Portzline: When we sat down at this point last summer, you were concerned — deeply concerned — that the room wouldn’t have the proper edge to it after a 108-point season, as if they’d arrived or accomplished something already. What’s the feel for you right now, a couple of weeks out from training camp?
Tortorella: I can’t speak for them, but I’ll speak for myself and what I’m thinking. I’ve been thinking about this all summer long. I worry about athletes that haven’t been there before, and a number of them haven’t been there other than the last couple of years. … I worry that there’s satisfaction with that. Is it just too hard to start thinking, “This is what we are now, and now was have to start doing something”? I worry about that. I know … I know there are some guys who feel that way. I know some guys may not have the ability to figure out a way to get it done. I say this very carefully because … we have a little bit of a sour taste in our mouth, the way we lost last year in the playoffs. Win the first two (games), lose the next four and not win one at home. That’s hard to take. Were we as bad as losing four straight? Absolutely not. We had opportunities to win games in there. Game 3, we have a great chance. If we win Game 3, I think we win the series and Barry Trotz gets fired. He’s a good friend of mine, but Washington’s known as that team again if we win Game 3. We had a chance, third period in Game 5. Our third period was unbelievable. We out-chanced them 10-0. Couldn’t score. As I’ve always told you, I judge the team by how we play, and we put in a lot of good minutes in four of those games. Game 4 was our worst game. I take responsibility, because I don’t think I handled the travel right. But that series …
I’m wondering if the attitude is different now. More bitterness this summer than maybe a year ago …
That’s what I’m saying. A year ago we’re a 108-point team. This last season 97 points. I think we’re that team kind of caught in between there now. I still think a lot of good things went on with the team, but we have to figure it out, and I think it’s mental. It’s mental. Are we going to get some more layers on ourselves with our skin and understand how you handle momentums in playoffs? That’s where we need to get to. That’s what I want to see out of us.
How do the contract situations with Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky, the uncertainty there, affect you this season?
It doesn’t. It can’t. It won’t. It’s out there. You guys have to report on it. It’s one of my biggest parts of my job this year, to handle it. Do we want those to be distractions? Are we going to be able to handle it as a room, or does it turn into a distraction? I think I need to coach that. But shit happens. We’re not the only team that has things go on like this.
Will you meet with those two before camp, just a “what’s up?” meeting?
Nope. Nope. I may have to answer questions from you today. I’ll answer a question about it when camp starts and then we move on.
When the picture started to develop with both players this summer, when the contracts weren’t signed in early July, what was that like for you as their coach?
I’m not mad, Portzy. This is their choice; it’s their life. You go to Panarin … this is going to be years of his life. I’m not mad at either one of them. I am disappointed. I look at Panarin … I really like coaching him. I really like him as a person, and I like him in our room. I think he’s contagious as far as how he comes to work and does his job with enthusiasm. I’m disappointed that there’s talk he may be leaving. But I’m not gonna coach him any differently. He’s going to be put in every damn situation I can find to put him in, because he gives us a really good opportunity to win hockey games.
You’re also heading into the final season of your current contract. We keep hearing that an extension is getting close. What can you say about that?
Still working on it. Still talking.
You’re a Boston guy. You coached in the minors, sure, but in the NHL with Tampa Bay, New York (Rangers) and Vancouver. This is different for you, being in the Midwest. Did it take some getting used to?
When J.D. first called me (October 2015) I wasn’t thinking about the city, just the team and the organization. But as far as the city … we weren’t sure when we came here. My wife and I like to get involved with the community, but we weren’t sure. This certainly isn’t trying to talk anybody into anything. I don’t want it that way with Panarin. I think it’s wrong to try to talk players into things with your team, ’cause I want guys who want to be here. But I will say this about the area … I can’t express how my wife and I feel about living here. We love it here. It’s just so underrated, or so overlooked. Even friends of ours, they ask the question, and it’s the way they ask it. “Columbus?” I just say, “Try it on. Just try it on, and you won’t take it off.” It’s a wonderful city, where you can do so many things … the fine restaurants, the Short North, the different areas of town all have something. We live out here in Sunbury and we have fallen in love with the area, just the beauty of it. The people have been fantastic. We’re thrilled we’re here, we’re fortunate that we’re here, and we’re happy the community has taken us in.
As many do, you seem to have become a touch defensive about the city, or at least the perception of the city.
This is our fight. It’s the same thing with the hockey team, the Blue Jackets. This is the challenge. This is what revs my engine is gaining respect in the league. There are people … people really need to be really careful about judging the city.
