Patrik Laine addresses his benching and rumours of 'verbal dispute' with assistant coach
Patrik Laine of the Columbus Blue Jackets met with members of the media Wednesday after team practice and, of course, the question on everyone's mind dealt with his recent benching by coach John Tortorella and rumours of disrespecting an assistant coach. After Laine did not play for most of the second period and all of the third in Monday's game, many were left wondering if a failed defensive assignment was the reason behind it. Coach John Tortorella insisted that was not it but refused to say exactly what happened. It later came out that Laine had "blown off" an assistant coach on the bench who was trying to tell him something, which is against Tortorella's code.
Laine told reporters Wednesday he "deserved" to be benched given what happened and he doesn't expect the situation to affect plans for his future or willingness to sign in Columbus long-term. He also said if there's a bright side, it's that he learned it doesn't matter who you are with Tortorella.
"We've moved on. We've talked about it, and it's going to stay in the room. All good now," said Laine. "Sometimes you say things you don't want to say. We've talked about it and moved on.»
"This is who we are. This is what we are as a team," said captain Nick Foligno. "I think Patty understands it and now has gotten a good dose of who we are and is ready to jump in and be a part of it."
Tortorella was his usual self when asked about it.
"We're by it and we're ready to play Chicago. We're done with it. And don't ask any of the players about it because we're by it. Thanks for asking, though," he said.
Laine seems like an incredibly laid-back and almost disinterested at most time. That likely isn't going to fly well playing under Tortorella.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Taylor Hall | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Brayden Point | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Brock Nelson | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Bryan Rust | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Pavel Zacha | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Quinn Hughes | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Carter Verhaeghe | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Erik Karlsson | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Elias Lindholm | - | 3 | 3 | |
| David Pastrnak | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Tim Stutzle | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Adam Gaudette | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Dylan Holloway | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Brad Marchand | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Aleksander Barkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sam Bennett | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sean Couturier | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex DeBrincat | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack Drury | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Cutter Gauthier | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 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 | ||||||