The Wild finally plays its second home game of the season tonight at Xcel Energy Center against John Tortorella and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Good morning from the press room. You can tell this morning just how everybody in the Blue Jackets organization was still stinging from Todd Richards' firing. If you know Richards, he's a good guy and everybody feels for him. But as he told the Columbus Dispatch in today's paper, this is the business and the Jackets are 0-7.
A change was going to be made, especially considering the hefty expectations on Columbus this season.
Tortorella held an optional skate this morning and didn't go on the ice. Odd for his first day and even odder to me that most the team took him up on exercising its option, but Tortorella's never been a big believer in pregame skates. He is a big believer in saving it for the game, and you know the Blue Jackets will bring desperation tonight (Torts joked that he needs to get a media guide because he doesn't know player and staff names).
So coach Mike Yeo said the Wild must be ready for a hard game
The Wild's excited about getting into a routine now. It almost feels like every game is opening night because the Wild has had such distance between games this season.
As Jason Pominville said this morning, it feels like an AHL schedule.
But after playing five games in the first 14 days, the Wild will now play four games in the next six days. Tonight also starts a stretch of seven of nine at home, where the Wild was actually mediocre for large chunks of last season.