jackets grabbing the early lead in penalty killing percentage in the league.  It's also nice to see a power-play percentage floating around 20% -- sure it's only through five games, but spending the season in the NHL cellar in that category last year was pretty bad.

It will be interesting to see how the shuffling of the defensive lines will look on the ice against Los Angeles Saturday.  Hopefully the Saturday night crowd gets to see something really good.  I know I'm certainly looking forward to it.  Taking care of business at home Saturday should give the Jackets some momentum heading into what is going to be a very long road trip.  Here's hoping the rest of the guys can stay healthy while they’re at it.

Random Notes Around The NHL

Break Up The Avalanche  Colorado has continued its unlikely and meteoric rise to the top of the Western Conference standings.  I'll be honest, I wrote them off for this year, and for the foreseeable future.  Right now, I'm not sure what to say.  Their young players -- including two 18-year-old rookies on the roster -- have really stepped up.  Time will tell if that goaltending will be able to stay up to snuff, but these guys might actually be pretty good.  Who knows... Saturday's game against Detroit might renew a rivalry that has become sadly lopsided the last few years.

"I wish we did [hockey postage stamps] in the States. I'm not saying they have to make an entire set of stamps, maybe just one."

Return Of The ‘Bec?  The Avs’ old hometown, Québec City announced today that it plans to build a new arena to try and bring the NHL back to Québec, and someday host a Winter Olympics.  The city's mayor met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman last week to discuss a move, a meeting that also included the former owner of the Québec Nordiques franchise.  Hmmm… Quebec, Winnipeg, and two attempts to move American franchises to Hamilton, Ontario.  A lot of talk about relocation lately.  This is getting interesting.

Happy Birthday  The Montréal Canadiens are continuing their centennial celebration, as the Canada Post is unveiling postage stamps to commemorate the team.  I wish we did cool stuff like that in the States, just to get some hockey on a postage stamp here.  I'm not saying they have to make an entire set of stamps, maybe just one.  Hey, Sweden immortalized Peter Forsberg after he scored the game-winner for the gold medal in the 1994 Winter Olympics.  Did the U.S. ever do anything for the Miracle On Ice?  Next year’s Olympics just happen to be near the 30^th anniversary of The Miracle… nudge, nudge, wink, wink….

Tags: colorado avalanche, columbus blue jackets, jan hejda, los angeles kings, mike commodore, miracle on ice, montreal canadiens, quebec, relocation, strong start, winnipeg