Columbus Blue Jackets Fans should be Happy with the Tortorella Deal
The Columbus Blue Jackets extended coach John Tortorella for two more years. The new deal will have the two time Jack Adams award winner with the team through 2021.
Tortorella’s three year tenure in Columbus has been relatively brief, but successful. Torts guided the Columbus Blue Jackets to the playoffs the last two seasons and drastically turned around a dismal start in 2015.
Even though the Jackets were ousted to the prevailing Stanley Cup champs in both first-round series, the Jackets continue to get closer to making a run. In a recent interview, Tortorella paralleled the team’s trajectory to that of the Caps who suffered similar growing pains on their way to the Stanley Cup in 2018.
Similar to most Blue Jackets fans, Torts is not satisfied with playoff berths. He knows it’s not enough and understands the goal in Columbus is titles, not consolation appearances.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Tortorella’s all-time record as the Jackets kingpin is 129-87-23. His .588 winning percentage is tops in franchise history and could easily continue trending upward. The second most reputable coaching stint belongs to Ken Hitchcock who finished with a distant .504 win percent.
That’s a substantial gap no matter how you spin it. This should help shine some light on his caliber of coaching and degree of success in Columbus. Torts pattern of winning should certainly not be overlooked.
The fiery coach’s popularity in Columbus received a turbo injection this summer over a spat with former CBJ defenseman Jack Johnson and Penguins’ GM Jim Rutherford. A big fan of brutal honesty myself, I was over the moon at Torts’ filter-free response to the pair of guised jabs. This is who the Jackets coach is and he makes no apologies for it. In a league where respect matters, in a sideways fashion, I think Torts gained more here.
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In my opinion, opponents of the coach’s extension aren’t seeing the bigger picture. The trajectory of the Blue Jackets franchise has never been so bright and if not Torts, then who?
I would love to argue with anyone who has a better-suited leader in mind. Consider how long it took Barry Trotz to bring a cup to Washington. I wonder if their fans feel slighted by his tenure.
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All in all, I can’t be anything but pleased by this signing. Columbus Blue Jackets fans should all stop and take a look at the history of CBJ coaches and raise their glasses to JT’s new deal. The depth of talent needed to win big has finally been assembled in Columbus. Now they’ve secured leader to go with it.