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Blue Jackets coach likes team’s confidence in postseason

Todd Richards, Matt Calvert, Cam Atkinson

FILE - In this April 12, 2014 file photo, Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Todd Richards, center, talks with referee Tom Kowai (32) during an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Fla. Few people outside of their dressing room think the Blue Jackets have even a remote chance of beating the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. After years of being an NHL doormat, they’re used to being overlooked and underappreciated. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

AP

Columbus Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards knew his team didn’t have much experience headed into the playoffs. With the number of young guys on the team and transplants from elsewhere, there was a question as to whether or not facing the Pittsburgh Penguins might cause them to be intimidated.

As Terry Koshan of QMI Agency shares, Richards feels his questions about his team have been put to rest with how they’ve responded through two games and a tied series with the Penguins.

“There was not any defining moment that it hit me that our young guys were ready,” Richards said on Sunday. “There were (regularly) moments in their games where they showed me and the rest of the coaching staff that they were ready for this. There was a little bit of a question coming into the playoffs about whether we were ready, and I think the guys have answered that.”

Those young guys Richards refers to are forwards Ryan Johansen, Boone Jenner, and Cam Atkinson along with defenseman Ryan Murray among others.

The Jackets won Game 2 in overtime when Matt Calvert, another young guy, scored his second goal of the game and sent the series to Columbus all even. With production and fearlessness like that, big things can happen.

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