Short takes

John Tortorella’s annual crusade against morning skates resurfaced last week when the Columbus Blue Jackets coach said he was telling his players they don’t have to show up the morning of games.

“We bring them in here one time a day on practice days, but on game days we bring them in twice,” Tortorella said. “It doesn’t make any sense. These guys are creatures of habit and their routine, but that routine in our league is wrong as far as these pregame and all the overcoaching that goes on with that stuff.”

 

The New York Islanders are last in the East. That initiated the annual Jack Capuano Watch. The NHL’s fourth-longest-tenured coach was hired in 2010.

He was given a vote of confidence by GM Garth Snow, who told Canada’s TSN: “Jack is an excellent coach. We have good players. I love our coaching staff. In fact, last time I checked, he coached in the World Cup.”

A few weeks ago, Capuano took what many perceived as a swipe at Snow, saying: “Where are we going to get point production from? We took 134 points out of our lineup that we lost.”

He was referring to the Islanders losing Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen in free agency.

 

• Last week was horrific for injuries to stars: The Lightning’s Steven Stamkos sustained a torn meniscus and will miss four to six months, New Jersey’s Taylor Hall will miss a month after knee surgery, and Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau is expected to miss four to six weeks after finger surgery.