There comes a point when a team reaches the "critical mass" part of their season. The tendency of teams on the outside looking in on a playoff spot is to fall into either a cliche-laden non-answer or to pull inside a shell and not even acknowledge the negatives, while espousing the positives.
It has become a daily ritual of saying the next game is the most important game that they will play. It's a gameday repetition of saying they can't afford to overlook any opponent. It's a record of 26-29-4 with almost three-quarters of the season played and no headway made.
The Blue Jackets are at that point. They have not been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, but they are not making a return trip this year. Like the old Ivory soap commercials say, it's 99.9 percent certain they will be cleaning out their lockers on April 12.
"You look at how we've prepared," said veteran defenseman Jordan Leopold. "We tend to prepare differently in the group and you can see the result on the ice from when we're playing a top-end team versus a bottom-end team.
"That's kind of the wave of this year - where sometimes first periods have been good and sometimes our first periods have been terrible. That comes down to preparation and fundamentals. It also comes down to when things aren't going well, what do you rely on? What do you fall back on? You have to fall back on something. You can't keep chasing it."
That is the reality of losing 377 man games due to injury. That is the reality of once again having the youngest team in the NHL. And that is the reality of a consistent early rollercoaster ride of slow starts each year.
While everyone loves an underdog and roots for them to win, doing the same thing over and over is the very definition of insanity. This team has chased game after game and season after season in the hopes that this time it might be different. Chasing at this pace is taxing on the players, both physically and mentally.
"You have to simplify and get back to basics. It's working from the simple things that are your core. It's something that I was taught earlier in my career. My first couple of years I was working with Jim Playfair, he's an assistant now in Arizona (Coyotes), that the foundation is going to be the most important part of my career. And the reason I say that is because I've played on a lot of different teams.
"There's a lot of different ways that people play, both positionally and system-wise. But it always comes down to a foundation. Where are your feet placed? How do you make reads? Where is your stick placed? How you retrieve pucks. There are a ton of things that go through your mind."
There is a core around which the Blue Jackets are being built. The long-term deals signed with Brandon Dubinsky, Nick Foligno, Sergei Bobrovsky and the bridge deal with Ryan Johansen point to them as the core that will help get to the next step.
Is the core within the walls of the arena strong enough, both physically and mentally to build a foundation on?
"Over my career, I've learned to adapt. When things are questionable and things are shaky, I've had something to fall back on. That way, I can work from there and build it back up. There is light at the end of the tunnel. It's how you get out of the darkness where people either prevail or fail."
And while Jordan Leopold may not be a member of the Blue Jackets when the trade deadline hits at 3 p.m. Monday, the foundation that he speaks of is what Columbus is striving for moving forward. That comes with maturity, experience and accountability. But most importantly, it comes with time.
The Blue Jackets host the Montreal Canadiens Thursday night at 7 p.m. and you can catch all the action on FOX Sports Ohio beginning at 6:30 p.m. with "Blue Jackets LIVE" pregame show.
