For about a month, it was the about only question asked of the Columbus Blue Jackets, in part because it was the one thing the team had to answer. 

Each time the media filtered into the team locker room after another disappointing setback, it was the same -- why can't this team, which made a big move by acquiring forwards Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel at the trade deadline, score goals? 

It was their own version of March Madness, but it was driving the Blue Jackets insane.  

Vladislav Gavrikov needed little introduction when he took to the ice Saturday at Nationwide Arena for the first time with the Columbus Blue Jackets. 

First of all, he's an accomplished player in his own right, having won an Olympic gold medal in the 2018 Winter Games. Second of all, he's been a Blue Jacket since the team drafted him in the sixth round of the 2015 draft. 

Plus, the native of Yaroslavl, Russia, knows his countrymen Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin, so introductions certainly weren't necessary there. 

On the other side of things, Gavrikov is well aware of both what the Blue Jackets have done this postseason as well as his new teammates, as he's been following the team ever since he nearly signed with Columbus two seasons ago.

Video: Gavrikov comments on joining the team

By Monday, it will have been six days since Blue Jackets fans have had a chance to see their team finish off a four-game sweep of Tampa Bay for the franchise's first-ever Stanley Cup Playoffs series win.

But fans will get a chance to see the team that has captured Columbus' attention Monday morning as the team has announced the team's practice that day will be open to the public and staged on the Nationwide Arena main ice.

The practice will feature a full-team simulated game and begin at 11 a.m. Doors will open at 10:30, and fans must enter through the Front Street plaza entrance. The first 500 fans will receive a free "It's Time" T-shirt.

Columbus Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno has been named one of three finalists for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, the National Hockey League and club announced today. The award is given annually to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. The other finalists for this year's award are New York Islanders goaltender Robin Lehner and San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton. 

Foligno has been the club's nominee for the award three times (2013-14, 2014-15, 2018-19) and is the second player in Blue Jackets history to be named a finalist for the award. Former Blue Jacket Kevin Dineen was a finalist in each of the team's first two seasons in 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Foligno, 31, registered 17 goals and 16 assists for 33 points with 44 penalty minutes, a +12 plus/minus rating, 175 hits, 141 shots and has won 56.6 pct. of his face-offs, while averaging 17:42 of ice time in 73 games this season. He ranked second on the club in hits and faceoff percentage. The club's captain, he scored the game-winning goal in his 800th career NHL game on Dec. 17 vs. the Vegas Golden Knights. 

The Buffalo, New York native has recorded 186-249-435 with 675 penalty minutes and a +1 plus/minus rating in 841 career NHL outings over 12-plus seasons with the Blue Jackets and Ottawa Senators. Acquired in a trade from Ottawa on July 1, 2012, he ranks third on CBJ's all-time list in goals and assists, fourth in points and seventh in games played with 125-162-287 in 490 career contests. He became the first player in NHL history to capture both the Mark Messier Leadership Award and King Clancy Memorial in the same season after posting 26-25-51 and 55 penalty minutes in 79 games in 2016-17. Foligno was originally drafted by the Senators in the first round, 28th overall, in the 2006 NHL Draft.

The winner of the Masterton Trophy is selected by a poll of the 31 chapters of the Professional Hockey Writers Association at the conclusion of the regular season. The trophy was first presented by the NHL writers in 1968 in honor of the late Bill Masterton, a player for the Minnesota North Stars who exhibited the qualities for which the trophy embodies, and who died on Jan. 15, 1968. Last year's winner was Brian Boyle of the New Jersey Devils. Previous Blue Jackets nominees for the award include: Kevin Dineen (2000-01 and 2001-02), Luke Richardson (2002-03), Manny Malhotra (2003-04), Duvie Westcott (2005-06), Fredrik Norrena (2006-07), Pascal Leclaire (2007-08), Raffi Torres (2008-09), Jared Boll (2009-10), Derek MacKenzie (2010-11), Curtis Sanford (2011-12), Vinny Prospal (2012-13), Foligno (2013-14 and 2014-15), Fedor Tyutin (2015-16), Sergei Bobrovsky (2016-17) and Zach Werenski (2017-18).

If you're looking for someone to credit for the Blue Jackets' sweep of Tampa Bay in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, look no further than David Baker. 

