Although the playoffs are not to be this season, the refrain surrounding the Blue Jackets has been to get better. That mantra has been espoused by head coach Todd Richards and his staff for weeks. It goes beyond playing for pride.
While facing the adversity of an ever-changing lineup due to injuries, the need to get better has been drilled into them on a daily basis. Despite going into Tuesday night's game against the Anaheim Ducks with a league-leading 463 man games lost due to injury, staying disciplined and playing the right way for each of the remaining games has to be paramount.
"I think there are areas that we're getting better," Todd Richards said. "Some of it is us doing it to ourselves (with) way too many penalties. We spend way too much time penalty killing and they're stick infractions, a lot of high sticks. When you check, you've got to use your legs. And when you're taking stick infractions, a lot of times you're reaching. We have to eliminate that."
Over the just completed three-game road trip in which they swept the Western Canadian teams of Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary, their discipline was lacking. They were penalized 19 times, of which 10 were stick infractions. They have also not started the games with verve.
"Obviously, we'd like to get our starts going," said left wing Nick Foligno. "I don't think we've found a consistent game yet where we're playing the right way all game long. But right now, our mentality is allowing us to get back into games. That's not something that happened in the early part of the season."
Beyond the penalties and slow starts, they showed a consistent resiliency that has only been seen in spurts this season.
"Honestly, the start to all three games wasn't good," defenseman Jack Johnson said. "We can't play like that and win consistently. We got a little lucky on the road trip to come out on top in all three games. Truthfully, at the end of the day the most important thing is winning. I think with our play, as the games go on, we get better.
"Ideally, we'd like to start strong and finish strong. Instead of being down by two, you can be up by two. And then get up by three, and then by four. Then you can have total control of the game. But, we're taking these games down to the last minute; overtimes and shootouts to try and win them. We could probably make it a little easier on ourselves from the beginning."
It has been a hallmark of this team for a few years to ride the rollercoaster of wading into games by not being engaged. Each of the three most recent games was a dogfight, and yet they were able to find a way to win. But, does this mean they are getting better?
"Yes, I think we are," said defenseman Dalton Prout about getting better, "I think this road trip was a testament to that. We were resilient. There were a lot of moments on that road trip that we could have folded, but we didn't. We didn't have the starts that we wanted, but we responded the way we wanted to. Both of our goalies kept us in games and gave us that chance to have a second wind. The response showed that we cared, we have a pulse and we want to win hockey games."
Each of the players in the room has been in the NHL long enough, save rookies Alex Wennberg and Marko Dano, to know what they have to do. Execution of that game plan is the crux. Knowing what to do leads to doing what is needed. They freely admit that they need to be better. The resiliency they've shown is just one facet of playing a complete and consistent game.
"I think that's something that management wants to put in this dressing room with the personnel they've put in place," Prout continued. "That's the big message that has been sent. Something that is held accountable in this room is having a solid effort every night. Sometimes the execution isn't going to be there. But the intentions and the will to put it on the line for your teammates is there to get the win at the end of the night."
Much has been made of how youthful this team is, and has been for quite some time. Add youthfulness to the adversity of so many injuries and the mountain becomes that much steeper. It won't be used as an excuse, but those two facets are a contributing factor that has hampered the growth of the team. Jack Johnson looks at this as a collective mindset of the group.
"I don't think it should take maturity to win a game," he said. "I think it's more of a mindset. I don't think you have to have years go by to figure out to start on the attack, and not defensively. I don't think it has anything to do with the age of the guys. You would think, actually, that with youth you would come out flying.
"I do think some of it is confidence. There have been a lot of peaks and valleys this year, and really more valleys than peaks. I think we do a fairly good job of staying on an even keel as a group. It's the confidence to start the game expecting to win, having control of the game and just knowing that you're a good team. I think that has a lot to do with it."
And so, they have reached the final stanza of the season and have just 10 games remaining before they scatter to the four winds. Six of their last 10 games are at home and they have accumulated 33-35-4. They are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games. If they play the right way and keep striving to get better, they can get their home record above the .500 mark and finish with a winning record.
"You've seen the character and the fight to win," Foligno concluded. "Sometimes it's easier to roll over and play dead, but this team is not going to do that. We know that we're not where we want to be, but we're growing towards something. We're trying to build toward something next year and in the years to come where the team is consistently in the playoffs; where we have that mindset from game one to game 82.
"I think that's where this time tries you because you may not be in the position that you want to be in, but you're still battling through it and working hard. I think that grows you as a team and as a player. It makes you that much better for when it really matters."
This has been a season that has thrown much in the way of adversity at the Blue Jackets. Instead of them hanging their heads and limping into the offseason wondering what might have been, they are meeting the challenge of finishing the season with their heads held high.
Paraphrasing Friedrich Nietzsche, this season did not kill them. Hence, they must emerge stronger. Remembering where they have been and learning from the obstacles thrown up in their path will only forge the Blue Jackets into a team that is better. That is the overriding theme for the next few weeks.
The Blue Jackets host the Anaheim Ducks at 7 p.m. Tuesday, with the FOX Sports Ohio pregame show "Blue Jackets LIVE" beginning at 6:30 p.m.
