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The John Tortorella era officially got underway Thursday night for Columbus as the coach took his spot behind the bench in a game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild at Excel Energy Center.
As one might expect, the Blue Jackets came out flying and looked much more like the team of old — tough, hard, relentless — that they hadn’t looked for most of 2015.
The result on the scoreboard at the end was much the same, but make no mistake, the Tortorella presence has been felt. Though the final score was a 3-2 defeat, there are positives to take away. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky began looking like the Bob of old, making 20 saves, but looking less like the Bob who publicly and most recently expressed “zero confidence.”
Torts was quoted before the game as saying, “I want us to play with arrogance, I don’t want us testing the water.” The Jackets outshot Minnesota 13-6 and led 2-1 after the first period. They couldn’t hold the lead, but the overall play was improved.
The interesting development that is currently unfolding, and has the potential to become a more strenuous issue, is the dynamic between coach and player. I’m not talking about Torts vs. Brandon Dubinsky (referring to the tenuous strain between the two at the end of their New York Rangers days together). I’m talking about the already-trying relationship between the new coach and Blue Jackets star Ryan Johansen.
It was noticed when Joey was taken off the first line with Brandon Saad and Nick Foligno in the third period and didn’t play the final 6:10 of the game. “I didn’t think it was that effective,” Tortorella said, referring to playing Johansen in the middle of the line. Dubinsky would take his spot and play his most minutes of the season (21:22).
Reports have since come out that Tortorella told Johansen he’s not in shape, reiterating a similar report that surfaced last season regarding Johansen’s conditioning. Of course, last season Johansen missed training camp while seeking his current three-year contract — Johansen is making $3 million this season and will make $6 million in 2016-17 before becoming a restricted free agent.
Joey would start last season hot, however, scoring five goals and posting eight assists for the month of October en route to a career high in assists and points.
This season, Joey has one goal to go with five assists through the first eight games. It’s telling when a team still searching for its first win will bench their best skater. There have been talks about Johansen not displaying the best body language and not giving it his all on the ice.
Tortorella is relentless on his players and will hold them accountable. Star player or sixth-round draft pick, each player will earn his ice-time.
With Joey set to be a free agent in a little over a year, could he be a 2016-17 trade candidate if the Jackets don’t salvage this season?
Absolutely.
William Chase is a New York Yankees and Columbus Blue Jackets writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @William_Chase88 “Like” him on Facebook and add him to your network on LinkedIn and Google.
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