Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella says he spends too much time in the room. What he means by that is that a lack of leadership, a lack of accountability amongst the players on his team, has left him in a position where he has to police them to a greater extent than he has in the past during prior NHL stops. Tortorella went in on the team to the media Sunday, just prior to the Blue Jackets' loss to the Florida Panthers, suggesting that the lack of leadership was due to a mental weakness that permeated the locker room.
Shortly thereafter, Columbus captain Nick Foligno met with reporters and addressed the comments by his bench boss. Foligno's assessment? Tortorella is welcome to his opinion, though Foligno doesn't agree with him that the team has "nothing" in terms of leadership.
"I take that personally," Foligno said, in response to a question from Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch regarding how it felt to have his leadership questioned by Torts. "I feel we do have a strong leadership. It's a compound problem with a lot of other things. I agree to disagree in a sense. I know what he's saying. Where we're sitting (in the standings), it comes from inside this room. I still believe in myself, I believe in the As, and who the leadership is. We're working through a tough season and trying to find ourselves and find our game. If we do that, the leadership won't be questioned at all."
Foligno, 28, has missed the last three games due to injury. On the season, he has five goals and 14 assists in 35 games. Tortorella's decision to question the leadership, ostensibly his leadership, considering he wears the 'C,' seemed to take Foligno aback. But he said it's not something he's broached with Tortorella since.
"I don't have any hard feelings. That's his assessment and he has every right to think that," Foligno told Portzline. "I have my own beliefs. I think we need to get stronger. I don't know everything. It's my first time being captain. I have a lot to learn. I think a lot of guys have a lot to learn. I think that's what he means by it. I don't think he's questioning us as leaders, just saying we have a long way to go to get where we need to be."
But Foligno's most interesting comments may have come in response to a question regarding whether there was something beneath the surface in Columbus that was keeping, has for years been keeping, the team and the franchise from thriving. Foligno intimated that the team was "a little dysfunctional" when he first arrived and that the players lacked a "winning mentality."
Now in his fourth season in Columbus, not much has changed for Foligno or the team, despite the efforts of Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen and the increased talent on the ice. Something is amiss, but neither Foligno nor Tortorella seem to know just what it is.
This season is quickly becoming a lost one - the Blue Jackets are in the league basement with just 29 points through 38 games - but they need to right the ship soon if they're to ensure coming seasons aren't wasted as well.
