Tortorella can give Blue Jackets edge against Maple Leafs, Foligno says

Nick Foligno said Columbus Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella gives them an edge against the Toronto Maple Leafs in their Qualifying Round series.

"It's huge," the Columbus captain told TSN of what coaching means in a best-of-5 series. "In a shortened series, I think the coach that knows his team best and knows how to get the quickest performance out of his team, you know, is going to have an advantage. The team that gets their minds to their identity is going to have an advantage.

"I'm sure 'Torts' is dialed into that. He already has been. He's a big part of why we've had the success we've had."

Tortorella has been Columbus coach for five seasons, including a sweep of the heavily favored Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season. Sheldon Keefe has been Toronto coach since Nov. 20, when he replaced Mike Babcock after he was fired.

"He trusts us, and that trust has been built now for a few years," Foligno, a forward, said of Tortorella. "You can go back to the video before the series in Tampa [Bay] and that speech he gave, and that's exactly how all of us were feeling. He was dead on, because nobody was expecting anything out of us and we all felt slighted, so he was right in there with us and saying, 'We don't take a backwards step to these guys, we go right at them,' and that's a big reason why we had the success in that series."

Columbus and Toronto are part of the 24-team Return to Play Plan announced by the NHL on May 26. The Blue Jackets and Maple Leafs each were in playoff position in the Eastern Conference when the season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

The start date and location for their best-of-5 series has not been announced. Training camp to precede play will not begin until at least July 10.

Columbus (33-22-15, .579 points percentage) was 18-2-3 from Dec. 16-Feb. 7 and led the NHL with 419 man-games lost to injury this season.

"We could have easily strayed with the injuries we faced and the question marks going into the season, but he did a great job and we followed suit," Foligno said of Tortorella. "Now that belief is in the locker room. When you have a coach like that who can coach off emotion, but also practicality, that's a huge benefit for us."

Tortorella has coached 110 NHL playoff games and won 10 of 20 series. He won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004 and lost the 2012 Eastern Conference Final with the New York Rangers.

Keefe has coached 47 NHL games, and won the American Hockey League Calder Cup with Toronto in 2017-18. He was 38-21 in AHL playoff games.

The Maple Leafs (36-25-9, .579) were 27-15-5 under Keefe this season.

"We have a lot of respect for those guys," Foligno said. "We respected the Tampa Bay Lightning, but we knew what was going to give us success against them and we'll try to do the same thing against this team ... I think we have one of the best defensive corps in the League, so that gives us a lot of confidence."