And they were all led by Dave King.
The inaugural head coach in CBJ history was tasked with rounding a team of NHL veterans, up-and-comers, castoffs, unearthed Europeans and more into shape. Everyone knew winning was going to be a difficult task -- this was at a time where new franchises were expected to struggle, like expansion teams in Nashville (14 wins in 1999-2000) and Ottawa (10 wins in 1992-93) -- but there were enough pros to put together a spirited effort.
And that's what King was able to coax out of the team, piloting the original squad to a 28-39-9-6 record. Speaking on the 20th anniversary video series Where Are They Now presented by Huntington Bank, King remembered how that team came together to produce impressive results.
"We were all very aware when we came to Columbus with an expansion franchise, you could look back and see other teams like Nashville and teams like that like Anaheim that had all come into the league and the difficulty and challenge they had," King said. "So you knew right away it was going to be a challenge, but our talent level on our team was still pretty good.
"We had people like Geoff Sanderson, Espen Knutsen, David Vyborny, Steve Heinze that were pretty good offensive players and really did a great job for us, but it was the character of our players that was going to make the difference. The (Lyle) Odeleins, the (Kevin) Dineens, guys like that gave us strong leadership, but it was still a battle."
That team was boosted by the excitement in the city of Columbus. Long before the Blue Jackets fanbase was known as the 5th Line, central Ohio couldn't get enough of the team, with raucous packed houses welcoming the team to the ice each night.
"It was so exciting because we had great fans," King said. "I can remember the first game. The opening faceoff, it was truly, truly exciting. I can remember the last game of the first year where we beat the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime to give the fans a good entry into the next season. It was a wonderful franchise, and I think being new to the NHL, our staff was really highly organized, worked very hard, and it was right away you could tell it was going to be a terrific franchise.
"It was first-class all the way. The building was amazing. And what a great city to live in. Columbus was a great place. My wife Linda and I really enjoyed our stay there. It was a great situation and a great addition to the NHL."
You can watch the entire video interview with King above.
