Blue Jackets begin holding scrimmages

After a couple days of hard skates, the Blue Jackets’ training camp to prepare for the NHL’S 24-team return has shifted into its second phase.

After a snappy half-hour practice Wednesday, without a conditioning skate, Thursday brought the first scrimmage of camp. That’s exactly the way it was planned by coach John Tortorella, director of player performance Nelson Ayotte and strength and conditioning coach Kevin Collins.

“The first three days, I just wanted them to touch the puck and see where they were conditioning-wise,” Tortorella said. “I don’t want to rush it. We still have plenty of days to do this, but after the first three days, you’re going to see more of the special teams (and scrimmages).”

The transition began Wednesday, when Tortorella consulted with players and his performance staff.

“I talked to the players, and it was the first time they skated two days in a row,” Tortorella said, referring to the NHL pausing the season March 12 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“They’re always looking for more. That’s just the way our athletes are built. But I had a much better conversation with Nelson and Kevin, who are in charge of all the physiology of it and numbers of it, as far as recovery . ... We felt it was time just to back off from the conditioning skate.”

It was also time to shift into scrimmages Thursday, which included a goalie competition between Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo picking up steam.

“We got a ton of puck touches, and that’s what I wanted the first three days,” Tortorella said. “We accomplished that, so now we’ll get into the grind and a little bit of the body work and start working on special teams.”

Desperation mode

The Blue Jackets have a five-game series against the high-powered Toronto Maple Leafs ahead in the qualifying round, so tough decisions will be made with expediency.

“It’s a very tricky series because you can’t allow it to get away from you,” Tortorella said. “There’s going to be some quick decisions made and there’s going to be some ice time laid onto people who we may have more of a trust (in) than some other guys in certain situations. We’re going to lay it out there, because it changes really quickly. You lose the first one, you are behind the eightball right away in a best-of-five.”

Elvis got hitched

Those who follow Merzlikins on Instagram know that he recently posted engagement photos of him proposing to girlfriend Aleksandra Tyszliewicz during the NHL’S pause.

Turns out, they also got married. After he popped the question during a visit with Blue Jackets goalie coach Manny Legace in suburban Detroit, Merzlikins and Tyszliewicz took the plunge when they returned to Columbus.

“We got married, but I don’t think it was the right time to announce it, because it was the (pandemic) and then there was the protests, so I was kind of waiting (to) announce that a little bit later,” said Merzlikins, who revealed the info Wednesday. “I almost got a second puppy (too), so there was a lot of new things.”

Classic ‘Torts’

Tortorella was also asked about playing games in arenas with no fans, where the acoustics might easily pick up some off-color language on TV.

“I really don’t give a (expletive), quite honestly,” Tortorella said. “I’ll put it to you that way. I’m not even thinking about it.” bhedger@dispatch.com @Brianhedger