It's an easy line for NHL pundits. After all, nothing speaks to the Blue Jackets' futility through the years quite like their singular claim to hockey fame: The only NHL franchise that has never made the Stanley Cup playoffs.

"There's too big a deal made out of that," Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said. "The whole hockey world knows where we're going with this organization, they know what we're about and what the future looks like for us.

"Now whether it's our turn or not this year? Well, we're about to find out."

As of yesterday, exactly two months remained in the Blue Jackets' season, 28 games for them to eradicate that phrase from the lexicon.

"The schedule sets up well for us," right winger Jared Boll said. "We don't have many extended road trips, so there should be no excuses about being tired from travel."

Another key point: Only once the rest of the season -- April 1-3 -- do the Blue Jackets have more than two days off between games.

"The players love it," Hitchcock said. "The coaches well, we're going to go about three weeks at one point where we don't really have a full practice.

"I look at it like we can't practice anything, and we can't dwell on anything, either. After we've had the game, and after we've competed -- win or lose -- we have to move on quickly. That's really important."

Here's the "sunny side up" look at the schedule:

• The Blue Jackets play 12 of the 28 games against clubs currently below them in the overall NHL standings, including four against St. Louis and three vs. Nashville. Then again, the Jackets are 0-2 vs. St. Louis, and Nashville is, well, Darth Vader, so that might not be such a good thing.

• The Blue Jackets have only one three-game trip, a swing through Calgary (Feb. 24), Edmonton (Feb. 26) and Vancouver (March 1). There are three two-game trips remaining, and five single-game trips.

• The Blue Jackets will play 19 games in the Eastern time zone and six of the other nine in the Central zone.

Here's the "scrambled eggs" view:

• The Jackets will play 15 games in March, their busiest month since December 2006.

• March 7-18 could go down as the "march toward golf season," as the Blue Jackets play Detroit, Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Detroit and Chicago during a 12-day stretch.

• The Blue Jackets have six back-to-backs.

• Beginning Friday against Detroit, the Blue Jackets play five games in seven days and six games in nine days.

"Everybody's got issues with their schedule," general manager Scott Howson said. "Ours is pretty fair, though."

Before last night's play, only six points separated fifth-place Dallas from 13th-place Phoenix.

It's going to be a wild ride.

"One week you're cheering for one club to win," Howson said. "The next week, you want them to lose. It's like that.

"We've told our players, everybody who works in the building and the fans, too, to just stay with it. It's a long ride."

Anaheim, which has played more games than just about anybody, embarks on a six-game trip this month, including stops in Detroit, Boston and Chicago.

Minnesota faces a tough fate in March when it plays only four of its 16 games at home.

Los Angeles plays more road games (19) the rest of the way than any team, and Nashville (16) has the most home games.

"One or two teams are going to emerge from the pack and leave the rest behind," Howson said. "They'll be solidly in by the end of March, so it'll come down to the final two or maybe three spots.

"Just like it does every year."

aportzline@dispatch.com