John Tortorella, like many coaches, will often say his only card to play is ice time.
Play well, play a lot. Play poorly, play less.
The Blue Jackets have ridden ridiculously good 5-on-5 play to their 9-6-1 record entering tonight’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes, but how much different might that record be if their power play had a pulse?
Operating at 31.8%, the Dallas Stars own the NHL’s best power play.
The Blue Jackets? You can find them bringing up the rear at 10.4%.
That’s not just bad…that’s concerning. It’s a whole different world.
When you’re one of the league’s more dominant even strength teams in terms of puck possession, you can win games because of your process. Having the puck, shooting the puck, and getting the puck back is generally a sound approach to get points and win games. The Blue Jackets have done it well to this point, but they’ve also done so without their top players leading the way.
So, Tortorella reached into his pocket and played his card.
On Tuesday night against the Predators, Alexander Wennberg — deployed like a No. 1 center last season, paid like their No. 1 center this summer — sat on the bench and watched while both power play units went to work. He was the heartbeat of their power play a season ago, working the half-wall and distributing pucks low and high to create chaos for the penalty killers.
After calling out his power play for not shooting enough, getting “pass happy” and failing to produce, Tortorella said enough is enough and did what he didn’t want to do.
“I hope he shows me ‘what the hell are you doing?’ I think he’s a great player, but he’s not playing great right now — and quite honestly, he’s been given a lot of rope to try to get his game together,” Tortorella said.
If only he were honest and forthcoming.
But man oh man, is this ever frustrating; the Blue Jackets are down a center already, they have their captain playing the middle (and doing it well, as The Athletic’s Alison Lukan outlined yesterday) and they have their No. 1 guy searching for his game.
This is a damn good player. A wicked intelligent player who can make a play where one didn’t seem possible. He’s just a touch off-center right now, for whatever reason, but Tortorella is dead-on in saying that his return to form will be a huge addition for the Blue Jackets.
“If he does — and I think he will — we’re going to be a much better team,” he said.
STOP EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW
[cover your ears, Kathleen Kennedy, for I have failed you]
In the middle of happy hour and catching up with an old friend, I completely missed Disney and Lucasfilm’s announcement about Rian Johnson’s continued, long-term involvement with Star Wars. Johnson has signed on to create an entirely new trilogy of Star Wars films, introducing a new cast of characters from a new part of the galaxy and telling a brand new story.
Holy crap. HOLY CRAP.
“We all loved working with Rian on The Last Jedi,” said Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm. “He’s a creative force, and watching him craft The Last Jedi from start to finish was one of the great joys of my career. Rian will do amazing things with the blank canvas of this new trilogy.”
Yeah, you read that right. Kennedy and the Lucasfilm/Disney team were so jazzed about The Last Jedi that they’re giving him a “blank canvas” — and probably something resembling a blank check — to stay involved with Star Wars (after he declined an opportunity to write/direct Episode IX).
The Last Jedi is going to be incredible.
YOU SHOULD BE READING
- If you're a process person (hello, that's me), you'll enjoy this on the Jackets' style of play.
- Good news: Pierre-Luc Dubois appears that he's (finally) on his way.
- ICYMI: yesterday's "The Fuse" – it's time the Blue Jackets make their run.
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