Week 5 Power Rankings

CBSSports.com - Up to 6 from 10
Their shutdown ability is becoming apparent and not only because Pascal Leclaire has been otherworldly. The Jackets have scored first nine times and are 7-1-1 in those games.

FoxSports.com - Up to 3 from 8
(.692) The Blue Jackets were able to climb into the top three in the rankings this week after picking up five of a possible six points in Week 5. Pascal Leclaire picked up his NHL-leading fifth shutout of the season Sunday night in a 3-0 win over the St. Louis Blues.

TSN.ca - Up to 4 from 7
Pascal Leclaire is off to an incomprehensible start, posting five shutouts in nine games, but the Blue Jackets checking line anchored by Manny Malhotra and Jason Chimera also deserves some credit for the early-season defensive success.

CNNSI.com - Up to 7 from 13
If the Wild are the early leaders for Jekyll and Hyde team, the Jackets are easily the biggest surprise. A main reason: Pascal Leclaire, who came into the season with one shutout in 59 career games, but has a league-leading five in nine starts. Let's see how he and the rest of the team hold up with their next seven games against Central foes.

CBC.ca - Up to 5 from 9
Defensive play accounts for big turnaround.

THN.com - Sitting pretty at 4
Leclaire unbelievable with five shutouts

Dispatch.com - Up to 4 from 7
If this keeps up, attendance has to improve in Nationwide Arena, doesn’t it? Detroit on Friday will be a huge test.

ESPN.com - Up to 10 from 16
Holy Ken Hitchcock, Batman! The Jackets are 6-1-1 over their last eight games and they've allowed just one power-play goal out of 40 chances over than span for a league-best penalty-killing unit.

Average Power Rankings Score: 5.375 (10.4 last week)

If there was any doubt that the Jackets weren't getting noticed around the national media I think that can officially be put to bed. An average score of 4.7 amongst 7 publications is a pretty good indicator of that.

Still though, the Dispatch raises really the biggest dissapointment so far this season and that's the attendance. One would think the fans would start piling back in to see a winner but with 6 years of losing and losing bad under MacLean its definitely gonna take more than 13 games to win the hearts and minds of the average fan. If the team can keep this kind of run up though, Columbus is a sports town and everyone loves a winner - they'll be back.

-LTL