Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Suddenly, These Jackets Are Jacked

March 20, 2018, 9:40 AM ET [1 Comments]
Jay Greenberg
Blogger •NHL Hall of Fame writer • RSSArchiveCONTACT
In the course of going 17-20-4 from Thanksgiving into March, the Blue Jackets’ performances were all over the map, not exactly a pace that was going to put them on the map.

“We are building this organization still,” said Coach John Tortorella. “We’re not considered by the public and you (media) guys as a rock-solid playoff team because we just haven’t been there a lot.

“We are still trying to grow into that. And how you grow is by being involved in these (crucial) games. I’m anxious to see how some guys handle that.”

Out of their strait jackets come the Blue Jackets following a winter of their discontent, apparently due, at least in part, to all the expectations put upon them by a sudden 108-point season in 2016-17. As they were winning 16 straight from late November to early January of that year, it was easy to forget that they were 14 months removed from a 2-10 start that had doomed them to a 25th place overall in 2015-16.

Columbus has made the playoffs three times in its 17-year history and never won a round. Nos Glorieux, the Blue Jackets ain’t, reflected last week in empty seats at the Wells Fargo Center for a March game between two division rivals–or should be rivals anyway–both trying to squeeze into a playoff spot.

Philadelphia, meet again Cam Atkinson, whose hat trick enabled the Jackets to hold off the Flyers for Columbus’s sixth straight win on the way to a seventh, 2-1, over Ottawa on Saturday night, on the way to an eighth, a robbery by backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo of the Bruins in Boston, 5-4, in overtime on Monday evening.

“We didn’t play well at all,” said Tortorella, at this stage of the season more in appreciation than condemnation. With nine games to go, the Jackets are only six points to the good of ninth place Florida, which still has three games in hand, and yet Columbus is only four out of first in the Metropolitan Division.

That Napoleon cannon at Nationwide is firing again, and we don’t mean sparks from the ears of the little general himself–Tortorella–whose restraint has brought his team to a good place at just the right time.

He made a name for himself winning a Stanley Cup in Tampa Bay, got called a lot bad ones in New York, with periods of churlish behavior with the media and, more importantly, his players. Even after winning a round in 2012-13, they essentially told then-GM Glen Sather that it was time for the coach to go and reporters didn’t argue.

After not making many friends is a 36-35-11 season in Vancouver, if Tortorella wasn’t at the end of his career, we could all see it from there. But when the Jackets fell on their face out of the chute in 2015-16, he landed perfectly, with a team of young talent in a smaller media market not as easily offended by his moods.

Hey, as he says after a loss, we’re “not going to dissect it for you” whether this kinder, gentler, Tortorella has forced himself to change. There were stretches in New York where he couldn’t have been more engaging. Veteran beat guy Larry Brooks, whom Tortorella once accused of being the kind of kid that got beat up at the bus stop, was, for on and off again periods, a confidant of the coach.

The Tortorella snit was over the writer’s gentle joke about the fistic ability of Wade Redden in what had to be his only career bout. Redden had come to the defense of a teammate, a sacred rite to Tortorella, who is as loyal as his beloved dogs, even as he expects complete obedience to his tenets of winning hockey. The Tortorella Family Foundation of John and his wife Christine continues to save animals’ lives, and the Jackets are playing like “good boys” again, in part because of pats on the head from their master.

Whether it was through a hug or tough love, a lot of young Jackets this year needed a coach who understood what they were going through. Not a one was accused publicly of “stinking” on the power play by a coach who, after all, has 569 NHL wins to go with hundreds of thousands of You Tube hits on his press conference antics.

Since January, Tortorella’s message has been: Get hold of yourself kid; Stick those sorry stats of yours where the sun doesn’t shine. Next season doesn’t begin until October. The only part of this one that anyone will remember is yet to come.

“Remember that before last season, nobody even had us on the radar,” said Tortorella. “A number of guys had career years for a 108-point team, and now they have to play with expectations.

