from Michael Traikos of the National Post,

Hockey reporters are not allowed to be hockey fans. But I’m rooting for the Columbus Blue Jackets to make the playoffs.

I’m rooting for them in the same way that I’d root for a team that’s pulled its goalie in the final minute of a tied game rather than settle for overtime.

At least they’re not playing safe. Even if it blows up in their face, they’re going for it. They’re trying to win.

You can’t say that about Montreal or Carolina or many of the other bubble teams that stood pat at last week’s trade deadline. You can’t even say that about some of the contending teams, such as Calgary, Toronto or Tampa Bay, that cautiously kept their rosters intact.

Columbus? GM Jarmo Kekalainen threw caution — and potentially the future of the team — to the wind when he not only hung onto pending UFAs Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky at the trade deadline, but then went out and acquired rental players Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, Keith Kinkaid and Adam McQuaid.

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