Does Torts get nominated for the Jack Adams?

[major major]

Would that have been the case before the season?

Atkinson, Wennberg, Foligno, Saad, Gagner, Werenski & Hartnell. Hardly a set of superstars seen from the summer of 2016 (just took the highest point scorers - Jones and Bob would obviously be a part of the best players).

Not that it is all down to Tortorella. Sometimes teams just "click" and clearly that has happened in Columbus. I'm not sure if they are top 8 when it comes player for player. Certainly can't see them be dragged through poor spells the same way Kopitar/Doughty, Toews(in the old days)/Kane, Getzlaf/Perry can or could do.

The forward group has been underrated all along. They were 9th last year in ES forward scoring, and the team scored even more after the Jones trade. But the scoring was spread out in such a way so that folks didn't hear about any particular player. That and bizarrely low name recognition. We still get "David Savard, who?" comments, so nothing surprising there.

So the forwards snuck by. The D was going to be great, but this soon? That part was more the shock to Jackets fans, while I get the idea that the rest of the leagues fans are more shocked by the forwards?

 

[Nordique]

Would that have been the case before the season?

Atkinson, Wennberg, Foligno, Saad, Gagner, Werenski & Hartnell. Hardly a set of superstars seen from the summer of 2016 (just took the highest point scorers - Jones and Bob would obviously be a part of the best players).

Not that it is all down to Tortorella. Sometimes teams just "click" and clearly that has happened in Columbus. I'm not sure if they are top 8 when it comes player for player. Certainly can't see them be dragged through poor spells the same way Kopitar/Doughty, Toews(in the old days)/Kane, Getzlaf/Perry can or could do.

I agree they have no superstars (Bob might be an exception), but look at the balanced scoring they have had the last 2-3 seasons, and this season and you see how dangerous they are in every situation, all 4 lines.

They 7 potential 20 goal scorers right now, based on GPG.

3 of those guys are bottom 6 skaters.

2 of those guys are 4th line + PP skaters.

They have the deepest roster in the league.

 

[Havre]

The forward group has been underrated all along. They were 9th last year in ES forward scoring, and the team scored even more after the Jones trade. But the scoring was spread out in such a way so that folks didn't hear about any particular player. That and bizarrely low name recognition. We still get "David Savard, who?" comments, so nothing surprising there.

So the forwards snuck by. The D was going to be great, but this soon? That part was more the shock to Jackets fans, while I get the idea that the rest of the leagues fans are more shocked by the forwards?

9th in ES scoring with a underdeveloped D doesn't make the team among the top 8 player for player.

And looking at those forwards then compared to now.

Name Points per game last year Points per game this year
Wennberg 0.58 0.94
Atkinson 0.65 1.05
Foligno 0.92 0.96 (took 14-15 for Foligno as a benchmark - he did far worse last season)
Saad 0.68 0.91
Hatnell 0.62 0.63
Gagner 0.30 0.82

On average those six produce 37.4% more this year than last. Quite a leap if you ask me.

I agree they have no superstars (Bob might be an exception), but look at the balanced scoring they have had the last 2-3 seasons, and this season and you see how dangerous they are in every situation, all 4 lines.

They 7 potential 20 goal scorers right now, based on GPG.

3 of those guys are bottom 6 skaters.

2 of those guys are 4th line + PP skaters.

They have the deepest roster in the league.

Depth is a fickle thing. When you get top line production from Wennberg, Atkinson and Gagner your depth is always going to look great. At the moment I don't think many will disagree with you, but was that also the case before the season? I hardly think so - which was my point.

Personally I love it. I have always liked Tortorella (even if I'm a Canucks fan). And even if I'm not sure if it is done on purpose I prefer teams that are less top "heavy"/dependent. Every single team in the NHL seem to be looking for that small "superstar" core - which inflates the cost of these superstars - why not go the other way?

