Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NHL. Each week, we send out questions to the most plugged in Blue Jackets fans, and fans across the country. Sign up here to join Reacts.
With play about to resume in the NHL, fans can again turn to the on-ice action. For Blue Jackets fans, that’s mostly a good thing. According to SB Nation’s Reacts survey, 92 percent of Columbus fans are confident the team is headed in the right direction, a slight downtick from 97 percent in mid-March.
It’s only a slight loss in confidence, but what gives? The 97 percent confidence vote in March is really high, considering the injured players on March 7 included Seth Jones, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Cam Atkinson, Alexandre Texier, Josh Anderson, Dean Kukan, and, lest we forget, Brandon Dubinsky.
All of these players, sans Dubinsky and perhaps Anderson, are back in peak health and ready to give it their all against the Maple Leafs. So why a 5 percent drop in confidence? Perhaps those lost votes reflect a consideration for the team the Jackets will be facing in the first round of these new playoffs: the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Jackets will absolutely have to manage their offense straight out of the gate, but I believe they’re up to the task. What will be the real kicker is if the Jackets can start producing goals after this hiatus – they won’t have their normal span of a month or two to get into the swing of things; they have one or two games at most. We’ll see what happens, but consider me part of the 92 percent vote of confidence.
To vote in the Reacts surveys and have your voice heard each week, sign up here.