John Tortorella teed up the Blue Jackets a year ago.
They were beaten, defeated, embarrassed...whatever adjective you wanted to apply after a humiliating start and another lost season, it probably applied. So when they began 2016-17, his message was simple: no one respects you. You've got to earn it.
En route to 50 wins and 108 points, that was their rallying point. Earn respect. Carry that extra-large chip on your shoulder no matter where you go or who you play.
But this situation is a different kind of test. More than the players, it's going to test the head coach.
The Blue Jackets, as you know, are down two centers, two defensemen, a star forward and are still somehow one point out of the Metropolitan Division lead despite having the worst power play on the face of the earth (though, credit where it's due, they've been better of late).
Sergei Bobrovsky should be eating for free.
Tortorella is a team builder. In Tampa, his first job, he took a young team and shepherded it through turbulent times but throughout the journey, it was about getting them to understand how hard it is to win and how far they had to go to get there. "There's another level," he's prone to say, and getting the Lightning to understand that helped secure a Stanley Cup championship when many of his once-young key players had grown into relied-upon veteran leaders and stars.
In Columbus, the situation isn't all that different. The Blue Jackets have lofty aspirations. They know they have a good team, but right now, it's banged up. Big time. This upcoming stretch is going to be challenging up and down the lineup, and Tortorella's job is to keep the ship pointed straight ahead.
When the Blue Jackets plowed their way through the league last season, Tortorella built a bunker around them. Everything was kept in-house and they handled business amongst themselves, rarely letting anything from the outside deter what was happening within their walls. It's going to have to be that way once again, as winning is going to be the hardest thing they do over the next little while – no one feels sorry for them, their opponents probably feel they're ripe for the picking, and their confidence has been a roller coaster.
This is where Tortorella is so important.
He did a tremendous job keeping them focused on the here-and-now last season; it was the boring, tired "one day at a time" mantra even when they were 27-5-4 out of the gate. Flip it on its head, missing a handful of their best players and teetering in a precarious spot midway through their season, and that mentality becomes paramount again.
Their job – Tortorella's job – is to slow this thing down and make it manageable. It starts tonight in Pittsburgh, a week after the Blue Jackets and Penguins played a hella-nasty game at PPG Paints Arena.
THE DICTIONARY
Ok, so I've seen The Last Jedi a handful of times.
But – one of the most exciting things about a new Star Wars movie releasing is the accompanying "visual dictionary." It's much cooler than it sounds, just trust me.
The Lucasfilm Story Group, aka the stewards of Star Wars canon, help put this incredible piece of work together for each of the movies. It's a breakdown of every single character, ship, planet, weapon, group, piece of clothing...you name it. Everything in Star Wars has a story and the visual dictionary explains it.
If you're a fan, pick it up. You won't regret it.
YOU SHOULD BE READING
- Sam Blazer's looking for answers as the Blue Jackets (for now) try to fill voids internally.
- Cam Atkinson is expected to have surgery in the near future to repair his broken foot.
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