Interesting note from the Dispatch this morning regarding Monday’s Blue Jackets practice, in which head coach John Tortorella put his players through some rigorous skating drills.
Especially interesting, given what Scott Hartnell had to say.
“You can tell by the way we practiced today that [Tortorella] wants us in better shape so we’re not fading at the end of games,” he explained.
Fitness, or lack thereof, has been a recurring issue in Columbus this season.
In late October, Tortorella called out All-Star center Ryan Johansen for being out of shape -- coincidentally, Johansen was “singled out” for extra skating on Monday -- and, in a recent conversation with NHL.com, Torts again brought up the team’s conditioning problems.
“I think it’s a team with a number of different mental and physical bad habits that we’re trying to turn into good habits to where it becomes an instinct, but we’re a ways away,” he explained. “These are mental habits that have nothing to do with X’s and O’s.
“It’s a pretty young team, and quite honestly it’s about what it is to be a pro and doing the little things.”
So, does Columbus have a fitness problem?
It’s hard to say.
Back in October, GM Jarmo Kekalainen told the Dispatch all players passed their training camp conditioning tests and, when asked, said “I don’t think anybody can say we’re out of shape.”
But it stands to reason one of Kekalainen’s objectives in making the coaching change from Todd Richards to Tortorella was to light a fire under the team, and get them back to playing “Blue Jackets hockey” -- the hard-working, hustle-filled style with a decided lunch bucket approach.
And in order to play that brand of hockey, the team has to be in shape.