I can't remember ever NOT hearing this about a CBJ team. How could there be so many seasons where our "good" players come to camp physically unprepared? This is their job, and many of them are paid millions for the privilege of having that job. If it's true that they came in unprepared yet again, there's no way to excuse it. Talent is fine, but you don't qualify as a good player if you don't do absolutely everything necessary to exploit your talent.
From all accounts, the front office insists that the players tested in shape. What hes trying to say is that whats in shape for Torts, is not testing average, at the nhl level. He wants his team to be the best conditioned team in the league. And dubinsky said he felt this is why they started the seasons so well after coming out of a torts camp.
Tortorella took issue with the players’ level of conditioning almost from the moment he was hired on Oct. 21.
One period into his tenure, the following night at Minnesota, Tortorella called out center Ryan Johansen in front of his teammates in the dressing room, telling him he wasn’t in good enough shape.
Tortorella repeatedly has said that the Blue Jackets can’t keep pace at the level he wants to practice, and has even taken blame on two occasions for wearing them out before games with practices that he “didn’t think would be too much.”
Now, Tortorella looks ahead at the Blue Jackets schedule — the second half won’t be as intense as the first — and smiles at the opportunity those off days create.
“The level he gets his teams to, it’s a level unlike anything I’ve see in the NHL,” Dubinsky said. “I don’t mean that as a knock on any of the other coaches I’ve had, it’s just the truth.
“He wants his team to be in the best shape of any team in the NHL. From my experience with him in New York, we felt invincible. Our starts (to the season) were always strong, and I think it had a lot to do with us being in better shape than anybody else.”
Tortorella often talks about wanting his teams to play with swagger. But that’s hard to do if you’re gasping for air after long shifts.
“(Conditioning) is a huge part of it,” he said. “I’m not going to say we’re there. This team is not there.
“I don’t want to be negative about it, but I want to be honest with you. I’m looking short term here, but I also look long term at what I think are some of the improvements we need to make.”