from Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch,

Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards let it be known last night that he has no interest in coaching the NHL’s lovable losers, a club full of players looking to lean on the closest excuse.

After a 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild before 17,584 in Xcel Energy Center — a game in which the Blue Jackets ended their woeful power-play slump and sneaked back from a 2-0 deficit — Richards lashed out at his team for putting in a half-day’s work.

“We played 30 minutes of hockey,” Richards said. “We played the first 10 minutes, and then we played the last 20. We tie it up and you want the point or the two points, but when you sit back and think about the game and how it went, how we played … In the end we got exactly what we deserved, because we weren’t good enough for 60 minutes.”

Was fatigue to blame? “Nope,” Richards said.

Was confidence lacking? Richards kept going.

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