BLUE JACKETS CAN'T WAIT FOR NIGHTMARE TO END
I still cannot believe John Tortorella hasn't been fired yet.
This is what I was thinking as I watched Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins talk about how “sad” and “painful” and “embarrassing” it is to be playing for a team that has become one of the biggest disappointments in the National Hockey League this season.
Mike Babcock, Gerard Gallant and Bruce Boudreau are out of work. But Tortorella, who chased Pierre-luc Dubois out of Columbus and is now ruining Patrik Laine's career, is still being paid to coach. He's still in a position where he gets to bench Max Domi and make roster decisions. He's still given a platform where he gets to refuse to answer reporters' questions.
To borrow a favourite phrase from ex-leafs coach Randy Carlyle, it's mind-boggling.
Claude Julien was fired in February after the Habs went 9-5-4. The following month, Calgary replaced Geoff Ward (11-11-2) with Darryl Sutter, and Buffalo let go of Ralph Krueger (6-18-4). And yet, with the losses piling up, Tortorella (15-25-9) continues to pick up a paycheque.
In some ways, he's become that tub of spoiled yogurt tucked in the back of your fridge, the one you forgot about and whose shelf life expired months ago. He should have been thrown out in January or February.
It's worth asking what could have been had the Blue Jackets cut him loose when the season was still worth salvaging.
It's not like Tortorella didn't have the pieces to challenge for a playoff spot. Two years ago, the Blue Jackets stunned the hockey world when they upset the No. 1 team in the NHL in the opening round of the playoffs. Last year, they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in the qualification round.
The thinking was they would build on that minor success. But despite acquiring Domi, Laine and Jack Roslovic in trades that should have made them better, they have become worse. After losing eight straight games, they are now last overall in the Central Division. Even Ottawa and Detroit have more wins.
And while Tortorella's message to his players following a 3-1 loss on Thursday to Tampa Bay was to “keep on playing,” it's becoming clear that the players cannot wait for this nightmare to end.
“It's really such a bad year. I just want to finish the year and not think about it,” said Merzlikins, whose .911 save percentage has been one of the team's bright spots. “What is there left, six or seven games maybe? We're not going to the playoffs, so it's not going to change anything. It's just embarrassing for us and for our organization … I don't know, like, I don't want to get to Buffalo. I don't want to get to that point like Buffalo.”
When you're comparing yourself to the Sabres, who lost 18 straight games earlier this season, you know it's been a particularly bad year. But at least the Sabres eventually replaced their coach, a move that spurred the team into snapping its losing streak and going on a 6-5-1 run that has allowed their players to finish the season with some semblance of dignity.
It's not just the losses that have hurt the Blue Jackets. It's the way that they are losing. And what it's doing to the players.
Tortorella basically forced the organization into trading Dubois to Winnipeg after he benched and berated him so many times that he wanted out. Since that trade for Laine and Roslovic, Dubois has eight goals and 19 points in 31 games.
And while Roslovic is having a career sort of year with 10 goals and 30 points, it's what's happened to Laine that the team should be more concerned about.
The 22-year-old no longer looks like the player who was once a runner-up for the Rocket Richard Trophy. Under Tortorella, who has tried to transform the sniper into a third-line checker, he looks more like someone whose confidence with the puck is being choked away.
Domi has just seven goals and 19 points. Meanwhile, Josh Anderson, who was traded to Montreal in exchange for Domi, is enjoying his best season in the NHL.
Coincidence?
Until Tortorella is gone, don't expect there to be any relief.