It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, or so it would seem as two expansion brethren faced off in Nationwide Arena on Saturday night. The Minnesota Wild, who entered the National Hockey League three seasons ago with the Columbus Blue Jackets, are having a breakout year and closing in on their first playoff appearance. The Blue Jackets are once again battling to stay out of the basement of the Western Conference standings. Indeed it would seem, the best and worst of times for these two cities.

“Both expansion teams came in (to the league) at the same time and its kind of tough showing for them seeing us going towards the playoffs,” said Wild center Sergei Zholtok.

How bad are the times for the Jackets, are these the worst of times or does the 5-0 victory Columbus recorded Saturday point to best of times ahead?

“Columbus is not in the playoff picture, all they are looking for is to beat us. That is life to them,” said Zholtok. “A lot of guys are playing for their jobs right now, teams not in the playoff picture are playing for their jobs.”

While it is natural for guys on a struggling third year expansion team to have to worry about their jobs, a look at the evolution of the teams may show the success the Wild are having may not be far off for the current collection of Blue Jackets.

The first ever pick for the Wild was Marian Gaborik. A right-winger, Gaborik has been honing his scoring touch for three seasons now. In his rookie campaign, Gaborik totaled 18 goals and 18 assists. Last season his numbers jumped to 30 goals and 37 assists. Thus far into his third season, Gaborik has tallied 28 goals and 30 assists.

The Blue Jackets finally picked their big time scorer in last June’s draft. Thus far in his rookie campaign, he has scored 14 goals and 18 assists. These are comparable numbers to Gaborik’s first year.

A probable reason the Blue Jackets are behind Minnesota’s pace lies in the man picked directly after Gaborik in the 2000 entry draft, Rostislav Klesla. The comment is not a knock on Klesla, compare his stats to a current perennial Norris Trophy Candidade, Chris Pronger and you will see it took 3 full seasons to get his +/- on the positive side and just as long to get double digit goals. Klesla is just now completing his second full season. To look in expansion terms, the last team to select a defenseman with their first ever pick was the Tampa Bay Lightning when they selected Roman Hamrlik. Hamrlik did not score double-digit goals until his third season and did not have a season on the positive side of the +/- until his seventh. The bottom line is defensemen take longer to develop.

Goaltender Marc Denis turned in his fourth shut out of the season on Saturday night. Denis, in his first year as a full-time started has been a solid, steady, omnipresent force in the crease this season. His opposite number Saturday, Manny Fernandez, had a forgettable night in an otherwise breakout year. Pulled after giving up five goals in the first period, Fernandez otherwise has had a breakout season while splitting time with Dwayne Roloson this year.
“That is probably the first time he didn’t play well this season, said Zholtok. “We can’t blame this on the goalie.”

Denis, on the other hand, played a great game and w as praised by his boss afterward.

“He is one of the great young goal-tenders in the game,” said Blue Jackets Interim Head Coach and General Manager Doug McLean. “He’s got a chance to be a great one.”

So do the rest of the Blue Jackets as patience can lead to better times.