It used to be that any story that started with the line "The Columbus Blue Jackets could win the Stanley Cup this year" was automatically rendered a work of fiction. Not humanly possible. The Blue Jackets were punching bags on the ice and punch lines off.
In the team's first 12 seasons, after joining the NHL as an expansion franchise in 2000, the Blue Jackets won zero playoff games. The only time they made it in those 12 seasons (2008-09), they were swept in the first round by the Detroit Red Wings.