The Columbus Blue Jackets are a little more than two weeks into their season and they’re still searching for their first win.
The team’s early-season struggles led them to make the first coaching change of the season, as they fired Todd Richards and replaced him with John Tortorella.
In Tortorella’s first game, he reportedly benched star center Ryan Johansen in the third period because he wasn’t in good enough shape.
Torts denied those claims, but as the old saying goes: Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
Tortorella on @NYP_Brooksie report that he told Ryan Johansen he was out of shape on Thursday:
— Shawn Mitchell (@shecky218) October 24, 2015
"That's the first I've heard of that." #CBJ
Torts: "I don't think conditioning is a problem...Getting (the players) back to feeling good about themselves is the biggest problem." #CBJ
— Shawn Mitchell (@shecky218) October 24, 2015
On Saturday, Johansen didn’t participate in the team’s morning skate in Denver because of an illness.
According to GM Jarmo Kekalainen, Johansen won’t be in the lineup against Colorado and he has returned to Columbus with one of the team’s assistant trainers.
Kekalainen didn’t want to elaborate on Johansen’s illness.
Jackets President John Davidson also weighed in. He described today’s situation as “another curveball”.
A win would really go a long way in calming things around the organization.