There’s been plenty of stories surrounding John Tortorella and the Columbus Blue Jackets, and now we have another one.
Tortorella benched Laine a few games after he was traded to Columbus by the Winnipeg Jets after the head coach clearly wasn’t happy with the effort Laine gave against the Carolina Hurricanes. Tortorella said it was the last thing he wanted to do, but felt he had to.
Laine spoke to Finnish outlet aamulehti.fi and did not hold back in criticizing Tortorella for how he coached the forwards in particular.
“I guess everyone must have rules, but of course, you always hope that you will be able to use your strengths,” Laine told the Finnish media, as transcribed by The Columbus Dispatch. “Tortorella did not give freedom to anyone. Forwards want to create offensively. You have to ‘cheat’ a bit if you want to become a goal king. It is not possible if the coaches think differently. But I do as they tell me.”
But Laine had more to say:
“I understand the need for a tight system, but all players are different,” he said. “I do not even want to be like everyone else. I am who I am and do things my way. Everyone should be given the opportunity to be themselves. Then, of course, you have to play within the team’s system. I think it’s stupid not to use my potential. But then it’s another matter what the coaches think.”
Yikes.
Tortorella no longer is with the Blue Jackets organization after the two sides agreed to part mutually. Brad Larsen now will man the bench.
Laine is a restricted free agent, but a new head sounds like it will be a welcome change for the forward.
