2011–12 Columbus Blue Jackets season

The 2011–12 Columbus Blue Jackets season is the 12th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 25, 1997. The Blue Jackets finished the season as the last place team the first time in franchise history and marking the third straight year that they missed the playoffs. Despite having the statistically best chance to have the number one draft pick, after their last place finish, they lost the lottery to the Edmonton Oilers and received the second pick in the draft.

The Blue Jackets began the year with the worst start in franchise history and the worst start to an NHL season in 19 years. After an 11–25–5 start head coach Scott Arniel was fired replaced by assistant coach Todd Richards. The poor season prompted several personnel changes including the trade of Jeff Carter, who was acquired with much fanfare during the off-season. With the prospect of another rebuild looming the Blue Jackets' captain and best player, Rick Nash, requested to be traded, though he would remain with the team for the entire season.

The team was involved in a controversial loss to the Los Angeles Kings, when the Staples Center clock appeared to freeze at 1.8 seconds allowing the Kings time to score the tying goal, before winning in overtime. During the season Columbus managed only two winning streaks of three or more games. One of which came towards the end of the year helping the Blue Jackets finish with 65 points, the third worst point total in franchise history.

Off-season
In the off-season the Blue Jackets' approach to building their team changed, moving from a team of young players developing to one with established players. The first deal general manager Scott Howson made was the acquisition of star forward Jeff Carter. The deal sent one of Columbus' young developing players, Jakub Voracek, and the eighth overall pick in the 2011 draft to the Philadelphia Flyers for Carter. The trade received a positive response in Columbus from fans and management who felt they finally had a number one center to play alongside of their best player, Rick Nash. Next they traded for the negotiating rights of soon to be free agent James Wisniewski. Wisniewski scored a career high 51 points during the 2010–11 season splitting time between the New York Islanders and Montreal Canadiens. The point total was tied for fifth in the league for defenseman scoring. The Blue Jackets came to terms with Wisniewski an hour prior to the start of free agency signing him to a six-year $33 million dollar deal.

Columbus also traded former first round draft pick Nikita Filatov to the Ottawa Senators for a third round pick in the 2011 draft. Filatov had failed to live up to expectations in Columbus, playing in only 44 games over three seasons scoring six goals. Prior to the start of the season the Blue Jackets were questioned for not signing a veteran back-up to starting goaltender Steve Mason. The former Calder Trophy winner had struggled in consecutive seasons and the Blue Jackets signed Mark Dekanich as the back-up who had only 50 minutes of NHL experience prior to the start of the season. Columbus did sign a veteran Curtis Sanford to be their third string goaltender and to start for their American Hockey League affiliate the Springfield Falcons. Sanford had not played in the NHL since 2009. During training camp Dekanich suffered a high ankle sprain that was expected to keep him out of the line-up for a month. Sanford suffered a groin injury, leaving Allen York as the backup. York had only played four professional games, all in the American Hockey League, entering the season.

October – December
After the first 5 games, all losses, Carter suffered a broken foot that kept him out of the line-up for 10 games. With carter out the Blue Jackets had a chance to end their losing streak in a game versus the Ottawa Senators. Columbus held a 3–2 lead with under a minute to play. Jason Spezza tied the game on a late powerplay and with just 4.7 seconds reaming Milan Michalek notched the winning goal for the Senators. The loss helped set a franchise record for futility with a 0–7–1 record to start a season. The losing streak came to an end three days later with a win versus the Detroit Red Wings. During the game several milestones were reached, Wisniewski made his Columbus debut, Ryan Johansen and John Moore scored their first career NHL goals, and Grant Clitsome had a career high three assists. Columbus was unable to create any momentum from the win and continued to struggle, culminating in a 2–12–1 record, which was the worst start to an NHL season in 19 years. With the team struggling management attempted to "shake things up" by making some roster moves. The first move was the acquisition of second year center Mark Letestu from the Pittsburgh Penguins, next they traded defenseman Kris Russell, to the St. Louis Blues for defenseman Nikita Nikitin. As the clubs slow start continued rumors were that they would fire head coach Scott Arniel and replace him with Ken Hitchcock. Hitchcock had previous coached the Blue Jackets to their only playoff appearance in club history and was still under contract with the franchise through the end of the season. Before any of these rumors came to fruition the Blues asked Columbus for permission to hire Hitchcock, the Blue Jackets agreed and St Louis proceeded to hire him. Hitchcock began his Blues coaching career with a 6–1–2 record in his first 9 games, while Columbus amassed a 6–13–3 record to start the season.