You had some strong comments on the day Jack Johnson signed with Pittsburgh, after he and Penguins GM Jim Rutherford made some comments during his introduction. Was there more to that? In other words, it happened right after it came out that maybe Panarin didn’t want to be here long term. Maybe Bobrovsky doesn’t want to sign an extension, either. Did you feel like you needed to take up arms for the franchise and the city in response to all of that?
Yes. I don’t want to get too involved in this answer. I know I need to answer the questions about this, because it’s going to come up when we play Pitt. But I have a … let’s go first with Jack. Jack and I have since talked, and I believe Jack. I think Jack was out there looking at homes, he got thrown into a press conference. I believe what he has said, that you have to show Pittsburgh respect. They’ve won. It’s your new team. I get that. Jack and I have worked through that. But you just asked me earlier a question about this city and this team … I feel a tremendous amount of responsibility as a coach of the team and a person living in the city, with the way the city has welcomed me and my family … I’m going to defend it, because I think we’re an easy target. You asked the question already, and we’re going through it with a couple of players now about Columbus and being here. I’m part of this city. My family is part of this. Our team is growing, but we’re a team that’s an easy target to get sand kicked in your face. That’s the way I took all of that. I’ll preface this now by saying that both men are really good people. Jack Johnson is a great person, and Jimmy Rutherford is a great man, he’s done a terrific job out there. But when it comes to my team and this city, that we’ve fallen in love with, yeah, that comes into my mind. You know what, Portzy, sometimes you can hear things like that and you get ahold of yourself and you get into the hockey manual and see how you should handle it. I don’t have a manual. I threw that away a long time ago. I think an honest reaction is sometimes the proper reaction. I’m not proud of how I used some of my words, but that’s how I reacted. I was mad. I was just really frustrated when I heard about those comments. I was out of my mind, because this is my team and my city. Now, part of it is us. We have to gain that respect. That’s what we’re in the middle of right now, and that’s where I want to be, trying to help out in that area.
Do you handle Joonas Korpisalo’s role differently this season? There are a couple of wrinkles now. He can’t go to Cleveland without waivers, so you have to keep him active up here now as the backup. But also in needing to know what the future looks like, what life after Bobrovsky may look like. In other words, if Korpisalo earns it, does he play more? If he gets hot, does he keep the nets for a stretch, where in the past that would have been unthinkable?
You have to understand and be honest with the uncertainty with Bob. That plays into it. But I still have to make decisions for us to win hockey games. Korpi still has to keep on growing, too. I’m an open book. If he’s gonna take some games, he’s gonna have to earn it. But I’m not sure where it goes with Bob. I don’t think there’s been much conversation between (GM Jarmo Kekalainen) and Bob’s agent. We’re kind of in the dark a little bit. We have to assess our situation in that position because we’re not sure what Bob is going to do. I’m not going to lie to you. The uncertainty at the position, and Bob’s stance (in contract talks), has to play into it. That’s something Bob has to understand, too. I’m totally up front and honest about that.
You’re deeper down the spine now with the signing of center Riley Nash. After what you went through at the position last season, how beneficial is that move via free agency?
Jarmo does a really good job of that. I don’t think our team is in that part of the process to be looking for those bigger names. I think he’s done a terrific job of getting the guys who are kind of in the weeds, but do a tremendous job of filling our needs. (Nash) is a right-handed center, played in a great organization in Boston last year and played up when (Patrice) Bergeron was out. From what I understand he’s a great pro, so it’s a great signing for us. I think it’s a very big year for Dubi (Brandon Dubinsky). My exit meeting with him ended with “I don’t want to talk to you this summer. Because to me, the rhetoric is out the window between you and I right now.” We know each other. We’ve talked enough, and I told him: “How you do your stuff and how you look when I first see you when (training) camp starts is going to speak volumes to me as far as what you want to do with your career.” Center ice position is wide open again. But what happens if he (Dubinsky) steps up and does the things that he can do? It really helps us. I’m really anxious to see what that’s about.
This summer has been a crossroads for Dubinsky, so to speak. Lots of questions around the league about whether or not he’d have his contract bought out. You know him better than anybody. How do you think he responds to what’s been a very public challenge?
I’ve never said it that way to him, but I was playing him three or four minutes (per game) during the playoffs, just throwing him out there for faceoffs and then chasing him back off the ice. That speaks volumes, as far as where he was at that particular time. I do know him better than anybody out here. He is a proud man. I’m really impressed to see him and his family, from where I knew him as a kid. He’s grown up. But he has to grow up more. He has to handle all his stuff off the ice the proper way. He has to handle his stuff on the ice the proper way. You know what? I’m hoping he does the things I think he can do, and I think we’re going to see it. I’m excited to see that.
