If some still doubt the souring relationship between Pierre-Luc Dubois and John Tortorella, Thursday’s match confirmed this. And not nearly.
Dissatisfied with the midfielder’s outfit during the encounter between Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning, the head coach made him sit on the bench for most of the match.
In fact, Dubois played 3.55 minutes early in the first half before falling into the middle of the bench, going on for 46 minutes and 49 minutes remaining of the match.
It must be said, however, that the Blue Jackets striker appeared uninterested several times early in the first half.
I do not intend to discuss this topic. Ask him, “Tortorella first responded to members of the media when asked about her after the match.
Ripening on ice
A little later, the coach changed his mind in the face of frequent questions from journalists.
“I’ve been running Pierre Locke like this for a few years. What I want is to help him mature in his game and become a good professional. Nothing has changed. There is more interest at the moment and I understand that you are asking me questions. However, I think you are asking Wrong person, I’m just a coach running a hockey team trying to win games.
“I go with what I see. I don’t make decisions when it comes to playing time, it’s up to the players to deserve it. If there’s one thing I expect, it’s playtime. If you play right, you’re back on the ice. I’m not just talking about the player we’re talking about. About him here, but all of our players. “
For John Tortorella, despite the rift between the two, this is not a locker room distraction.
“Our locker room is going well. We’ve had this kind of situation before. We have a transparent group that practices and wants to play as best they can. I’m confident that starting tomorrow, we’ll focus on becoming a better team.”
Retired photos
To our knowledge, the situation on Thursday is just one example of the atmosphere that prevailed between the two men for some time. Tortorella has reportedly requested that all of the Pierre Luc Dubois photos be removed from the grounds of the Nationwide Arena, the team’s headquarters.
Communication between the midfielder and coaching staff will also be reduced to a minimum.
Dubois was not made available to the media by Blue Jackets after the meeting.