During the same time frame as the Hitchcock rumors Sanford returned from his groin injury on November 13. He made his first start of the season against the Boston Bruins, losing 2–1 in a shootout. Sanford continued his strong play going 3–1–2 record, 1.38 goals-against average and .947 save percentage. Sanford started 12 consecutive games before Mason made is next start. The number of starts might not have been as numerous, but prior to the November 23 game Mason was hit in the head by a Nash shot during pre-game warm-ups and suffered a concussion. Mason returned from his concussion after two games making a start against the Vancouver Canucks. Mason allowed only one goal in the game despite suffering from cramping in the third period, temporarily being replaced by Sanford for just over three minutes. Columbus won the game 2–1 in a shootout breaking a 9 game losing streak to the Canucks. After the game Arniel stated that Sanford was still seen as the team's number one goaltender. However, Mason started four of the next six games with the Blue Jackets going 0–5–1 during that stretch.

January – February
With the losing continuing more rumors began to surface. Unlike before the rumors were about player moves rather than coaching changes. The majority of rumors were that the Blue Jackets would trade Nash. While Howson stated that he had never brought up trading Nash in discussions, other teams had inquired about his availability. Nash stated that if Columbus felt it would make the franchise better than he would be willing to waive his no-trade clause. Howson publicly stated that he had no intention of trading Nash. More rumors came to light when reports attributed to RDS stated that Carter was unhappy in Columbus and demanded a trade. Howson, Carter, and his agent all denied that a trade request was ever made and they were unsure where the reports were coming from. With the trade dead line approaching speculation picked up on the Blue Jackets trading Carter, reports were that Columbus was trying to trade Carter and that he was "100 percent available".

At the half way point of the season with the Blue Jackets barley into double digit wins with an 11–25–5 record, worst in the league, and sitting 20 points out of playoff position, Columbus fired Arniel. He was replaced by assistant coach Todd Richards on an interim basis. Richards previously coached the Minnesota Wild. He recorded his first coaching victory for the Blue Jackets in his second game a 4–3 win over the Phoenix Coyotes. The change in coaching did not change the fortunes of the team as they reached the All-Star break with a 13–30–6 record. At the break Blue Jackets' owner John P. McConnell sent out a letter to fans stating his understanding of their frustration. He added that action would be taken around the trade deadline, the Entry Draft, and free agency to indicate the new direction of the team. When speaking of the season McConnell stated "disappointing is not a strong enough word" and that he was committed to giving fans a team of which they can be proud of. He also thanked them for their dedication and passion, while reiterating that the team goal was to "win consistently and compete for the Stanley Cup". Days later a 250 person protest occurred outside of Nationwide Arena. Fans were upset with the Blue Jackets' management and were calling for changes at the top. The same day the fans protested it was announced that the franchise would host the 2013 All-Star Game. Columbus was without a representative for the 2012 All-star game, but Johansen represent the club as a rookie participant in the super skills competition. In the competition Johansen participated in the "Allstate Insurance NHL Breakaway Challenge", a shootout themed event judged by the fans. He received just 1% of the vote and finished last. Following the break the Blue Jackets were on the road playing the Los Angeles Kings, with the game tie late in the game Kings' defenseman Drew Doughty scored with just 0.4 seconds reaming to win the game. Upon review of the goal it was determined that the clock at Staples Center froze at 1.8 seconds for over a full second, which would have resulted in time expiring prior to the goal being scored. Kings' GM Dean Lombardi stated that the clock was correct and no extra time had been added, due to the way the clock self corrects at various times. Howson stated the team's blog that "It is an amazing coincidence that with the Kings on a power play at Staples Center and with a mad scramble around our net in the dying seconds of the third period of a 2–2 hockey game that the clock stopped for at least one full second" adding that "Either there was a deliberate stopping of the clock or the clock malfunctioned." Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell stated that the Blue Jackets were wronged but that the outcome of the game could not be changed and that the delay was not noticed by the off-ice officials or the situation room in Toronto. To determine the true cause of the clock pause the NHL launched an investigation, talking with the clocks' manufacturer and interviewing the Staples Center staff.