There’s enormous competition at center for you heading into camp. Is anything settled there?
Quite honestly, I think all of our center-ice men should look at that 19-year-old kid (Pierre-Luc Dubois), and, first of all, thank him. We don’t get into the playoffs if he doesn’t play the way he does. But they should also say, “You know what, kid? I’m getting my ice time back.”
That’s Wennberg, too.
Especially him. It’s part of being a good teammate. It doesn’t have to be with your mouth, but with your actions. “I’m getting my ice time back.”
Seth Jones played so well last season …
Should have been talked about more for the Norris (Trophy). I know he was toward the end, but not enough.
Fair. But the first step toward winning a trophy like that is putting yourself in the conversation, and he did that last season.
OK, but there’s not any player who was up for that Norris Trophy last season, with all the numbers they put up, who can defend like Seth Jones can defend. None of those players. It’s certainly not criticizing those guys. I’ve just watched how Jonesy can defend and also put those numbers up, and also grow in leadership. He should have been talked about more for that award.
When you see what Zach Werenski played through last season (torn labrum), while still putting up big numbers, what do you think the ceiling looks like for him?
It was a confusing year for me in terms of how to coach him. Quite honestly, I just didn’t think ‘Z’ was competing hard enough. I knew he was banged up, but I didn’t realize how much that was playing into it. He spoke to me about it. We had a lot of meetings. But I’m not sure I coached him the right way last year. I was frustrated with him. I want to see him … it’s kind of the deal we’ve made. When you get the green light, you can go whenever you want, and you can hang in there, stay in the offensive zone, hang in there, ’cause you have the ability to get back. But I need to see more on that (defensive) end of the ice, too. That’s where the next step of his process is going to be. But I also need to know. I’m hoping I get word from (medical trainer Mike Vogt) saying he is fully ready to go. And then I’m going to coach him in the other part of the game. I’m not going to coach his offense, but I want him to compete hard. He hung it out there last year, playing as much as he did, listening to me as much as he had to with that injury.
Did he ever tell you he couldn’t use his left arm?
He alluded to it hampering him, but he never used it as an excuse. I have total respect for that. I don’t think I coached him that well. I was confused about how to do it because I wasn’t sure how bad it was. That’s when Jonesy came in late in the season and asked for a meeting with me, and said, “Let me take care of it with Z.” He said, “It’s not working with you.” (laughs) Not so much those words, but that was the point. Seth knew. He knew what ‘Z’ was going through. To me, that helped the kid (Werenski) but it also told me about Jonesy, and where that kid is going as far as leadership.
You no longer have the defensive depth you had. Jack Johnson is gone, Ian Cole is gone. There are some question marks back there now. Do you know
what your second pair is heading into camp?
No, I don’t, but I know you, and you’re gonna get to your Jones and Werenski thing, as far as do we split them up? It certainly makes me think about it, and I have thought about it this summer. I’m going to let it play out. Right now I’m going into the season with ‘Z’ and Jonesy together, and we’ll see what comes of that second pair. I think (Markus) Nutivaara has improved tremendously. I think Murr (Ryan Murray) looked different to me in the playoffs. He can’t even grow a beard yet, he’s just got this stuff all over his face, but he looked different to me. He had more of a game face than I’ve seen since I coached him. He was really good in the playoffs. Can he take those minutes? I know he wants to. I know he’s pissed at me that I don’t give him enough time at certain times, but hopefully, he stays healthy and plays with an attitude. I thought he played with an attitude in the playoffs. It’s wide open the other four guys: Harry (Scott Harrington), Kukes (Dean Kukan), all those guys. (Gabe) Carlsson. Don’t forget about Carlsson. I called him this summer. He had a bad back that wrecked his season. But remember when he first came in here (in 2017), he did some good things.
Your power play took lots of grief last season, deservedly so, but the penalty kill wasn’t very good, either. How much of a focus will special teams be for you during training camp, and how different is this going to look, because you lost some significant penalty-killers?
Our power play was as dreadful as it could be the first part of the season. The last 45 to 50 games, it was pretty good. It was good.
Was that all Wennberg going from the half-wall to net-front?
