Miami, FL - The Columbus Blue Jackets pulled out of their recent nosedive with a much-needed win here in Florida last night. It seems strange to be dumping on one of the five teams tied for first overall, but reality has kicked in with the Blue Jackets, and it's not pretty. Last night's win came in extra time, with Ivan Barbashev and Jordan Staal sniping shootout goals and John Gibson stopping all three that he faced. But this first place team has a serious problem - they have been outscored this year!

Columbus, OH - After several years of patience, or as we sportswriters call it, mediocrity, the Columbus Blue Jackets made strides forward last year. However, management was not content and felt there was a need for change. In past seasons that would have meant some nibbling around the edges, but this year two key forwards from last year's group have been dealt and the club feels it has made significant upgrades down the middle.

Columbus, OH - After watching their team come slowly out of the gate last season, management was not prepared to do the same this year. The club showed faith in their core, making minimal changes in the off-season in the hopes that some young players could step in. After three brutal losses, the club acquired Jonas Brodin from the Buffalo Sabres to shore up their blueline.

Columbus, OH - The prospect list just got a whole lot deeper in Columbus. Eighteen new players have joined the club, although one of them has been here before. It was the first draft in the recent history of the club that did not include a trade during the draft, not that they needed to add more. Conor Geekie was the headliner, but there is a big infusion of talent to the Blue Jackets.

Columbus is at the bottom of the heap and are turning to a 20 year old prospect to boost their performance. Desperate times...

Changes to the coaching staff, young players being promoted, and several veterans retiring or being released is the theme for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Read more to find out why they believe they finally need to be taken seriously on the ice.

With Season 10 about to start, all the GMs in the CMHL are getting geared up for a new year. I thought I would take a minute to reflect on a draft of old.

They say you have to wait 5 years before you can analyze a draft. So while I can't predict 2018, I can reflect on 2008 (the summer after Season 4).

So let's look at my own draft - who was a boom and who was a bust?

With the 2012 draft coming to a close last week, all the GMs in the CMHL have fresh prospects in their eyes. But only some of them will pan out, and only a few will become stars. Every year we go through this ritual, and hope we are the lucky few.

They say you have to wait 5 years before you can analyze a draft. So while I can't predict 2017, I can reflect on 2007 (the summer after Season 3).

So let's look at my own draft - who was a boom and who was a bust?

Today's loss was the final straw for Blue Jackets GM habsfan93.

Although Jon Quick played reasonably well in the 3-2 shootout loss to Chicago, his play in the last 1-2 weeks has been generally abysmal. Quick was brought in as an upgrade over the struggling Henrik Lundqvist, but he only brought more of the same.

So after today's game, GM habsfan93 announced a string of moves, starting with the trading of Jon Quick, John-Michael Liles and Maxime Talbot to the Vancouver Canucks for Ryan Miller, Jay McClement and Dmitri Kulikov.

Henrik Lundqvist has, for the last 3 years, been the definition of stability. Since his CMHL debut in Season 4, Lundqvist has hoisted the Stanley Cup, won the Calder Trophy, won the Conn Smythe Trophy, been to the All-Star game, and has been a Vezina runner-up in each of 3 straight seasons.

But on Wednesday, he found himself pulling on an Ottawa Senators jersey.