Ending Games that Matter (for now?)

Upon checking in on the Columbus Blue Jackets' playoff chances at Sports Club Stats this morning, I came across a strange sight.  Other than the games in which the CBJ are playing, the site suggests that there are literally no other NHL games that impact the Blue Jackets' fortunes.

So what do I do?  Keep "Games that matter" going and tell you the obvious - that the CBJ need to keep winning pretty much every game to keep their minute playoff hopes alive?  Good lord, how boring would that be!

So I'm going to put "Games that matter" on hiatus.  If the CBJ actually claw their way back into the Western Conference playoff race to the point that scoreboard-watching is meaningful beyond rooting for your second-favorite team, then I'll fire the engines back up.  And if they don't, I suppose this is the end of this particular series.

A fuzzy, non-definitive end to "Games that matter" seems oddly appropriate for a team that's probably had the talent and coaching to get to the playoffs yet, somehow, the locker room can't wrap their collective mind around the notion that their destiny is (was?) in their hands.  Time and time again, they were presented with gift-wrapped opportunities and, time and time again, they wilted.  But they never quite wilted to the point that they were done on the "stick a fork in 'em" measuring stick.  So they never entirely blew their chances...but they blew them enough for anyone with the wise exercise of common sense to say, "It's over."

So this is the end.  I guess.  I've got some obligations to attend to this weekend, but I'll try to set up a "draft pick tracker" on the site as soon as possible.