Kevin Hayes disagrees with Tortorella, doesn't believe he should have been scratched on Saturday
Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella made a bold decision on Saturday to scratch the team's point leader, Kevin Hayes, for their game against the New York Rangers.
"It's kind of a big picture in my mind as far as team concept. Again, I don't want to get into a long conversation about it, but it's a legitimate question. I can't keep looking at things because we're worried about scoring. I've got to worry about the big picture of what this team is going to be, what the standard is, of how we have to play. So that far outweighs losing some offense in a particular game." Tortorella said regarding the move to scratch Hayes.
Tortorella's plan backfired as the Rangers went on to win the game, 6-3. The Flyers definitely could've used Hayes in the lineup as they went 0/4 on the powerplay.
Following practice on Monday, Hayes met with reporters and said that he doesn't believe he should have been made a healthy scratch, but ultimately it's up to the coach to make the best decisions for the team.
"I don't think I should have been benched, but he's the coach, I'm the player." Hayes said according to Flyers beat reporter Giana Han.
The 30-year-old has appeared in 31 games for the Flyers this season, recording 29 points (nine goals, 20 assists), 15 penalty minutes and is a minus-12. The Dorchester native has three years remaining on his contract following the 2022-23 season with a cap hit of $7,142,857.
Hayes will more than likely return to the lineup on Tuesday night when the Flyers host the Columbus Blue Jackets in a battle of the basement dwellers in the Metropolitan Division.
«I don't think I should have been benched, but he's the coach, I'm the player,» Kevin Hayes said about John Tortorella scratching him Saturday.— Giana Han (@giana_jade) December 19, 2022
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