Two weeks prior to the NHL trade deadline Columbus announced that unlike earlier in the season they would listen to trade proposes involving Nash, though they were not actively shopping him. Howson stated that the team was open to all options for improving the team, including trading Nash. Speculation was that in return for Nash the Blue Jackets would ask for a "combination of young, proven players, high-end prospects and draft picks". Leading up to the trade deadline the Blue Jackets dealt Antoine Vermette to the Coyotes for two draft picks and goaltender Curtis McElhinney. Despite being injured at the time, the acquisition of McElhinney was believed to give Columbus the flexibility to trade Sanford. The following day on February, 23 Columbus traded Carter to the Kings. In the deal Columbus acquired defenseman Jack Johnson and a first round draft pick. The Blue Jackets were given a choice of either taking the pick in 2012 or 2013. At the deadline Columbus was unable to come to terms on a deal involving Nash, but did make one more move. The Blue Jackets sent center Samuel Pahlsson to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for two fourth round draft picks and minor league defenseman Taylor Ellington. Following the trade deadline Howson announced that the team had attempted to trade Nash at the player's request. Nash stated that he had requested the trade after being informed that the franchise was going into another rebuilding phase. He further noted that he felt that he "could be a huge part of that towards bringing assets in," and in his view "it was the best thing for the team, the organization, and personally for [his] career." After the personnel changes the Blue Jackets closed out the month with a three game losing streak.

March – April
Columbus started March with a 2–0 shutout against the Colorado Avalanche. They proceeded to win their next game against the Phoenix Coyotes 5–2 which marked the first time that the Blue Jackets posted back to back regulation victories. Columbus again defeated the Coyotes three days later to earn their first three game win streak of the season. They extended the streak to four with a win over the Kings before it came to an end with a 4–1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. It was the only four game win streak of the season for the Blue Jackets. They immediately matched their four game win streak with a four game losing streak and with 10 games reaming the Blue Jackets were the first team eliminated from playoff contention. Shortly after being eliminated they were defeated by the Edmonton Oilers 6–3, the loss clinched last place in the NHL for Columbus. It was the first time in franchise history the Blue Jackets finished in 30th place.

Three days later, on March 28 Mason was injured in the morning skate when a shot from Colton Gillies hit him in the mask. With Sanford again injured, York was forced to make an emergency start. Playing against the Detroit Red Wings York made 29 saves including 17 in the third period helping Columbus to a 4–2 victory and giving York his first career NHL win. York remained the starter and led the Blue Jackets to a second three game winning streak. In his fourth start Columbus was shutout by the Coyotes despite a franchise record 54 shots on goal losing 2–0. The 54 saves by Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith set an NHL record for a regulation shutout. Mason returned to the starters roll the final two games, winning both. The two victories gave Columbus 65 points for the year, their third lowest total in franchise history.

Post-season
Finishing with the worst record in the NHL Columbus had the best chance of receiving the first overall pick in the 2012 draft. With the NHL's weighted draft lottery the Blue Jackets had a 48.2% chance of drafting first overall. However, the lottery was won by the Oilers who proceeded to leapfrog Columbus and secure the number one draft pick for a third consecutive year. It was the fifth time that the Blue Jackets were dropped one draft position in the franchises twelve lottery participations.

A month later, on May 14, the blue Jackets announced that Richards would remain as head coach and signed him to a two-year contract. During the press conference Howson noted "Our team continuously improved under Todd and he has earned the opportunity to build upon the work he started." Columbus posted an 18–21–2 record under Richards including winning seven of their final eleven games.

Regular season

 * Green background indicates win (2 points).
 * Red background indicates regulation loss (0 points).
 * Silver background indicates overtime/shootout loss (1 point).

Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime Losses; GA = Goals Against; GAA= Goals Against Average; SA= Shots Against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO= Shutouts

†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Blue Jackets. Stats reflect time with the Blue Jackets only.

‡Traded mid-season

Italics denotes franchise record

Transactions
The Blue Jackets have been involved in the following transactions during the 2011–12 season.

Trades

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2011 Draft picks
Columbus' picks at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft in St. Paul, Minnesota.