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

I hate the guy but yep he's a shoe-in at this point.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

I think if the Oilers make the playoffs McLellan should get it. After 10 years of consistently being one of the worst teams in the league, any coach who can get them into the playoffs probably deserves the award.

You could argue that Edmonton is still under-performing compared to their talent level.

 

[Go Wings]

hes taken a team that was dead last and has them in the playoff race with a bunch of rookies

No that is Matthews, Marner and Andrerson that did that.

 

[UlaTek]

As of right now, no doubt

 

[Pongs21]

At this point how could he not?

 

[BLONG7]

Absolutely...he has these guys playing lights out...

 

[ECBBW]

I don't know enough about coaching to fully evaluate his performance, but I am struck by his demeanour in interviews; he sounds cerebral and restrained, whereas I am used to his blow ups and bombast in New York and Vancouver. Also, the CBJ don't just have a great record, they play a brand of hockey that is incredibly entertaining, IMO.
I'd think he has to be a front runner at this point.

 

[Love]

I don't know enough about coaching to fully evaluate his performance, but I am struck by his demeanour in interviews; he sounds cerebral and restrained, whereas I am used to his blow ups and bombast in New York and Vancouver. Also, the CBJ don't just have a great record, they play a brand of hockey that is incredibly entertaining, IMO.
I'd think he has to be a front runner at this point.

To be honest, 95% of the time he was like that in Vancouver too. But its the odd outburst that gets all the media attention even if it isn't the norm.

 

[Unbiased]

As of right now he wins

 

[Havre]

I don't know enough about coaching to fully evaluate his performance, but I am struck by his demeanour in interviews; he sounds cerebral and restrained, whereas I am used to his blow ups and bombast in New York and Vancouver. Also, the CBJ don't just have a great record, they play a brand of hockey that is incredibly entertaining, IMO.
I'd think he has to be a front runner at this point.

I´m sure he has changed getting older, but the image of him in NY and Vancouver was always skewed due to those clips with him and Brooks, the Calgary incident and a couple of other episodes. Most of his interviews and press conferences were more or less like now (99%) - as long as there were no phones ringing

We´ll see what he becomes when the team starts to lose. Right now he is, with good reason, extremely comfortable with how the team is behaving and playing - which would influence the mood of anyone. I don´t think he will ever go full melt down again, but I could certainly see him occasionally getting annoyed as he has always done in the past. Nothing wrong in that though.

 

[Robert]

As of today...... yes, but the season is young.

Lamar Jackson was given the Heisman before any thought of him losing the last three games of the season...

We need to wait for March before Tort predictions...

That said, the CBJ are having a historic season for the franchise!!!!

 

[Lemmiwinks]

I'd almost say that he already has it in the bag. His team would have to do extremely poorly down the stretch for him to lose it. He's got Nick Foligno scoring at 1ppg ffs.

 

[Lemmiwinks]

To be honest, 95% of the time he was like that in Vancouver too. But its the odd outburst that gets all the media attention even if it isn't the norm.

Agreed, he was a very good speaker in Vancouver. He's a passionate man, and that can either lead to great success or collapse, so it would seem.

 

[hototogisu]

Nominated? He's the hands down winner right now. Of course, there's still half a season left to play and anything can happen.

 

[ECBBW]

Intereating comments in reply to my observation, thanks, guys. My abiding memory of his time in Vancouver was the Calgary dressing room thing, but his interactions with the press were something I didn't see living in Australia( like 99% of my hockey news comes from HF; oddly, it's not covered much here )

 

[Robert]

Intereating comments in reply to my observation, thanks, guys. My abiding memory of his time in Vancouver was the Calgary dressing room thing, but his interactions with the press were something I didn't see living in Australia( like 99% of my hockey news comes from HF; oddly, it's not covered much here )

My guess and only a guess, he grew up after the Vancouver debacle and John Davidson vetted him well..... Torts, as General Patton did, promised to keep his mouth shut in order to get a last chance at victory!!!!