In a somewhat surprising move, the Columbus Blue Jackets announced that they’ve hired John Tortorella as the team’s new head coach. The news broke Tuesday morning, the day after a seventh consecutive loss to start the season.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Tortorella and the Jackets initiated contract talks yesterday and the deal was consummated around 1:30 am Wednesday. Tortorella was most recently in the news as Dean Lombardi’s hire for coaching the US World Cup team in 2016. The shift to Tortorella is certainly an interesting one for the Jackets. This represents a radical change in the team’s dynamic, as Richards was seen more as a players coach while Tortorella is… um, quite the opposite. While Richards could be described as soft spoken, Tortorella is known for his candor with players and the media.
Torts says was a crazy night. Will take next few days to get better understanding of team “I need to listen…we need to do this collectively”
— Alison (@AlisonL) October 21, 2015
The change wasn’t just a change of name but also in philosophy as well.
The team will be giving the Canucks a second round pick some time within the next three years as compensation for hiring Tortorella in season. For a team that has been tentative at times (both on the ice and in the front office), this is a smashing anvil of a statement. The club wants something new, and they were willing to go to the other side of the spectrum for this shift.
For those questioning the move, Tortorella has won a Stanley Cup and does have a record of 446-375-115 with the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks. Most recently, Tortorella had a short lived tenure with the Canucks, an ill fated match in some ways (although there are specs of hope, depending where you look).
The Blue Jackets held an introductory press conference with Tororella and GM Jarmo Kekalainen early Wednesday afternoon. You can watch the whole event on the team’s YouTube channel. The new coach echoed the newness of his spot, and commented on the need to work together with players to right the ship. “It was a difficult decision,” Jarmo noted. “[Tortorella] will give us a different direction.”
To that end, Tortorella’s comments suggested an open mind about the changes to come. In answering Dom Tiberi about the state of the team, the new coach reflected, “I think it’s important that I need to listen. I want the players to speak to the staff, just to find out where they’re at. And we need to do this collectively.” Tortorella expressed interest in teaching and developing the young CBJ roster, and repeated the balance between listening and winning. “I think one of the biggest things that I’d like to start off here, is I need to have better listening skills. … It’s so important that we do it collectively here. As a management group, coaches, and players, we need to have some honesty among ourselves so we can get on the right road.”
“our game is about the mind…that’s a big part of our responsibility is to get these guys together…develop an identity” #CBJ
— Alison (@AlisonL) October 21, 2015
The team and front office want to salvage this season, and believe this is the move to get them on the right track. Game one of the Torts era picks up Thursday in Minnesota. His impact will take more than a game to be seen, so we’ll have to stay tuned.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
