The NHL will realign for the 2013-14 season, and the Columbus Blue Jackets are one of the most affected teams by it. They will move to the Eastern Conference and to a division full of star power as the Jackets can now call the Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Washington Capitals division rivals.

One of the biggest questions for the upcoming season is how the realignment will affect Columbus. The city has only seen one playoff series since the team's conception in 2000-01, but it resulted in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings.

Some say that the division Columbus is entering is the toughest of the four new divisions. We will have to wait and see if that is true, but one thing is for certain: attendance numbers should see a very significant increase for next season.

Columbus was in the same situation as Detroit for years, as fans were forced to stay up for 10pm start times somewhat frequently. Since the Blue Jackets have never been known as much of a successful team, these late games only hurt their TV ratings and fan enthusiasm even more.

Now, most start times will be normal since the Jackets are playing in the Eastern Conference. Fans will be more willing to stay up to watch games even if the start times were the only things that changed...but they're not.

Now, home games will feature more big-name opposing players such as Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Martin Brodeur, John Tavares, Claude Giroux, Henrik Lundqvist, and former fan favorite in Columbus Rick Nash.

To add even more fan interest, the Blue Jackets are getting better by the day. They went out and traded for Marian Gaborik before last year's deadline, signed Nathan Horton last week, and already have Vezina-winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. They also finished tied for the last playoff spot in the tough Western Conference last season.

Also, as far as how the realignment affects the Jackets on the ice, they could benefit from the new division as strange as it may seem. The team should finish with a better record than Carolina or New Jersey, and could reasonably finish better than Philadelphia or Washington.

Things are on the way up, Blue Jackets. It's been a long and tough road for Columbus, but this is the season where things should really start to turn around, starting with attendance and fan enthusiasm. The quality of play will keep increasing, and Columbus willfinally prove that it can be a successful hockey market.