Tortorella sends a message to Laine early into his tenure in Colombus
Patrik Laine's start with the Columbus Blue Jackets already appears to be off to a rocky start, as the star winger has become a victim of John Tortorella's known tradition of benching players who put forth a lackluster effort, in just his fourth game with the team.
#CBJ Patrik Laine didn't take a shift for the final 6:19 of the second period.— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) February 9, 2021
Laine didn't play the last 6:19 of the second period, and things did not get better in the 3rd for the former Winnipeg Jet. The team went through their 4 forward lines to start the period and Laine did not move from the bench. In fact, he did not see ice-time after the second period. He ended up finishing the game with just 11:14 in TOI.
During Laine's three games with the Blue Jackets, they have scored 12 goals, but Laine was apparently benched because he did not hustle on a Hurricanes' goal.
So, to summarize: The Jackets have scored 12 goals in the three games Patrik Laine has been in Columbus, they're tired with Carolina in the third and Laine hasn't seen the ice since 6:19 left in the second because he didn't hustle on a Canes' goal.— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) February 9, 2021
Prior to Monday night's game versus the Carolina Hurricanes, he had recorded 6 points (5 goals, 1 assist) in 4 games splitting time between the Jets and Blue Jackets.
The pundits were curious about how the Tortorella/Laine dynamic would work out, and in the early going, it looks as though Laine will be held to a high standard in Columbus.
A funny fact worth noting is that Dubois hasn't even played a game in Winnipeg yet before Laine gets benched by his former head coach in Columbus.
To read Tortorella's comments on benching Laine, see below:
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Bobby Brink | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Ryan Donato | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Travis Konecny | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vincent Trocheck | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Tyler Bertuzzi | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Sean Couturier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Will Cuylle | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Tyson Foerster | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Rasmus Ristolainen | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jacob Trouba | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Emil Andrae | - | - | - | |
| Connor Bedard | - | - | - | |
| Brett Berard | - | - | - | |
| Zach Bogosian | - | - | - | |
| Matthew Boldy | - | - | - | |
| T.J. Brodie | - | - | - | |
| Jonny Brodzinski | - | - | - | |
| Sam Carrick | - | - | - | |
| Noah Cates | - | - | - | |
| Declan Chisholm | - | - | - | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 23 | 18 | 5 | - | 36 | |
Hurricanes | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 33 | |
Wild | 22 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 32 | |
Devils | 25 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 32 | |
Capitals | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 31 | |
Golden Knights | 23 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 31 | |
Maple Leafs | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Flames | 23 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 28 | |
Panthers | 23 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 27 | |
Kings | 23 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 27 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||