By William Espy
Todd Richards
All Blue Jackets fans, whether they are a Richards fan or not, know that this is an end of an era. As Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch wrote, Richards’ success is what inevitably led to his downfall. He is the winningest coach in franchise history and set the coaching standards for the team. After an 0-7-0 start to the season, management decided a change was needed and because of that a great man lost his job. Richards finished his Blue Jackets career with 127 wins and a spot irremovable place in the hearts of all CBJ fans.
John Tortorella
John Tortorella was expected to be the Jackets’ replacement for Richards and when the time came, that’s what he became. Tortorella is a hard-nosed defense based head coach, who is not afraid to bench a star, get in someone’s face, or voice his displeasure. Blue Jackets centerman Ryan Johansen learned this the hard way when he was forced to sit out the final six minutes of the third period against the Minnesota Wild. When asked about what he will do to help improve the game of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, Tortorella said that he will let Ian Clark focus on the goaltending aspect of the team. While the Tortorella era got off to a bad start with a 4-3 loss, the team played well defensively and got numerous opportunities against a top defensive team in the league. However, as Tortorella said “Moral victories aren’t going to help us right now.” While the Jackets have made it difficult for themselves to dig out of this hole, it is not necessarily impossible.
Ryan Johansen
While Ryan Johansen is currently leading the Blue Jackets in points, he has been lackluster in many parts of his game this season. Lack of hustle on defensive plays, on line changes, and seemingly in all areas of the ice has cost the team severely. New head coach John Tortorella noticed this very quickly and punished him in return. After sitting out the final 6 minutes in a very tight game, it has been made clear that Johansen has both not impressed Tortorella and he has also not proved that he is trustworthy. Tortorella has also reportedly told Johansen that he is out of shape, which will likely hinder his ice time until that is fixed.
Prospect Report
Paul Bittner
Bittner is currently in a bit of a drought much like his team has been. The Winterhawks have been an underwhelming 3-6-0 to this point, and Bittner’s stats have shown that. The 18 year old currently has 3 goals and 2 assists for a total of 5 points in 9 games.
Keegan Kolesar
Bittner’s cross state rival the Seattle Thunderbirds, have been the exact opposite and have started the season on a roll. Part of this is due to the increased production of enforcer turned goal scorer Keegan Kolesar who has 6 goals and 8 assists for a total of 14 points in 9 games. For reference, last season he played 64 games and posted only 38 points.
Kole Sherwood
Across the country in the OHL, first year major junior player Kole Sherwood has quickly found success as a member of the London Knights along with Mitchell Marner, Max Jones and Christian Dvorak among others. Sherwood has currently posted 5 goals and 7 assists for a total of 12 points in 10 games.
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