Tortorella elated to be back in his element

John Tortorella is back with the Blue Jackets, and though he joked that he wasn’t missed, there was a happy vibe today with the head coach back at work.

EDMONTON –

It was 10 days ago at the team’s outdoor practice at Winter Park when Rene Bourque hit a rut in the ice, fell and collided with Tortorella, knocking the coach’s feet out from underneath him and causing him to go down hard. So hard, in fact, that the players felt it on the ice.

“My first thought was ‘oh my god, I hope didn’t hit his head,’” captain Nick Foligno said today. “But it’s really good to have him back around the team. This is what he lives for. This is what he’s supposed to be doing, what he's meant to do, and it was great…