It certainly helped. It’s funny. I have to blame us (the coaching staff) a little bit for not finding the right spot for Wenny. We kept running that power play through Wenny, ’cause he’s a talented player on the wall, too. It just … we couldn’t get him to come off that wall, couldn’t get him to shoot the puck and break down the penalty killers, so that move certainly helped. Panarin certainly adds an element, but once it got going we had Panarin and Cam going on their sides and Wennberg comfortable in his spot. It was really good down the stretch of the season and it started out good in the playoffs, before it dropped off. I give a lot of credit to Washington and (goaltender Braden) Holtby. It wasn’t so much the adjustments, they found a way they had to play. They had to block shots. They had to play defense. I’ve never seen (Alexander) Ovechkin dump the puck in more in a series when there was nothing there. He stopped trying to beat everybody.
You saw a different Ovechkin after Game 2?
I remember walking down the hallway after we won the first two games. They had me set up (for a postgame press conference) in that gym (the NBA Wizards’ practice court in Capital One Arena) and I’m walking down the hall with (public relations VP) Todd (Sharrock), with Ovie coming the other way. I just kind of moved off and waited for him to go by. I didn’t like the situation I was put in. It was dumb. But I looked at him and it was all business. All business. You could tell he was a little embarrassed. They lived through many failures in the past to finally figure it out. I give Trotzy and that coaching staff a lot of credit to direct them down that road, but it always falls on the players. That’s the hardest I’ve ever seen them play. They blocked shots. They were strong on the puck. They made great decisions in the neutral zone. When they beat us, that really got it rolling for them in their other series. I loved watching Ovie celebrate this season. I’m not sure if he’s gonna be ready for camp (laughs) because he went so hard, but it was great fun to watch.
Have you talked to Trotz since that series?
Talked to him right after the series and a couple of times since then, yeah. If we win Game 3, we win that series and Barry Trotz is fired.
You’ve reminded him of this …
(Laughs.) We didn’t get too involved in that. We talked family stuff. I was happy for him. So happy. I go way back with Barry. Remember, I was the coach in (AHL) Rochester when we won a Calder Cup (1995), and he was in Portland. That’s who we beat in the finals, seven games. So back then, the (AHL) chartered a flight with both teams on it to travel between the games. One team would sit up front going one direction, and the other would sit in the back. Then it switched for the other direction. The series is tied up 3-3, going back to Roch for Game 7. It’s our turn to sit in the back, and I’m in the way back. I watch Trotz come back from the front of the plane, waddling like a penguin, going through everybody. I can read his lips: “Where’s Torts?” This is on the flight back to Game 7! “Where’s Torts?” he’s saying, and he comes all the way through my team and comes back and sits down right next to me. I wouldn’t even look at him, I just said, “Trotzy, get the f*** away from me. I’m trying to f***ing hate you right now. Get away from me!” Trotzy was just, “Come on, this is a great series!” He’s just gabbing away, going on and on about the series and this and that. I just wanted to kill him.
Back to the special teams … do you feel like you’ll miss Matt Calvert, in all areas, but especially short-handed?
How can’t you miss Matt Calvert? Of course we’ll miss him. The way he plays. He plays so big. He’s one of those little guys you just marvel at, but you pull your hair out, too, because sometimes he forgets what he is, and I know he doesn’t like hearing that. Him and I … I do think he’s inconsistent …
Is there an analogy you could use … (laughs) … to describe those inconsistencies?
(Laughs.) You … no, I’m not going back to that, thank you. (laughs) Matty and I talked after that, OK? Of course we’re going to miss him. How can you not miss a guy like that? There’s a certain time that guys have to move on, and I hope it works out great for Matty, I really do. We have some young guys here … I look at some of the wings, some of the youth in our organization. Look at that (Alex) Broadhurst, who came in at the end of last year. He’s grown up a little bit. (Eric) Robinson came in, and he can really skate. (Anthony) Duclair … that’s going to be really interesting. Is (Markus) Hannikainen ready to take the next step? You can’t keep paying these guys all this money. We have to get some of these kids in there and keep on going.
What are your expectations for 2018-19?
I don’t have a number. You ask me that last year, too. I don’t have a number. We’re a pretty good team. We’re getting there. We want to be a great team, and start understanding what it is to make the playoffs every year. Remember, this is only twice (in a row). I’ve told you, you have to make it again and again and again. Well, it’s going to be hard to make it again. But that’s where we’re at now. Don’t think it’s just great that we’ve grown a little bit here. I don’t think we’ve scratched the surface as far as what it really takes to be that team in this league, and that’s winning some rounds. That’s getting in (to the playoffs) again. And when you get there, in the playoffs, you have to get something done.
