1st Ohio Battery's countdown of the top 10 moments of the season takes a look at a milestone for head coach John Tortorella.
RESULT: Columbus 4, Vancouver 3
DATE: Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016
LOCATION: Vancouver
WHAT HAPPENED: There's no getting around it – there were a lot of snickers around the National Hockey League when the Columbus Blue Jackets hired Tortorella to coach the team early in the 2015-16 season.
Some saw it as a panic move, a team off to an 0-7 start hiring a coach who was desperately behind the times to come in and inspire an underachieving squad. Many figured Tortorella would come in, bench some players, yell a little bit, and it would be sound and fury signifying very little in one of the game's forgotten outposts.
The first part of that was true. Some players saw their ice time curtailed. Others were publicly questioned. Not everyone made it through the season in union blue.
But clearly, now, there was a method to the madness. Turning a ship around takes time, and the wheels for change were in motion by the end of Tortorella's first season in Columbus. By the time the team arrived for the coach's notoriously difficult training camp in September 2016, there was a feeling things could be headed the right direction.
The beginning of the season backed that up, and December showed just how good the Blue Jackets could be. Riding a lethal power play, scoring depth and the resurgent Sergei Bobrovsky in net, Columbus ripped through December on a 16-game win streak, good for second in NHL history. And in the meat of all that was the win in Vancouver – Tortorella's ill-fated previous coaching stop – that earned the coach his 500th win.
Not only was 500 a nice, round number, it was a milestone. With the win, Tortorella became the first American coach to reach the mark, adding to a resume that included a Stanley Cup championship in Tampa Bay and another Finals appearance in New York with the Rangers.
As it turns out, Tortorella hadn't forgotten how to coach during his single disappointing season in Vancouver and a difficult turn at the head of Team USA during the preseason World Cup of Hockey. While he still has the ability to push his players, the gruff exterior that he had become known for in the Big Apple proved to be overblown. And a coach many had accused of watching the game pass him by instead embraced a "safe is death" mantra and encouraged his team to make mistakes if it meant maybe making a play as well.
After the 500th win, Tortorella was presented with the game puck in the locker room. The head coach made a point to say throughout the season he rarely stopped in the room after games, but this was one moment Tortorella and his team did share together.
“He says it doesn’t mean (anything), but it’s a lot of wins,” captain Nick Foligno said. “He’s gone through a roller-coaster of a career … going through so many things. We’re really happy to have him at the helm here. He’s really helped push this group forward. Really gratifying for all the guys to see him get that.”
Seth Jones got the winner for Columbus in overtime, while Brandon Saad had two goals and Cam Atkinson the other for Columbus. Alexander Wennberg added two assists and Bobrovsky needed just 14 saves to puck up the win.
Allowing himself some time to reflect a bit, Tortorella admitted the accomplishment – and the recognition from his team – did mean something.
"That stuff is fun," he said. "I don't think it's really an individual thing, wins and losses. I think it's a team thing, so yeah, you're giving me a little credit with the 500 wins, but I don't want the credit on the losses. I'm saying that facetiously, obviously.
"I'm happy. Those things tighten up a group, I think, and as a coach and players, it can be about the human side. It's not always about X's and O's and the grind. It's about caring about people.
"I've been so privileged to have the opportunity to coach as many games as I have in the league and to get this opportunity here with this club when there's so many people out there dying to get in and haven't had the opportunity. That's what I'm grateful for. Not numbers, it's just having the opportunity and privilege to coach in the league."
