Blue Jackets finish emotional season with romp over Islanders
Blue Jackets finish just shy of the playoffs after routing Islanders in season finale, salute fans amid postgame chants of ‘Johnny Hockey!’
Despite the strong finish, the Blue Jackets missed the playoffs, finishing two points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the final wild card spot.The team honored the memory of the late Johnny Gaudreau throughout the season and in the final game.Players expressed disappointment at missing the playoffs but also pride in exceeding expectations after being projected to be one of the worst teams in the league.
Johnny Gaudreau would have loved this. Oh, he would have hated missing the playoffs, but he would have loved everything else about the Blue Jackets’ season finale at Nationwide Arena.
He would have loved what he heard in the locker room, before and after the game. He would have loved how his tightly bonded teammates fought until the end. And he would have voiced the same final note as they did — this was not good enough.
The Jackets (40-33-9) buried the New York Islanders 6-1 before a sellout crowd of 18,874 at Nationwide on April 17. They finished the season on a five-game winning streak. They finished fourth in the Metropolitan Division, ninth in the Eastern Conference and 20th in the league.
No doubt, Johnny Hockey heard the crowd. Jackets fans have been full participants in a season that began in mourning for the death of the Gaudreau brothers, continued with an improbable winter rise, skidded when spring arrived and ended with a mad dash that came up just short. The fans have honored the Gaudreaus by carrying his memory forward, just as the players have by embracing Gaudreau-style passion and joy through a long, challenging season. In the end, the crowd roared loud enough to be heard above.
The fans chanted “CBJ” per usual. They also chanted “Jet,” as an homage to rookie goaltender Jet Greaves, who is hotter than the core of a nuclear power plant. And, in the third period, they chanted, “Johnny Hockey.”
Asked if he took a moment to take in the “Johnny Hockey” chants and the walk-off music — Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” — Jackets coach Dean Evason said, “I tried not to.”
Because he knew he’d lose it. And he did. Evason emphasized that the importance of the finale, which didn’t mean anything in that it had no playoff implications, was that his team played “Columbus Blue Jackets hockey,” which stretches 200 feet and includes all three zones. He said he’ll take the tape of the game and show it during training camp as an example of the Columbus brand. But when he was asked about the impact the season had on him, he choked up. And when he was asked about Gaudreau, he needed time to collect himself.
“Obviously, I’m feeling it now,” Evason said. “We’ll feel it. We have a lot of things to talk about, memories, for sure. We clearly wish the ‘Johnny’ chants can continue here this year, but I’ll tell you this: He will not leave our dressing room for as long as I’m here. He will be in there. He will be a big presence, and he will help us win hockey games, and hopefully get us where we want to be, which is to win a Stanley Cup.”
They have a way to go.
“YOU MADE US PROUD. THANK YOU.” That was one sign that was plastered to the glass as the Blue Jackets warmed up for the finale. The players needed such sentiments because heading into the finale they were disappointed with themselves, and they were (insert your favorite word for “angry” here). Still not good enough. By a whisker.
The night before, the Jackets watched as the Montreal Canadiens beat a Carolina Hurricanes team that was resting a good portion of its roster on the eve of the playoffs. The Canadiens needed to beat the Canes to clinch the last remaining berth in the postseason tournament. Had the Habs lost, they would have ceded their fate to the Jackets, who, with a win over the Islanders on the final day of the regular season, could have clinched.
The Canadiens beat the Canes 4-2 before an electrified crowd at the Bell Center in Montreal. The Canadiens got wild card No. 2 in the East with 91 points. The Jackets finished two points behind. Thus were they eliminated, fewer than 24 hours before the last game of their season.
“Looking back at it now, it’s obviously a tough feeling,” veteran center Sean Monahan said after the last morning skate. “It’s disappointing. It’s a group that really earned, I feel, a place in the playoffs. We went through so much this year. Had a lot of guys step up this year, and it made it a lot of fun, from Game 1. … I’ve said it so many times: This is a fun locker room to be a part of. This is a special group.”
Just before the 2024-25 season got underway, Vegas oddsmakers, as well as those insiders/experts/pundits who do power rankings, had the Jackets as one of the worst teams in the league along with the San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks. The Jackets weren’t eliminated until the 189th day of their 190-day season. That’s something, right?
“We’re disappointed,” center Adam Fantilli said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, we had a great season. We’re happy with where we got.’ No, we’re pissed we didn’t make the playoffs like we should have.”
The Jackets lost 322 man-games to injuries, a few of which left gouges in the lineup: Center Boone Jenner and defenseman Erik Gudbranson suffered shoulder injuries at the outset of the season and combined to miss 122 games; winger Kent Johnson had five points in the first four games, then went on the shelf for 14 games; center Monahan missed 28 games from early January through late March; center Cole Sillinger missed 11 within the same timeframe.
Evason made no excuses. He maintained that “Blue Jackets hockey” was team-first, no matter who was available. They set franchise records for goals scored in a season (267) and number of games with six-plus goals (16). They were 26-10-5 at home — Nationwide was a fortress — and tied the franchise record for most home points in a season (57, matching the mark they set in 2016-17).
Numerous players had career years or breakout seasons, and we’ll be getting into all of that in the days ahead. But this should be mentioned: After Greaves was emergency-recalled from Cleveland April 10, he went 5-0 with a 0.8 goals-against average and a .975 save percentage.
“Obviously, this group has been through a lot,” Greaves said. “I’m so grateful to have been here. I’ve enjoyed every moment with these guys and the fans.”
They believed all season they’d make the playoffs. Truly. They had to rejigger their brains, then, to approach the finale as a celebration. Gaudreau, who played with a smile under most any circumstance, may have been a bellwether. It was a nice way to finish. This was a feast for the senses. But, dang, that 0-5-1 streak in March, when the chance for a truly special season began to slip from their grasp, still tugged on their collective hippocampus.
The Jackets missed the playoffs for the fifth year in a row and for the 18th time in 24 seasons. It might also be mentioned here that they’re one of two teams in the league never to have gotten beyond the second round of the playoffs. The other is the Seattle Kraken.
The question, then, is how much did 2024-24 mean to the franchise, its fans and the city?
A more fulsome answer won’t be delivered until next year.
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