Shockingly, It Took John Tortorella A Whole 3.5 Games Before Benching Patrik Laine
Advertisement
The moment that Pierre Luc-Dubois made it obvious that he wanted out of Columbus, there was an immediate connection to Patrik Laine. Two disgruntled top-3 picks from the 2016 NHL Entry Draft who have been rather forthcoming about the fact that they want nothing to do moving forward with the team they were originally drafted by. And before the trade went down, it was hilarious to think about a scenario in which those two players would simply be swapped for one another considering Patrik Laine is the exact type of player as PLD besides maybe just a little worse defensively. It would be like taking a pain in the ass for Torts and trading him for a kick in the dick.
And then the Columbus Blue Jackets made that trade. And to be fair, they also picked up Jack Roslovic in the trade as well. Roslovic ended up scoring the game winner last night against Carolina so maybe this ends up being more of the Roslovic Trade. But yeah. Everybody in the world knew that John Tortorella and Patrik Laine would gel together like toothpaste and orange juice. And after just 3.5 games into Laine's tenure in Columbus, Torts took that first massive swig of Tropicana.
I think 3.5 would go down as a push if you wagered on how long it would take Laine to get benched by Torts. Obviously he couldn't bench him his first game with the Blue Jackets. He'd have to give him at least 2 games to get settled in with a new team. Then he ends up scoring 3 goals in his next 2 games with the team. And then after 11:14 TOI in game #4, Torts had seen enough.
And here's the thing--Torts can explain that benching anyway he wants. A guy like Cam Atkinson can come out and say "Torts has a short leash with everybody, including myself" all he wants in order to make it look like he wasn't specifically going after Laine. But Patrik Laine sure as shit doesn't seem like the type of player who is going to respond to that type of punishment. Patrik Laine isn't a guy who is going to take a good, long look in the mirror and make the necessary adjustments to his game defensively. The guy loves to shoot the shit out of the puck and he loves to light the lamp. You want him to do anything different? Tough luck, boss.
Advertisement
I'd put my net worth (which is negative) on the fact that this is now a crack in the Laine/Tortorella relationship that will never get filled in. It's just the start of these two beginning to hate the fucking shit out of each other. A small crack there, a little dent there, by the time that May rolls around it'll be a full canyon. I feel like I finally understand why so many people watch trash television like the Kardashians because I can't get enough of this drama in Columbus now.
Sidenote #1: Hometown kid, extra saucy paws.
Sidenote #2: Chances that both Torts and Laine are back in Columbus next year has to be like +8500, right? It'll be a great battle to watch the rest of the year for who gets to stay and who leaves town.