Feb 8, 2015
Thumbs up to Blue Jackets' Johansen
In Sunday's edition, TSN's Dave Hodge extends his thumbs up to Ryan Johansen of the Columbus Blue Jackets and down to the Toronto Maple Leafs for not hiring Barry Trotz.
By Dave Hodge
Thumbs up to Ryan Johansen of the Columbus Blue Jackets, whose season will be remembered for the way it began and whose participation in the NHL All-Star Game will be remembered for the way it ended. But never mind the testy contract squabble that made Johansen a training camp headline item, and never mind the hometown support that tweeted Johansen to the top of the All-Star MVP voting.
In his second full season as an established member of the Blue Jackets, Johansen has a chance to finish as a top 10 scorer league-wide, and if you're filling out a Team Canada roster for World Cup 2016, it would be wise to include him.
It's hard to say he's a cinch for that sort of international recognition, because most of the Team Canada forward berths will go to holdovers from the Sochi Olympic team, and there are spots reserved for Steven Stamkos and Claude Giroux. But if there should be two new forwards, and one of them is Tyler Seguin, it's hard to think there's anyone else better than Johansen.
It has been suggested here before and in many other places that the worst mistake of Brendan Shanahan's tenure as president of the Toronto Maple Leafs was the decision to retain head coach Randy Carlyle. The Leafs tried to show they were committed to Carlyle by signing him to a contract extension, but clearly, they weren't prepared to support him when times got tough.
If they were offering a contract to a coach, it only made sense to pick a new one, and it's time to say "thumbs down" to the fact it wasn't Barry Trotz.
He was very available to the Leafs, as he was fired by Nashville just three days after Shanahan took over in Toronto. The Leafs conducted an organizational review that took more than three weeks before it endorsed Carlyle. Trotz didn't join Washington until nearly three weeks after that. What he has done with the Capitals is exactly what the Leafs needed, and still need more than ever--he has the Caps looking like a team that cares for each other, works hard, scores on the power play, and receives good goaltending, better all-round play from Alex Ovechkin, and contribution from four lines.
Peter Horachek worked under Trotz in Nashville. The Leafs hired Horachek as an assistant coach, and clearly saw him as what he has become--Carlyle's interim successor if a mid-season coaching change was necessary. The Leafs should have hired Barry Trotz.