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Welcome to Columbus, Patrik Laine!
There are only four games left in his tenure in Ohio and the Finland winger has already found himself in John Tortorella’s niche. In the Blue Jackets’ 3-2 win over the Hurricanes on Monday night, he played just 11 minutes and 14 seconds; he rolled on pine for the last 6:19 of the second period and the entire last frame.
“Nah, it’s gonna stay in the house,” Tortorella told reporters after the match as to why Laine sat down. “I know you’re going to try and get me to work on this. No, it wasn’t because of the missed assignment. There are a number of things that come into play with that. It will stay in the locker room. . “
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That missed assignment he mentioned was for Brock McGinn’s tying goal in the second period – just over two minutes after Cam Atkinson gave the home side the lead on a penalty shot. The video shows Laine relaxing in the right circle on goal, without trying to pick up the Hurricanes’ open player. Tortorella, however, made it clear that it was more than a moment to win the bench.
“Torts expects us to play as hard as possible,” Atkinson said after the game. “It doesn’t matter who you are, and I think everyone knows that. If you don’t give 100% and look like you’re trying, he’s going to sit you down. It’s no secret.”
Now in his sixth season in Ohio, Tortorella has high expectations – at a high level – of his players on an overnight basis. While he said after the game that a player’s bench is ‘the last thing I want to do’, the fiery and longtime bench boss has a penchant for sitting guys when he’s not happy. . He did it to Pierre-Luc Dubois before shipping it north to the Winnipeg Jets for Laine and hometown kid Jack Roslovic. Jan 23. He did it at Laine on Monday.
“We have a day off tomorrow. I’m sure Patty and I will talk,” Tortorella said. when we ask him how he thinks his recently acquired 22-year-old winger will be watching from the bench for more than half of the game. “I know you think it’s a great thing, I think it’s part of a process of understanding our team concept, how we do things here, the discipline of being a pro, all of that join the game.”
Tortorella added, “Through hell or high water I’m going to try to find a way to bring us to that tightness with a lot of new bodies coming in here and understanding the norm and the culture that we want here.”
Coming in on Monday night, Laine scored three goals in three games and averaged just under 20 minutes a night. The “other guy” in the business, Roslovic, has seven points in seven games with the Blue Jackets, including a winner’s beauty.
As for the Laine bench, of course Twitter was everywhere.
So Patrick Laine was benched before Pierre Luc Dubois played a game?
– Jeff Blair (@SNJeffBlair) February 9, 2021
Saint smokes, Tortorella has already put Patrik Laine on the bench? !!
– Wes Gilbertson (@WesGilbertson) February 9, 2021
Tired: Wrongs on the bench of someone asking for a trade and quitting in the middle of the game
Wireframe: Torts establish their new precious possession after scoring 3 goals in 4 games– Zachary Armel (@NWHLWhubble) February 9, 2021
If Torts had coached Edmonton in the 1980s, he could have benched Gretzky.
– Jerod Smalley (@ JerodNBC4) February 9, 2021
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