After seven consecutive losses to start the year, change has come to Columbus. According to early reports from Darren Dreger of TSN, Todd Richards was made sacrificial lamb on Wednesday, let go after the Blue Jackets failed to get even a single loser point in any game. It’s the worst start in franchise history, and tastes even more bitter when paired with the preseason hype machine.
There is no good way for this to happen. Richards cannot control team save percentage. As of this writing, the Blue Jackets sit dead last, with a combined .837 in all situations (via Natural Stat Trick). Even if you criticize the defense, it’s hard to believe anything but sub-NHL talent could cause a significant and repeatable rise in shot quality against. The fluke, the randomness of goalies preys on another coach here in Columbus. Things will change, Bobrovsky will come back closer to his career average. That’s regression. The replacement coach will be credited for this “work,” and it won’t be fair.
And rotating to the defense: it is not Todd Richards who acquires the players. He doesn’t get a say. He doesn’t get to say if he likes the non-Murray defense. He has to use some of these players, there’s no choice otherwise, with too many 3rd pairing d-men to ignore. If the Blue Jackets manage to upgrade the blueline soon? The replacement coach gets a leg up, and will probably get credit in the form of wins, and it won’t be fair.
None of this absolves Richards of his sins. He took a blender to forward lines with frequency and with little obvious reason. He sat some promising youths in favor of vets, he continued to give Jack Johnson enormous minutes, and he once tried to put David Clarkson on the de facto first line. It’s not obvious that the CBJ coaching staff were getting the very best out of their roster. Injuries or no, Richards was unable to consistently coax the high-end play the preceded the Pittsburgh playoffs. If better hands take over? Change could be positive.
Richards’ most successful years came with Bobrovsky’s save percentage highs. In that way, life wasn’t fair to Richards’ predecessor either… and the cruel symmetry becomes clear. The cycle of unluck piled on, and has returned at an inopportune time.
Maybe now the Blue Jackets flip a switch. Maybe Bobrovsky finds his way again. Maybe the defense gels toward respectability. And maybe only some of that was ever directly in the coach’s control. The Todd Richards era is over in Columbus, and if there’s any sliver of playoff hope? The hard part begins today.
(Editor’s note: shortly after this was posted, the team confirmed the move: Todd Richards is out and John Tortorella is in. Sam has more on the hire, including some reaction to the Tortorella press conference.)
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