With the Blue Jackets trailing early in Game 1, the president of the Jacket Backers fan club remembered he had left a jersey in his car and decided it was time to put it on. It certainly stood out, as it was a Kevin Stenlund game-worn, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-themed jersey that the Blue Jackets prospect had donned earlier this year as a member of the Cleveland Monsters. 

Of course, we know what happened next. Columbus raced back to win Game 1 and used the momentum to complete the sweep of the Presidents' Trophy winner. 

Video: It was a historic night at Nationwide Arena

John Tortorella is laser-focused on what the Blue Jackets need to do to win the Stanley Cup. 

But he's also excited the Columbus organization can win the Calder Cup as well. 

The Cleveland Monsters begin the postseason tonight as their best-of-five playoff series vs. Syracuse starts in upstate New York. The I-90 battle matches the Crunch, the former affiliate of the Jackets and the champion of the North Division this year, against a Monsters team going back to the postseason for the first time since the 2015-16 team won it all. 

If playoff hockey was one person, it would be David Savard. 

The rugged defenseman plays the type of physical, hard-nosed hockey that marks this time of year, and his prodigious beard is always in postseason form, cascading from his face in brown waves that make him equal parts Civil War soldier and Yukon Cornelius lookalike. 

Maybe that's why Savard was such a key part of the Blue Jackets' first-round playoff sweep of Tampa Bay. In exactly 24:00 minutes of play per game, Savard totaled a series-changing goal, an assist, multiple huge shot blocks, broke in a new defensive partner and helped neutralize what had been a prolific Lightning attack throughout the season. 

It's time … to believe. 

Who knows how many of the fans who jammed into Nationwide Arena for the first-ever Blue Jackets game Oct. 7, 2000, were back in the downtown venue on Tuesday as Columbus finished off the first playoff series win in franchise history. 

But for those in Columbus who have been waiting for the nearly 20 years from the first puck drop to the final cannon blast in the 7-3 win over Tampa Bay in Game 4, it was in many ways the culmination of a journey both rewarding and frustrating. 

So go wild, go crazy, go all-in, just like the team did in February when it made it clear it wanted to make noise this year in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. You've earned it, and you can drop your guard and revel in the fun of being part of sport's most intense, exhausting and pulsating tournament.  

Bob McElligott and Jody Shelley give their immediate reactions to the Jackets' First Round sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

They share their guys that shined during the series.

General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen joins the guys as this show's guest.

PLAYOFF CENTRAL: Your one-stop location for news, notes, videos, and more

The Columbus Blue Jackets have assigned center Liam Foudy, the club's first round pick, 18th overall, in the 2018 NHL Draft, to the Cleveland Monsters, Columbus' American Hockey League affiliate, General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen announced today. Foudy is expected to join the Monsters prior to Game One of the club's Calder Cup Playoffs series against the Syracuse Crunch on Friday.

Foudy, 19, signed a three-year entry level contract with the Blue Jackets on July 30, 2018 and spent this season with the Ontario Hockey League's London Knights. He set career highs with 36 goals and 32 assists for 68 points with 32 penalty minutes and a +39 plus/minus rating in 62 games in 2018-19, ranking second-T in the OHL in shorthanded goals (seven) and 20th-T in goals. He was third among London players in goals, points and game-winning goals (five) and had a 13-game point streak from January 9 to February 2 in which he notched 13-9-22 and five multi-point efforts. He added 6-6-12 and 12 penalty minutes in 11 playoff contests.

The 6-0, 174-pound native of Scarborough, Ontario has registered 69-54-123, 73 penalty minutes and a +38 plus/minus rating in 185 career OHL games with the Knights. He collected 24-16-40 and 22 penalty minutes in 65 outings in his first full campaign in 2017-18. He was selected by London in the first round, 18th overall, in the 2016 OHL Priority Draft.

Foudy also has represented Canada internationally on two occasions. He posted 2-2-4 in five games at the 2018 IIHF Under-18 World Championships and collected 0-3-3 in six contests for Canada White at the 2016 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

The Blue Jackets defeated the Presidents' Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round and have advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the first time in franchise history. The Jackets will play either the Boston Bruins or Toronto Maple Leafs in the next round with game dates and times to be determined.