from Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch,

The Montreal Canadiens of the mid-1970s — Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Ken Dryden, et al. — were good for 127-132 points per season. They put up these eye-popping numbers when the regular season was 80 games long.

The 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings racked up 131 points in 82 games, and the 2005-06 Wings racked up 124 points. Nicklas Lidstrom, among others, straddled that era. It was nigh dynastic.

The 2016-17 Blue Jackets of Alexander Wennberg, Seth Jones and Sergei Bobrovsky are on pace for 129 points. Given their history, they are unbelievable.

Rich Russo knows their history as well as anyone. He is a former season-ticket holder.

“I am happy,” Russo said. “They’re playing well. They’re winning. But I’m still waiting for the collapse. I hate to say that, I really do, but it’s so ingrained. It’s like when a nun hits you with a stick every day, at some point you know you’re going to get hit again. I’m waiting for the stick.”

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