Dubinsky hopes new opportunity can salvage a frustrating season

CALGARY - The call arrived Sunday, when the Blue Jackets had an off day and Brandon Dubinsky was at a golf clinic with his son.
The name attached to the call?
"John Tortorella."
At first, Dubinsky didn't know what to think. He and Tortorella go back to their days with the New York Rangers, so an extensive relationship exists, but it's also been a trying year for Dubinsky - who's dealt with a lot of stuff this season, from on-ice struggles to a serious injury that occurred in a fight to a report that he was sent home early from a road trip to having the alternate captain's 'A' taken away.
When he looked down at his phone and saw who'd called, well …
"I didn't really know what to expect," Dubinsky said. "So, I walked outside and obviously I was excited with the phone call."

That's because Tortorella was calling to offer Dubinsky something he's been looking for all season - a way out of the darkness that his season had become. After learning that captain Nick Foligno would miss two-to-four weeks with a lower-body injury that occurred late in the game Saturday against the St. Louis Blues, Tortorella needed help at the center position.
Rather than looking elsewhere, he decided to call Dubinsky - a veteran who's been through many ebbs and flows in his NHL career, who plays the game with unbridled passion when he's at his best and still remains the Jackets' top face-off guy.
Tortorella needed somebody to play with the "kids," as he sometimes calls them, rookie Sonny Milano and Oliver Bjorkstrand - two skilled, speedy wingers who've made great strides as this season has progressed.
"It's a great opportunity for him," Tortorella said. "It's been a hard year for him, on the ice, off the ice, a lot of different things going on … he can save the day here. He needs to be a very important guy for us here, with Nick out. [Alexander Wennberg] needs to be a very important guy for us with Nick out. So, to me, 'Dubi' needs to look at it as a great opportunity to salvage a tough year and make a difference at a key time."
Columbus isn't overflowing with center options, especially with Lukas Sedlak now battling an upper-body injury after being struck in the head with the puck last week, but Tortorella could've sent that opportunity elsewhere.
He could've put Wennberg with Milano and Bjorkstrand, moved veteran Mark Letestu to Wennberg's spot centering Boone Jenner and Thomas Vanek, and kept Dubinsky anchored to the fourth line - where he'd moved out to wing before Foligno's injury and was even scratched for two games.
Instead, Tortorella leaned on a guy he's leaned on a lot in two of his four NHL coaching stops. He picked up the phone, found Dubinsky's number and pressed, 'send' on his phone.
"He could've gone a different way with his lines and he chose to give me an opportunity," said Dubinsky, who logged 22 shifts and 13:37 in the Jackets' stunning 7-3 come-from-behind victory Tuesday in Edmonton. "I've got to make the best of this opportunity and go out there, have some fun with it and just get back to my game, because if I get back to my game, I know I can be dangerous and really help this team get to where they want to be."
That would be the Stanley Cup Playoffs, for a second straight season and fourth time in the franchise's 17-year history. Columbus is third in the Metropolitan Division with just five games left in the regular season, but the Jackets do miss Foligno whenever he's out - both from the playing and leadership standpoints.
Despite having five goals, 10 assists and 15 points in 57 games, numbers that are notably down from his career averages, Dubinsky is intent on using this final regular-season stretch to salvage his season - not to mention preparing for the postseason, should the Jackets clinch a spot.
"I feel like this team is going to need me at my best as we go through these games here and try to fight to get into the playoffs, and then even when we're there, so it's an opportunity for me to focus on my game and get it back," he said. "I'm not going to squeeze the stick too hard and try to get it all back in one shift. It's going to be a process for me and I'm just going to try and play the right way."
In some ways, despite admitting his confidence level is "not that great," Dubinsky's situation isn't too different from things he's overcome in the past. He's gotten out of previous dips and struggles, and plans to use those experiences now.
"I mean, listen, I've been playing hockey since I was 3-years old," Dubinsky said. "There's been a lot of adversity along the way. There's been a lot of times where you get cut from a team or people told you, 'No,' or you have a bad year. I remember after I got drafted, I had a terrible year the next year in junior, and I had a bad year my last year in New York. These things happen."
