I would have no issues being here for an even longer time<\/a>. I want to see us in the playoffs and I want to see us make progress and I feel like we\u2019ve done that. I think winning solves everything.\u201d<\/p>\nSummer Got Bigger Than Intended<\/p>\n
Werenski described the past few months as \u201ca little bit crazy\u201d and something neither he nor Waddell had planned on reaching the level it did. He said the last two seasons \u2014 both ending with the team so close to the playoffs but falling short \u2014 left a bitter taste. That frustration, combined with the sudden swirl of external noise, created a stretch that felt misconstrued from his perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was tough for about a week there,\u201d Werenski admitted. \u201cI\u2019ve always been on the other side of it where I read what people write. It was my first time kind of being on the other side of it, and a lot of the stuff I was kind of learning for the first time reading it. The stuff I didn\u2019t really know about or hear about, I felt like it was kind of misconstrued a little bit on how I felt or where I was at.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIn saying that, I feel like people have jobs to do and they\u2019re getting their information from somewhere but definitely wasn\u2019t from me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Werenski emphasized that the conversations he had with Waddell throughout the summer remained positive, even as outside chatter intensified. Once both sides released public statements, Werenski said the situation stabilized. He saw Waddell again Thursday morning and described their relationship as \u201cgreat.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAll About Winning<\/p>\n
Werenski returned again and again to the same point. He is not interested in revisiting the speculation. He is interested in raising the standard inside the Blue Jackets locker room and getting the team back into the playoffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI fully plan on doing that this year,\u201d Werenski said. \u201cBeing an even better player, better leader, better person for my teammates and for this club. Hopefully that just means I\u2019m here even longer. After today my focus is fully on our team winning. I\u2019m not going to answer questions about my future. That\u2019s why today is so important to kind of get these out of the way. But when I come to camp, I think all my teammates and everyone know how committed I am. I\u2019m just excited to get back at it with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Werenski made clear that the desire to stay in Columbus has been consistent since the season ended. The conversations with Waddell, he said, never suggested otherwise from his side.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, this is where I wanted to be, and I think I showed that. And I continue to show that this season. Try to be the best player I can be.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pain of Last Season<\/p>\n
The late-season freefall still sits with Werenski. He did not soften the self-criticism when asked what went wrong after the team climbed from the bottom of the East to second in the Metro before collapsing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt starts with us leaders,\u201d Werenski said. \u201cI definitely don\u2019t think we dragged enough guys into the fight. I feel like on certain nights when it wasn\u2019t going well, we didn\u2019t have enough push, and I feel like that starts with the older guys. It\u2019s not for lack of effort or try. I just feel like there\u2019s other way to get your group going.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI went home, I looked myself in the mirror and know I have to be better. I didn\u2019t produce down the stretch. Even games I felt like I played pretty good, the puck wasn\u2019t going in\u2026In those situations it\u2019s on us older guys, us leaders, to find a way to get the best out of our group.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He went further when asked whether fans should still be fretting about where things stand with the club.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":642888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5108],"tags":[3644,5180,897,230,5179,5,4],"class_list":["post-642887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-columbus-blue-jackets","tag-blue-jackets","tag-bluejackets","tag-columbus","tag-columbus-blue-jackets","tag-columbusbluejackets","tag-hockey","tag-nhl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/117094640752569130","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}