“That’s different, versus being an underdog team with a chip on their shoulder. You see it happen in all sports: Each season is different. I don’t want to overstate it, saying guys quit, but when things are not going your way, you want to take a breath and start over again, wait for next year to come. That’s just human nature .

“After having career years, our top guys are not going to have good numbers this time. So let’s worry about the most important part of the year, which is now. And I think they have played better. (Alexander) Wennberg has gotten more and more comfortable with his line. Jens (Boone Jenner) is helping that line. Thomas (Vanek) has clicked in there on the proper play and in front of the net.

“I think [Atkinson] has matured. We put him on a different spot on the power play, back on the right side and that has helped him with touches. Having him on the left side and the middle of the box last year was lethal; it wasn’t working this year. I think it has helped make him more confident. Having the puck more has translated into his five-on-five game. It doesn’t hurt playing with (Artemi) Panarin and Luc (Dubois) either.”

Panarin seemed perfectly slotted as the final piece of the puzzle when acquired from the Blackhawks last summer. With 64 points, the latest of which came off a faceoff win by Nick Foligno and a release faster than Tortorella can end a press conference, Panarin has hardly disappointed. Therefore, to wake this team up, GM Jarmo Kekalainen did not have hit a home run at the trade deadline; only give it needed depth in three different areas.

“I had tried to use four lines, I really did, but I just wasn’t able to,” said Tortorella. “We had so many situations of guys who it was questionable whether they can handle situations. So it helps up we now are able to spread the ice around.”

Added were Vanek to bring skill to a third line, Mark Letestu for a trusted presence anchoring a fourth line, where Brandon Dubinsky, who missed 18 games, is a better fit, at least for now. Ian Cole has rings these guys respect and can be used in all situations on a defense that needed one more guy.

When people are better slotted in the lineup, a coach pulls the arm to more jackpots.

“Winning solves a lot of problems,” said Tortorella. “I think the biggest thing is that we’ve just concentrated on each and every day and just tried to play simple and straight-ahead hockey.

“We’re scoring a few more goals, (Sergei) Bob(rovsky) has been outstanding right on through and we have found ways to win. Earlier in the year, when we were scoring one or two goals in a game there was no room for mistakes. We’re still making mistakes but we’re able to score a few more goals as of late and that’s helped us.

“We have shortened meetings and tried to loosen them up. If we don’t know how to play our concept by now, we are in deep bleep anyway. For the coaches too, the regular season sucks. It’s a long year; in Game 40 you are kicking a player and trying to get him to go. And now you are here.

“But really, all we have done is win a few games to put ourselves in a situation where we are battling to get into the playoffs. There is no science, no analytic to it. Because you have results, you just feel better about yourself coming to the rink.”

Tortorella says Seth Jones, resting some physical issue the last two games, needs to be in the discussion as a Norris Trophy candidate. “He’s been that good, just plays in a market where people don’t see him a lot,” said the coach. “That’s why we need to get in. That’s when you make your legacy, in the playoffs. Not this regular season stuff.”

There has been no sophomore slump for Zach Werenski, who eventually is destined for Norris consideration himself. It is a practically unprecedented compliment for a goalie who has yet to win a playoff series to be regarded by many as the best in the league, so for now let’s just say Bobrovsky is the most athletic and among the most consistent, with a .921 save percentage to back that up. The Jackets do not yet have a true No. 1 center, but as the 20-year old Dubois matures, he probably eventually will get there, as will the Blue Jackets to a second round and beyond.

We can cite more Cup winners whose elevator got stuck somewhere on the way up than teams that had an express ride. It’s how you handle things that make you a hero. A team is going to lose some games: a coach smarter for his experience takes a deeper breath and doesn’t lose his players in the process.
Join the Discussion: » 1 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Jay Greenberg
» The Penguins Suck it Up
» More Than Ever, the Winner Will Earn It
» We Have a Right to Know
» It's a Good Plan, but Only for This Time
» Taking a Shot Before There's a Shot