The Blue Jackets are 8-0-1 in the month of December. They are climbing up the league standings and currently sit five points out of a playoff spot with more than half the season still in front of them.
The team identity of being hard to play against, perhaps having a chip on their shoulder, has been back on display during the current nine-game point streak, and the Jackets have started to look like the team that earned the franchise's second playoff appearance last season.
"We're trying to get back to the winning ways we're used to coming off of last year," said Jackets defenseman James Wisniewski. "We're finally starting to feel the rhythm and how to play and how to win games."
But how does a team connect with their identity? Head coach Todd Richards describes it as something formed from intensity. Like Wisniewski, Richards sees the team back to the trademark style of play that they established last season.
"Most teams are going to be better when you're intense," Richards said. "If I'm intense a lot of times my focus is better, and when you're physically engaged in a game you have some form of intensity and I believe it makes you more aware of what's going on - your focus is better, your passing is better, every aspect of your game is better."
James Wisniewski sees the team's identity as something born of pride. Wisniewski was second in points on the team last year with 51, and currently has 14 this season. Five of this year's points have come off assists in games played this December.
"Our identity is about making sure when opponents face us they know it's going to be a hard game," Wisniewski said. "It's hard to win in this league and the style of play that we play is particularly hard -- because we have to work harder than other teams to create scoring opportunities."
Wisniewski believes the win the team had against Pittsburgh Dec 13, and last night's win against Chicago -- a team they had not beaten at home in four years -- are signature displays of who this team is.
"(The Pittsburgh game) was a perfect example of knowing our identity and having pride as a team to go out and do it," Wisniewski said.
But Wisniewski doesn't simply believe pride, and the type of identity this team has, are based only in intangibles. For the 30-year-old Michigan native, identity comes from being a professional, being ready, and each member of the team knowing their role.
"We have skill, - we have lots of skill - but our identity comes from our hard work and tenaciousness," Wisniewski said. "Our team works to be relentless on the puck. When our team is playing well we want the other team to feel like they're playing 6 guys on the ice, because there's a guy in your face all the time."
Forward Jeremy Morin, who joined the team via trade Dec 14, has played three games with the Jackets. He's earned one assist and had a shootout goal versus his former team, Chicago, last night.
The team's identity was easy for him to identify right away.
"It's a team effort here," Morin said. "We work really hard. When all four lines get going and rolling -- we play a physical game, with a check first mentality. I think it's a fun team to be a part of."
With the Jackets' identity strengthening with every passing game, and the team being rewarded with a string of wins, Morin and Wisniewski both believe that the team is in touch with it's identity -- it's not something that needs to be coaxed.
"Everyone knows what we have to do to come out and win," Wisniewski said. "It's up to us to be professionals and win games."
With the team resurging, three more home games await the Jackets in the month of December. The Jackets next face the Nashville Predators Dec 22 at Nationwide Arena. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
Follow Alison on Twitter at @AlisonL
