Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Torts explains decision to move Foligno to center

Nick Foligno, Dan Hamhuis

Nick Foligno, Dan Hamhuis

AP

The injury to Brandon Dubinsky left Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella short on top-six centers.

That’s never a good thing to be in the NHL. And it’s doubly bad for a team that’s trying to climb out of a big hole.

But Tortorella had to plug someone in there. In the end, he chose captain Nick Foligno.

“We talked about a number of different people,” Tortorella told the Jackets’ website. “I think Nick can handle the change.”

Another candidate was Boone Jenner, who played center in junior. But Tortorella decided against that because of Jenner’s strong play on the boards.

“I just don’t want to screw around with Jenner’s game, because I think he’s doing so well on the wall,” said Tortorella. “Nick volunteered, he’s played it, he felt comfortable and that’s what we went with.”

The Jackets won their second straight on Saturday with a 5-2 victory over Arizona. They host St. Louis on Tuesday night.

Dubinsky is expected to miss 2-3 weeks.

Center Alexander Wennberg is also on IR with an injury (foot).