Question: How many hockey fans does Columbus have today?

Answer: A lot more than it had a week ago.

That’s how it goes when a professional sports team transcends a barrier that it had never broken before.

When the Columbus Blue Jackets won its first NHL playoff series on Tuesday, it not only gave itself new life. It also gave the city and its residents a burst of vitality that will help drive other pursuits forward.

Of course the CBJ has its never-die fans who have been waiting since the team’s inception in 2000 for this day of validation — and for the hope it brings that the Blue Jackets could make a deep run at the Stanley Cup.

To that legion are added countless new fans won over by the team’s dazzling 4-0 unseating of what had been the best team in hockey this season, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

We are all walking a little taller today, buoyed by this team’s display of grit and confidence despite being last to clinch a playoff spot.

Never mind that two more rounds of best-of-seven matches must be successfully navigated to get into the final championship round.

Never mind that this team is carrying star players whose contracts are up at the end of the season and will likely not play for Columbus next year.

What matters is how these team members — old veterans, fresh-faced youngsters and new trades — have come together to focus on the task at hand and get the job done.

Their belief in themselves, their ability to take on big targets and have fun knocking them down, resonates far beyond Nationwide Arena and into the day-to-day lives of those who admire the Blue Jackets’ newest triumph.

As the CBJ reached beyond the elusive hurdle of winning a playoff round, we realize we also can overcome psychological humps that threaten to hold us back.

Our community pride and sense of identity is bolstered as the Blue Jackets attract national acclaim. Oh yeah, we’re Columbus. We’re more than you knew we were, maybe even more than we knew we were.

And we’re reminded of what we can do when we, too, stay focused on the goal and have fun reaching it.

We can save the Columbus Crew SC from moving to Austin.

We can transform previously forgotten areas of the city into desirable places to live, work and play — the Short North, Weinland Park, Merion Village, Franklinton, Olde Towne East, King Lincoln. And maybe next are Linden, Milo Grogan and the Hilltop.

We can welcome 1 million new residents to central Ohio by 2050 in orderly fashion with new jobs and transportation options. We can fill today’s gap of 54,000 affordable homes and lift families from poverty to prosperity. We can help more babies celebrate their first birthday.

We can reduce differences that separate us by income, gender, politics and race.

And we know this in a new way today because a bunch of tough guys on skates didn’t listen to detractors or to the voices in their heads that said you’ve never done this before.

So as we cheer the CBJ through the coming playoff rounds, we’re cheering ourselves, too. We can do this.