Tortorella on Laine's benching; 'the last thing I want to do is bench a player'

Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella has never been one to shy away from making the tough decisions or of speaking his mind, particularly when it comes to how he runs his hockey team.

On Monday, Torts found himself in a tight game with the Carolina Hurricanes, tied at 2-2 with a little over 26 minutes remaining in the contest, and despite the fact that his club needed a goal, the best pure goal-scorer on the roster, Patrik Laine remained cemented to the bench, finishing the game with zero third period shifts and just 11:14 of ice-time.

Though the Blue Jackets did eventually pull off the win over the Canes, the spotlight remained focused on Laine's first benching in Columbus, just 4 games into his tenure with the Jackets. During the postgame media availability, here's what John Tortorella had to say about shortening his bench:

"That's going to stay in house. I know you guys are going to try to work me on that. It wasn't because of the missed assignment. There's a number of things that came into play with that. That will stay in the locker room. It's what I feel I need to do. The last thing I want to do is bench a player," said Torts.

"It's an easy thing, to bench a player. Honestly, that's the last thing I want to do, but if I think I need to do it, then I need to do it. I did it with Patty [Laine] and I felt I needed to do it with [Kukan] where he was just struggling so bad," he continued, referencing the two players who did not see any shifts during the third period.

Tortorella will have to play this one very strategically, so as to not upset the balance in Columbus. With the team just having gone through a messy divorce with former 3rd-overall pick Pierre-Luc Dubois (2016), an equally tenuous relationship with Laine, the 2nd-overall pick from the same draft, could spell career suicide for Torts, as management would no doubt be less-than-thrilled to see two players of that caliber leave the city in such a short timespan.

"We have a day off tomorrow," said the veteran bench boss. "I am sure Patty and I will talk, and I know - again, I know you think it's a big 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 that stuff comes into play."

Tortorella leaned heavily on the team's culture and the environment that they are trying to create in Columbus during his postgame availability, noting that with new bodies comes an adjustment period - some time for the newer guys to become acclimated with a new system and form chemistry with new linemates. For Torts, good honest hard work and a concerted two-way effort is at the center of it all.

"Through hell or high water, I am going to try to find a way to get us to that tightness, with a lot of new bodies coming in here and understanding the standard and the culture that we want here."

Laine has 3 goals in his first four games with the Blue Jackets, and the Blue Jackets have scored 12 times in total since his arrival in Columbus. As much as Tortorella really wants a 23-man roster full of two-way players, sometimes you just have to give a little bit of leash and just let the snipers snipe - especially when they're among the league's elite in that category.

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