By Terri Frei

Adam Foote and Sergei Fedorov were used to winning. Between them, they were on five Stanley Cup teams at Colorado and Detroit. Now they're coming down the stretch of their first season with the Columbus Blue Jackets, understanding the building process still is many bricks shy of a load.

Though the Blue Jackets have been over .500 since a 9-23 start in their fifth season of existence, they still are virtually assured of keeping intact their record of never making the playoffs.

That said, any team with solid goaltending - including Marc Denis and backup Pascal Leclaire, who was terrific in a 1-0 loss to the Avalanche on Thursday - and phenoms Rick Nash and Nikolai Zherdev playing on the Fedorov-centered line can justify optimism.

The issue for Foote, who signed with Columbus in the summer, and Fedorov, who came over in a trade with Anaheim in mid-November, is whether - or when - their leadership will be part of a move into the playoffs.

"I don't come to the rink thinking, 'OK, the team's going to lose,"' Foote said Thursday. "At the beginning of the year it was tough. It was tough for everybody. But that's part of the learning curve. It's going to happen."

Can they be patient enough?

"We're going to have to," he said. "It's what we signed up for. Everyone's positive around here, and committed. Things are going in the right direction."

Foote said he has learned things about Fedorov while observing him as a teammate, adding to what he picked up in the Colorado-Detroit rivalry.

"He does a lot of things," Foote said. "Guys were on him early about his offense, but he does a lot of things that go unnoticed. Maybe when things turn around a little bit more you'll see more offense, because I think he feels committed to the defensive side of the puck right now. He has to be because of his experience."

Indeed, Fedorov has only six goals and 21 assists going into the weekend for the Mighty Ducks and Blue Jackets, and that's anemic, regardless of whom he's playing for. But especially in the relaunched and more wide-open NHL, and with Fedorov making $6 million this season, that's unacceptable.

Early in the season, Foote was nursing a groin injury and missed the Blue Jackets' first appearance of the season at the Pepsi Center. But he has recovered and, while wearing the captain's "C," has been instrumental in the Blue Jackets' improvement.

He signed with Columbus for $13.5 million over three years, turning down the Avs' offer of $12 million over four years. Significantly, though he would have counted $3 million against the Avalanche's cap because that's the average salary, the offer called for him to get "only" $1.5 million this season. (Colorado's offer to Peter Forsberg was similarly backloaded.) Foote correctly inferred the Avalanche was willing to see him leave, but the fact Colorado gave him a scoreboard video tribute during the game Thursday was indicative that all bridges weren't burned.

"Adam's been good all year for us," Columbus coach Gerard Gallant said. "He started the season very strong for us, and he's a very competitive guy. He wants to be on the ice every shift. His leadership has been great. He's disappointed because he's used to winning a lot. But he knows we're close. That's the positive. He knows it's right around the corner.

"And Sergei's been excellent, too. He knew what he was coming into when he got here. He's the top-line center for us, and he's a character guy. He's a great defensive player. He works real hard. He doesn't have the numbers he used to have, but he does a lot for those two kids on the ice. He's good in the dressing room, and he's really turned those two kids into better players, helping them with their overall game and making them work hard.

"When you're a young kid coming out of junior hockey, there's a lot to learn in the NHL. You can score goals and play good offense, but you need to become a better all-around teammate. When those kids become even better, that's when we'll start to win, and that's just around the corner."

The Blue Jackets' improvement, at least, has added a bit of a challenge for the Red Wings in the bottom-heavy Central Division, where Columbus, Chicago and St. Louis are the bottom three teams in the 15-team Western Conference.

Trying again for tribute

The Islanders were planning an hour-long pregame tribute to the 1980 Stanley Cup championship team - which began a run of four straight titles - when New York faced the Flyers on Saturday night. It was supposed to have been held last season, 25 years later, but something happened to derail that plan. The festivities were to include a "Walk of Champions" from the Marriott hotel across the parking lot from the arena. And, yes, there is a popular bar in that hotel.