UPDATE (4:35 p.m. ET): Columbus Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella suffered an injury during practice Friday and is “unlikely” to be behind the bench Saturday night as the Jackets visit the Boston Bruins, according to the team.
ORIGINAL STORY: The Columbus Blue Jackets had an unexpected addition to their injured list Friday afternoon: their coach, John Tortorella.
Tortorella reportedly suffered what appeared to be a back injury after colliding with Blue Jackets forward Rene Bourque during the team’s outdoor practice in Columbus.
Tortorella, who underwent hip replacement surgery in 2010, later was reportedly transported to Riverside Methodist Hospital for further evaluation.
“He’s stubborn but he needs to go get checked out,” Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen told The Columbus Dispatch. “His health is the most important thing.”
A team spokesman also told reporters the coach was “banged up pretty good, but he’ll be fine.” The Dispatch’s Shawn Mitchell reported, however, that it was unlikely Tortorella would travel to Boston on the team charter ahead of Saturday night’s Blue Jackets-Bruins game at TD Garden.
“I felt so bad for John and for Borkie,” Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno told reporters. “Nobody wants to see anybody get hurt. But the funny thing about Torts is that he’s pretty tough. I think he’s a lot tougher than all of us. So when you see him down like that, you know he’s pretty hurt.”
In other injury news, the Blue Jackets also on Friday placed goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and defenseman David Savard on injured reserve and activated wingers Foligno and Matt Calvert.
Columbus has lost six of its last eight games and owns the NHL’s worst record at 17-27-4.
Thumbnail photo via Ed Mulholland/USA TODAY Sports Images