What players do in response to them often defines their careers.
"Over the course of time, obviously you want to be as consistent as you can and you want to have a great year, your best year, every year … but unfortunately [bad stuff] happens sometimes," Dubinsky said. "I'm happy I have an opportunity to be where I'm at right now, which is help a team get into the playoffs and a team that can be dangerous in the playoffs, with how deep we are. I'm excited for that opportunity and excited to try and put the rest of it behind me."
NEWS & NOTES
--- Without Foligno healthy, a third alternate captain's 'A' was put into circulation Tuesday night against the Oilers. It was worn by Artemi Panarin, who leads the team in goals (26), assists (45) and points (71).
Tortorella gave it to the dynamic Russian left wing based on Panarin's quiet leadership.
"The way he carries himself, the way he plays, the way he prepares - without saying one word - he has shown true leadership," Tortorella said Wednesday, during the Jackets' optional practice at Scotiabank Saddledome. "He doesn't need to say a word. The way he does things, the way he plays, the way he works off-ice, he doesn't need to say a word. Sometimes leadership is very confusing when it comes to words, so I'd rather have a guy say nothing and just do it the right way."
Panarin, however, is saying more to his teammates now.
His English is improving, he's able to hold more conversations in the locker room and he's getting more comfortable in his role on the team - on the ice and off.
"He's an all-star, he's one of the best players but he's also Russian," said right wing Cam Atkinson, who's now clicking with Panarin on the ice in their second stint playing on the top line. "Where his English is now, from where it started, it's night and day. It's unbelievable. [There's] just a comfort level, too, with guys. It takes a little bit of time."
What didn't take much time was Panarin's play to speak for itself.
Tortorella said he didn't know exactly what kind of player he was getting in the trade that brought Panarin to Columbus, and sent Brandon Saad back to Chicago, but it didn't take long to find out. Playing his first NHL season without Blackhawks start Patrick Kane on the other wing, Panarin has proven this season that he's a star talent on his own merits.
"I didn't realize how much of a complete player he was, and it didn't take me long to figure out it's really not the people who play with him … he makes the other people better, and that's the type of player he is," Tortorella said. "He's been impressive from Day One for me, in how he's done things. He's not only one of the top players in this league. He makes other people better."
--- Tortorella wants Thomas Vanek to shoot the puck more often and has told the 34-year old veteran as such multiple times since Vanek joined the Blue Jackets Feb. 26 in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks.
Vanek, who got his 11th career hat trick in the NHL against the Oilers on Thursday, would like to make his new coach happy. It's just that something in his mind just screams out, "pass" sometimes, even if it drives his coaches batty.
How long has this ongoing debate been raging in his mind?
"My whole life," Vanek said Wednesday, laughing. "It started as a kid, even, when my dad was coaching me growing up in Austria. I don't know. After the fact, I tell myself, too, 'OK, I should've probably shot that one,' but in the moment I feel like I'm giving my teammate a better chance to score."
One of those moments happened shortly before Vanek's first goal Tuesday, earlier in the same shift that turned the game around against the Oilers. Vanek and defenseman Seth Jones created a 2-on-1 rush, with Vanek carrying the puck up the right wing and Jones gliding down the left side.
The scoring chance quickly disappeared when Vanek faked a shot and sent a cross-ice pass that sailed well behind Jones with 9:10 left in the period. On the bench, Tortorella was not a happy camper, after Vanek had promised he'd shoot more in those situations.
"I know I can score from there," Vanek said. "For example, that 2-on-1 [Tuesday] with Jonesy, I've scored many goals from that area. So, I know I can score. I just thought I could give him an easier chance to score, if that makes any sense."
It makes more sense when you let him explain.
"I think it's different for me, because I like to think the game, you know, even a step ahead," Vanek said. "You know, 'OK, if the pass is coming up here, I can move low,' or whatever. So, in my mind, it was a goal before I passed it. So, to me, it was a great play … until I get to the bench and Torts is going up and down the bench, saying my name. Then I know it's not a great play. I mean, I understand it. I'm not ignorant to it. I probably do need to be a bit more selfish at times."