The Blue Jackets have had some of the most fleeting success of any of their expansion cousins.
While the Nashville Predators have never made it out of the first round of the playoffs, they've at least made the postseason five times. The Minnesota Wild have three playoff appearances and have made it the farthest of all of the late 90's expansion teams, making one Conference Championship.
The Thrashers are their closest comparison, as their former star Ilya Kovalchuk and Rick Nash won the Rocket Richard trophy the same year. Both teams have made the playoffs just once and both have had some serious struggles.
Over the course of their existences, Atlanta has out-gained Columbus points-wise (727 to 657), but with a difference of 70 points and one extra season of activity for the Thrashers (who began play in 1999-2000), it's unfair to say that they've been "better."
Columbus is in a far more difficult position than Atlanta this season though; while Atlanta is in a division where everyone has something to prove, Columbus is up against teams that have already been there and done that.
The Central has provided two of the past three Sta ...
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Article written by Bryan Thiel
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September 12th, 2010 by Bryan Thiel Leave a reply »
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