from Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch,

I’m talking about the folks who bought into the Columbus franchise by lighting piles of money on fire, year after year, when Doug MacLean was running the operation. I’m talking about the people who remember when the Jackets and the Wings were in the Central Division, who had Hockeytown rubbed in their faces. Freaking Hockeytown.

The Red Wings won four Presidents’ Trophies and three Stanley Cups in the 2000s. The Wings were dominant against the Jackets through 2012-13. Nationwide was a sea of red whenever the Wings were in town.

The first time the Jackets made the playoffs, in 2009, the Wings swept them. Remember Game 4? The phantom penalty on Freddy Modin? The winning, power-play goal by Johan Franzen? The series highlight for Jackets fans came when a Detroit fan attempted to throw an octopus on the ice — and was very much dissuaded by a flurry of fists....

The oldest, staunchest Jackets fans — among others — would like that very much. They were watching Tuesday’s game and, as it went on, they had to be thinking, “To hell with clinching. Just beat Detroit.”

And so it happened. They have Seth Jones, Artemi Panarin and Dubois, among others — and Lidstrom, Datsyuk and forever-young Stevie Y are long gone. The earth turns, the seasons change, time moves on.

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