from Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch,

Maybe this is the year. Maybe this is the year when fortune smiles on the Blue Jackets, but it is hard to imagine. The hockey gods have been playing with Jackets fans since they opened the doors to Nationwide Arena.

The Blue Jackets lost a coin flip and Marian Gaborik on the eve of the 2000 draft. They acquired Gaborik 12 years later. We know what they gave up to get him. We know what they got when they traded him to the Los Angeles Kings. That is Jackets’ history in a nutshell. It is marked by misfortune and blunder.

Maybe this is the year. Good luck and sobriety have to stumble into Nationwide Arena at some point, no? How much more can fans take?

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