Five moments that stood out for the Columbus Blue Jackets this season

Mathieu Olivier obliterates the NHL's most talked about new tough guy...

The talk of the NHL in mid-February was centered around a real rarity in this league. The New York Rangers had recently brought up 6'7", 240 pound forward Matt Rempe.

Prior to their meeting with the Jackets on February 25th, Rempe had already accrued a whopping 27 minutes in penalties in just four games played.

He had already begun to make a name for himself as a guy who would take on all comers - including a very spirited bout against Philadelphia's Nic Deslauriers, who is widely touted as one of the toughest enforcers in the game.

Deep down, I think a lot of us were nervous about the Blue Jackets' ability to handle a player like this. Honestly, I thought if anyone would have to neutralize the big man, it would take a ticked off Erik Gudbranson.

But on this night, Mathieu Olivier surprised us all. The two had discussions during pre-game warmups, and on their first shift of the game, Rempe challenged. Olivier obliged, and the two dropped the mitts.

The only way to describe the outcome here: a total beatdown. I was not surprised to see Mathieu take on the challenge. He's no coward. But, I will admit to being surprised by the outcome.

He absolutely man-handled Rempe, taking the inside angle and feeding him with a succession of rapid haymakers that the rookie couldn't handle. The beating was so bad, that folks around the league immediately turned to shutting down Rempe to protect him.

More importantly, the fight led to one of the best all-around performances from this team all season. The Jackets went toe-to-toe with the eventual President's Trophy winning Rangers, beating them 4-2.

In a game where they played as equals against the NHL's best team, we can look directly back to this fight as a turning point. This is one we'll talk about for years.

Since we're on the subject of toughness and momentum, let's keep it going with our next moment. Spoiler: it wasn't as fun.