Laine breaks down after getting benched by Tortorella

This is pretty rough to see the star player trying to make sense of his coach’s decision…

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Laine breaks down after getting benched by Tortorella
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Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine did not play in the final 6:53 of regulation and did not get on the ice once in the 3-on-3 overtime Thursday night in Columbus’ 5-4 loss to the Florida Panthers. 

After the game, Laine said: “I thought I was playing good, but I guess I thought wrong.”

What is even more heartbreaking is that Laine was asked about his level of confidence in his game just before the game, and had answered this, almost breaking down as the talented player he is. Prior to Thursday’s game, Laine had been held without a point in seven straight games.

“Probably closer to zero, I would say, around there,” he said.

Can you imagine how he feels now, especially following head coach John Tortorella’s decision to leave him on the bench? 

Laine ended the game logging 14:43 minutes, with one goal and two points. You could probably say the same thing he did: you thought he was playing good. 

The star forward was very brave to face all of the questions that came next and mentioned he has felt this way before in his career. 

“I have. I have. We’re still humans. You know, you’re going through tough times every now and then and sometimes it lasts two games and sometimes it’s seven games. You don’t know,” he said. “But you’ve just got to work your way out of it and that’s what I’m going to try to do – help the team win. Obviously when the team is winning you’re probably going to play better, so that’s what we got to do and win some more games and work ourselves out of it.”

This comes on top of the fact that the left winger was moved over to the right side Tuesday night against the Panthers. Laine admitted it feels more natural to play on the left, but is willing to accept the change to get going. 

Torts isn’t being easy on Laine, who was traded amidst a global pandemic and needs to adjust to a new city. Laine didn’t want to complain, but did comment on how hard it has been. 

“Still haven’t been here for a long time but it starts to feel like home. You know, just being here by myself in a temporary house, it’s not ideal but that’s just the way it is right now, and you just try to adjust,” he said. “But can’t thank the guys and the organization enough for making this the easiest possible for me and everybody has been great. My teammates are awesome, everybody who works here is awesome, so it’s been an easy transition for me to come here and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” he said.

Laine is looking at the positive… we’re not sure Torts needs to ruin all that for him on Thursday… 


Source: Twitter