from Craig Merz at NHL.com,

Will the season be spent chasing the playoffs? The Blue Jackets opened last season with four wins in six games, then injuries ravaged their roster; Columbus lost an NHL-high 508 man-games.

By the end of November, they were 6-15-2 and didn't make up much ground until it was too late. A 12-0-1 finish left them 42-35-5 and nine points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

"We need to find better ways to maintain and not have major dips," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "We might have injuries this year, and you've got to find ways to stay afloat instead of sinking."
In the previous three seasons, the Blue Jackets started 2-12-1, 5-12-4 and 5-10-0.

"It's pretty obvious you have to have a good start to have a successful season," defenseman Fedor Tyutin said. "That's going to be our team goal. We don't want to use injuries as an excuse. We still have good players here.

"That's something we're searching answers for, why we're having bad starts to the season."

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