Blue
Jackets hire Tortorella as coach after firing Richards
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[October 22, 2015]
(Reuters) - The winless Columbus
Blue Jackets fired head coach Todd Richards after a dismal start to the
National Hockey League season and replaced him with veteran coach John
Tortorella, the team said on Wednesday.
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Tortorella, whose last coaching assignment in the NHL ended with the
Vancouver Canucks after the 2013-14 season, has signed a three-year
contract with Columbus through the 2017-18 season.
The 57-year-old, who has also coached the Tampa Bay Lightning
(2001–08) and New York Rangers (2009–13), will make his debut for
the 0-7 Blue Jackets on Thursday when they visit the Minnesota Wild.
"After much deliberation and discussion, we have made the very
difficult decision late last night to remove Todd Richards as our
head coach," general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said in a statement.
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"None of us saw our season unfolding the way it has and every one of
us from management to coaches to players bears responsibility.
"There is still a lot of hockey to be played and we believe this
change was necessary to give our team the best chance to accomplish
the goals we've set for this season."
Tortorella, an outspoken coach who has been fined several times by
the NHL for his often brusque style with the media, has compiled a
446-375-115 record in 936 games during his NHL coaching career.
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His teams made the Stanley Cup playoffs eight times and in 2004 he
led Tampa Bay to a Stanley Cup championship and was named coach of
the year.
Richards, 49, was 127-112-21 with the Blue Jackets after taking
charge midway through the 2011-12 season. He has a career coaching
record of 204-183-37 with the Minnesota Wild and the Blue Jackets.
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank
Pingue)
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