Wonka Wisdom and the Blue Jackets

“But Charlie, don’t forget what happened to the boy who suddenly got everything he ever wanted.”
“What happened?”
“He lived happily ever after.”

Is this real? Is this the team that every single national hockey pundit picked to be not only last in the Central, but last in the West and last in the League? Yep. This is them. A rag tag bundle of youngins, yeoman defensemen, and workman like offensive players, all with “potential” took to the ice in January as the latest Blue Jackets roster. What did we hope for? Burned by last season, all we could dare to dream was that we’d get entertaining hockey and that John Davidson just might be able to pull off this “never be outworked” thing. We grabbed on to that hard, didn’t we? After all it was all we had. No one really expected these guys to win a lot. We believed in our team, and we loved our team, but 2013 started off with a lot of quotes like these:

“Well at least we’ll get a good draft pick”

“Just so we don’t finish last”

“Just so these games are entertaining”

The team started off as we had feared – and while it wasn’t the 0-8 start of last season, we were 2-5-1 in January. The media said “see?” The Dispatch called the season “lost” and we steeled ourselves for the long march to the end of another losing season, buoyed only slightly but believing in “brick by brick” and hoping that we’d eventually climb to the heights of respectability…some day, some year. We hoped, cheered and dreamed for more.

Somehow we ended up here.

Tonight we play the LA Kings for a chance to build our points lead on Detroit and further solidify our chance to hold a spot in the playoff bracket. We’ve got an elite scorer who waived his no trade clause to come here; a group of guys who never, hardly ever, quit; a number one goalie; and a reputation exactly as promised – other teams don’t want to play us.

Of course no one knows what the final weeks of one of the crazier NHL schedules holds. There are a million scenarios of how this all can turn out and we’ve certainly learned none of knows for sure which one will prove true. But, man. Can’t we just pause – for one split second – and relish what’s happening in Blue Jackets land?

I love staying up far later than I should because I don’t want to miss a minute of a game.

I love believing that my team will pull out a win.

I love the high of next-day game highlights and chatter.

I love that our team has swagger.

I love rushing out of Nationwide Arena with everyone commenting on this play and that play.

I love seeing our guys get national recognition.

I love my co-workers suddenly asking if there’s a game tonight.

I love seeing our players happy.

I love hockey that matters.

I love that we’re not last in any cut or categorization of the NHL right now.

I LOVE THE BLUE JACKETS

No matter what happens, this has been one hell of a ride. Believe, Blue Jackets fans, believe. Hockey in Columbus is real – and we just might be closer than we thought to living happily ever after.