Blue Jackets doing best to stay sharp in uncertain time

John Tortorella has just about seen it all.

From getting his start at the helm of just one of four teams in the struggling Atlantic Coast Hockey League to reaching the mountaintop by earning the right to hoist the Stanley Cup, the Blue Jackets head coach has done just about everything in the sport of hockey.

But, as you might imagine, he's never seen anything quite like the current coronavirus pause that has the NHL in a holding pattern.

"I've never been down this road," Tortorella has said.

With that in mind, it's been a unique experience when it comes to keeping his players engaged. With the Blue Jackets scattered around the world awaiting what is next, keeping them sharp both mentally and physically is a challenge.

On the mental side, Tortorella said he has wrestled with what to do with his charges, who were in the thick of a playoff race March 12 when the NHL pause hit thanks to points in 33 of 41 games. He could be a coach's coach, send video to his players and ask them to break down things that went well and things that went poorly for the team.

That didn't sound like a great idea, though.

"Sometimes even during the season it's hard to get these guys to sit down for 10 minutes and watch video," he told The Inside Edge presented by Kia in early April. "So I kind of scrapped the idea of showing video at this time. I don't think they have the mind-set to look at video right now."

So instead, Tortorella has come up with a few assignments for his charges that are as much conversation starters as anything else. Early this month, he sent out a series of questions to team members asking about how the season has gone so far, what lessons could be gained from it, and how each team member has played.

"I think it gives us an opportunity to go through it to hear what people are saying about how we're playing as a team and also to get them thinking about their game and what I felt I did contribute," Tortorella said on The Inside Edge. "Sometimes it's a little difference of opinion from coach to player what you're contributing. This gives us a chance to have a little back and forth here."

Defenseman Scott Harrington said Tortorella has threaded the needle well when it comes to keeping players engaged without being too much given the uncertainty of the situation.

"It's good," Harrington said. "He's been kind of getting in contact with us once a week, which is good. It gives you time to hang out with your family and catch up with some friends and family on FaceTime or whatever, and once a week all the guys are engaged in some sort of mental activity. It's a nice balance. It's nice to keep you involved and it's a good reminder of the fact the season is still going on and we have to be ready and we have to be sharp.

While the pause is a whole new situation for Tortorella, who says he has already devised a plan to get the team ready before the games begin again no matter what time frame the NHL lays out, it's a weird world for the players too. No NHL season has been interrupted quite like this before, so there's no established guide for these routine-based athletes to navigate it.

Defenseman Zach Werenski said having the chance to watch replays of old games, such as last year's playoff sweep of Tampa Bay, has helped keep his mind in the game.

"I've been trying to work out and stay in shape the best I can, trying to keep my mentality good, but it's hard," Werenski said. "There's no sports on. You can't even watch basketball or baseball or anything else to keep your mind into things. I think watching the Tampa series for me was good because I got all excited again about playing and hope to play in the playoffs again this summer, so that was good for me.

"But in terms of our mentality, it's definitely tough. We've never seen anything like this or had this happen. I'm just going on runs, doing workouts at home and stuff like that, but you can only replicate games in hockey when you're on the ice."

That's where Harrington said the mental reps have helped. Besides, the defenseman pointed out, the Blue Jackets are professionals, so the sport is never far from their mind even in a situation such as this one.

"You're thinking about hockey every day," he said. "When we're sitting in our apartment or at home all day long, we're thinking about hockey because of the situation that we're in. I don't think you ever stop thinking about it, but it's good to have a little reminder and a little mental test or task once a week (like Tortorella has given) to help us stay sharp.

"I think it's good that it keeps guys communicating together and just keeps the lines of communication open because guys are all over the world right now at home, so it's nice to keep in contact with everyone."