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

There were plenty of headlines throughout this CBJ season. Unfortunately, we were pretty thin on positives again this year. The team struggled to string together any kind of consistency, winning just 27 of 82 games (.329 win percentage).

We hope better times are on the near horizon. It wasn't all bad, and our list does include some positive happenings - but, let's be real, they need to be better next season.

Let's take a look at five of the more notable moments from this Blue Jacket season.

Patrik Laine is concussed by Rasmus Andersson, resulting in a 4-game suspension...

The hit that earmarked the early part of the Blue Jacket season. Late in the 4th game of the season, Calgary Flames defenseman threw a viscous elbow into the head of Blue Jacket winger Patrik Laine.

The hit had massive repercussions for both the Blue Jackets and the Flames. Andersson was suspended for four games, costing the Flames one of their most valuable defensemen.

More importantly to us, Laine did not return for more than three weeks following this hit. Even worse, he was never the same afterwards.

Laine played just 14 more games this season, posting only 5 goals and 2 assists in that time. His play dropped off so much that the team made him a healthy scratch.

His season came to an abrupt end thanks to another questionable play on December 14th. He would attempt to come back after recovering from his clavicle injury, but ultimately wound up in the NHLPA's player assistance program.

It's obvious that the concussion early in the year left Patrik in a position where he wasn't comfortable on the ice. He was never able to gain his footing; which, combined with being forced into a position he shouldn't be playing, derailed his entire season.

In the end, the second highest paid forward on the Jackets this year accounted for just 9 points in 18 games played. The Rasmus Andersson hit crippled the team early on, but it wasn't the most memorable moment of the year for me.

Let's look at a positive one.

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.

Jarmo Kekalainen is removed as General Manager...

The writing was on the wall before the season even started.

The Blue Jackets spent money and assets last season like a team that wanted to make the playoffs. Jarmo Kekalainen came straight out and said as much.

They even went out and hired a coach with a historical resume. But it all blew up in their faces, just days before training camp; when that coach was forced to resign due to mistreatment of players he hadn't yet coached.

All of this meant that, if Kekalainen was to have a future as GM of this team - they needed to storm out of the gates and win hockey games.

That never happened. With the team sitting 16-26-10 (.307), the Jackets fired Kekalainen on February 15th. This ended an 11-year tenure for the league's only European GM.

Simply put, it just had to be done. The team was obviously fractured. They couldn't fire the new head coach at that point. And, you just can't trade the entire roster.

Kekalainen took the fall for this team's continued struggles. The general thought around the fanbase was that a move would wait until the offseason, but things were just too bad here.

By making the move in February, the Jackets opened up the process to a wide variety of candidates. Here we are more than two months later, and they still haven't even begun to dial in on their preferred candidate. At least, not in public.

I would expect this hiring to be made fairly soon, to give the incoming GM a chance to restructure this roster as they see fit. The NHL Draft is just over two months away, and they will want to have all of their scouting meetings before then as well.

For me, it was a sad end to the most memorable era in Blue Jackets hockey. Jarmo did a lot for this organization, and for hockey in Central Ohio. While his ability to construct a winning roster can certainly be questioned, we cannot question his commitment or effort towards building a winner here.

I'm thankful that we were allowed to have Jarmo as our GM, even if it was for a little bit too long.

We were given one final great moment this season, let's take a look.

Zach Werenski's historic night grants Jeff Rimer a retirement wish...

Whether you laughed, or cried, or did a little of both - last night's win over Carolina was an emotional one around the 5th Line.

Our beloved broadcaster, Jeff Rimer, rode off into the sunset; calling the last game of a storied career that has spanned nearly five decades.

The team honored him by allowing him to announce the starting lineup. In great Rimer fashion, he gave a demand to each player whose name he called. Of Zach Werenski, he commanded a four point night to tie the team record for points by a defenseman (57).

Zach went out and delivered. He had a goal and an assist in the first period. He added another helper in the second.

Then, late in the third, after a long shift that left him gased on the bench - he hit the ice again with less than a minute to play. This is what happened:

In what became Jeff Rimer's final goal call, Zach Werenski delivered on his request by scoring his second goal of the night. He ties Seth Jones for the single season record by defensemen with this goal.

Just looking at his reaction will tell you that he was pressing to do just that. That's a statement on how much Rimer meant to this organization.

Certainly, we had a lot more moments we can look back upon and reflect. In the end, it's another year that we will ultimately want to forget. These memories are some of the things that stood out to me this year, good and bad.

Though the season had more downs than ups, I'm sad that it's over. Ahead lies a summer of change and future promise. There will be a lot to talk about all the way up until the puck drops on next season.