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It’s been two games for the Columbus Blue Jackets under new head coach John Tortorella, and we’ve seen improved play as well as the first win for the team.
It’s a small sample size but Sergei Bobrovsky continues to look improved, making 31 saves Saturday night against the Colorado Avalanche. Though he’s given up at least three goals in every start, there seems to be a more disciplined approach under Tortorella for the team collectively.
As mentioned Saturday regarding the potential brewing trouble between Torts and Ryan Johansen, RyJo was suddenly sent back to Columbus Saturday before the game, as reports indicated he had become ill.
No further information clarified the illness, and though it might very well be an illness, it’s another interesting development on the heels of Friday when word surfaced regarding Johansen’s conditioning, and Thursday night when Johansen was demoted from the first line, then subsequently benched the final 6:10 of the game against the Minnesota Wild.
Brandon Dubinsky continues to thrive since the Tortorella-takeover, netting the game-winner over Colorado, and was raved about by Torts postgame.
It’s only one win and it’s a small sample size, but the Tortorella effect looks to be positive thus far and looks to continue. While they need to go on a significant streak just to get back in the playoff race, the Jackets are starting to do the little things.
As Dubinsky has alluded to, Torts doesn’t ease into a situation. He comes in like a bull through a china shop and demands of his players right away.
Tortorella has both thrived and ultimately failed in his NHL coaching career — Stanley Cup champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning and fired after his first season with the Vancouver Canucks — yet, he does boast a winning attitude about him, and one he has been able to back up more often than not.
He is demanding of his players, and while he’s been criticized for demanding too much, he appears at the onset of his Columbus days to have learned from the past — fortunes and mistakes — and after being a year away from coaching seems to be revitalized.
While the story surrounding Tortorella over his career is that his demanding style reaches a boiling point before the ticking time-bomb explodes in everyone’s face, Columbus found themselves in a situation where they had to act fast to salvage their season.
This could go the way of Tampa Bay and the New York Rangers in which he guided both to the playoffs, or the way of Vancouver where it was a hot mess immediately. Right now, the gamble is paying off.
It’s only two games in, but the Jackets are 1-1 in this era, and have started to restore their identity of a hard team to play against.
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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