Jackets back in the playoffs, seeking Cup and long-term success

It's a full-fledged story, worthy of being singled out for being a first.
The Blue Jackets have officially qualified for the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, courtesy of the point they earned in a 5-4 overtime defeat Thursday, and it's the first time in franchise history that it's happened in consecutive seasons.
That's newsworthy stuff. The goal, however, is to make it one of those little side notes.
The goal is to keep stringing playoff appearances together in Columbus until it becomes an assumption at the start of training camp each year. That's when you know you've basically made it, as a franchise.
"We were the youngest team in the league most of the year," coach John Tortorella said. "[NHL Trade Deadline] changes that, I'm not sure where we are, but if you want to continue to build your organization and find your way and be that team that's going to be there all the time, you have to experience it. You can't be in one year, lose in five games and then take two years to get back into it. You need to keep getting back at it."

That's how you build. That's how you grow. That's how you give your captain a chance to go get the Stanley Cup from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.
"Sustainable success," is what it's called, and the Blue Jackets are well into the path to attaining it.
"What it means to me, and hopefully everybody in our organization, is just an opportunity to play for a Stanley Cup," said general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, whose focus is not only the Cup, but the chance to attain it multiple times. "If you're out, you have no opportunity. You have no chance. If you're in, you have that chance, that opportunity to play for it. The parity's so good now in the league, any team that can make the playoffs will have a chance to compete for the Cup. So, that's all you need, is an opportunity. Without it, you've got no chance, but when you get in, the opportunity's there."
That means the opportunity is here again, for the second year in a row. That's why this step is important in the retooling of an expansion franchise 17 seasons into its existence. The Blue Jackets still have a long road ahead of them, as an organization, but they're in a full trot now and beginning to run.
Find any former players who've played here in the distant past and ask them what they think about what's happening now in Columbus. Odds are, they'll sound like R.J. Umberger, who's one of them.
Umberger, like other former Jackets, has made the Columbus area his home. He's seen how far the Jackets have come and also which direction they're headed (hint: think onward and upward).
"I've been following it a little more closely lately," Umberger said, when contacted earlier this week. "It's playoff time. It's pretty exciting for the city. I think it's night and day, the organization, from early on. They have an incredible amount of talent on that team and a bright future ahead of them."
That's coming from a guy who was born and raised in Pittsburgh, who saw the rise of the Penguins there in the early 1990s. He's not afraid to make a loose comparison to what's developing in Columbus, where a successful NHL franchise - one that wins a lot every year - could really set off the growth of hockey at every level.
"They're now turning themselves into an organization and a team where, around the league, they're gaining a lot of respect, and they're getting it because they're earning it," Umberger said. "They're a team that should be in the playoffs every year now."
They're a team that's now in the postseason back-to-back seasons, not to mention three times in the past five.
That's how "sustained success" takes root. That's how it begins. That's why qualifying for the playoffs in consecutive years is a big deal, all on its own.
READ MORE: DEADLINE DEALS REVEAL JACKETS' ULTIMATE GOAL OF SUSTAINED SUCCESS
When an NHL team makes the playoffs, the arrival of the postseason becomes connected with the arrival of spring - and summer, too, in the best years. Sustainable success is difficult to achieve, because it's fleeting and slippery.
Not everybody achieves it, but it comes with a rich payoff. The juice is worth the squeeze, you might say, so the Jackets keep hunting for it.
"The franchise is only what, 18-years old?" said defenseman Jack Johnson, who arrived in 2012 as the key return in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings. "That's not very long. There's not a big history there. So, it's nice to start stringing together some playoff appearances. Then, you've not only got to start stringing those along, but starting to get into the talk about being a contender every year … and then you've really got something going for future success, not just one-and-done."
This is the fourth time the NHL's playoff portrait includes the Blue Jackets, joining 2009, 2014 and last season, when Columbus set a franchise record with 108 points.
They've faced the Red Wings in 2009 and the Penguins twice, including a hotly-contested, five-game series last year. The Penguins won it, and then won the Stanley Cup for a second straight time as further evidence that getting into the playoffs, year after year, is how you best gird a franchise for the long run.
Playoff intensity and pressure can only be found in the playoffs. That's how all the usual suspects in the postseason got there.
"That's how players grow," Tortorella said. "Regular season, yeah, it's a grind and there's a lot of important games, but there's nothing like the high-stake playoff game. That's how you become a player. That's how you find out exactly who you are … and, in some instances, probably who you aren't. But you need to get that opportunity. That's why I'm so happy that they're going to get an opportunity again."
It's how NHL franchises grow too, and suddenly, the Blue Jackets are an inch or two taller.
At this point, there's no telling who they'll match up with first, but the opponent doesn't really matter. What matters is they're in, again, just like they were last year at this time. Sustainable success is that much closer, simply because the Blue Jackets got back to the postseason.
It's not only a first for them, but a sign of where they're headed.
"We want to be a team that gets in every year and gets that opportunity every year to compete for the Cup," Kekalainen said. "That's the goal, because then every year you'll have a chance to win the Cup. If it's every five years or every 10 years, you'll get the opportunity to compete for the Cup every five or 10 years. We want to be in the playoffs every year, be able to compete and have that opportunity every year."
The bar's been raised, in other words.
"Yeah, it has to be, because the ultimate goal for every team and for our organization, is to win the Cup," he said. "Without making the playoffs, it's not possible."