John Tortorella makes one of his players a healthy scratch & calls him out publicly!

Classic Tortorella.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
John Tortorella makes one of his players a healthy scratch & calls him out publicly!
Kostas Lymperopoulos/CSM/Zuma

Well this is just classic John Tortorella.

The infamous National Hockey League head coach has always had a reputation for being very hard on players who rub him the wrong way and it seems like one member of his current roster has found his way directly into the dog house. The Columbus Blue Jackets, and more specifically Tortorella hismelf, have made talented young forward Anthony Duclair a healthy scratch yet again this season in spite of the fact that he is having his best season in a very long time in his first campaign as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

We don't know specifically why Duclair has been made a healthy scratch but I think it's pretty safe to assume that it is indeed due to the fact that he has found himself on the bad side of his head coach. This is not merely speculation on my part though, although I must admit I am inferring quite a bit here, as Tortorella himself was asked to explain the scratch during a media scrum this morning and he made his displeasure with Duclair plain to see for everyone within ear shot. 

Tortorella merely responded with a short explanation of “bad listening skills,” when he was asked about the decision, an indication that whatever instructions he gave to Duclair were ignored at some point, drawing the ire of the volatile head coach. To their credit members of the Blue Jackets media did try to press Tortorella on the decision but he would not elaborate any further on the move. I'm sure hearing that Tortorella has acted in such a manner will come as absolutely no surprise to anyone reading this news article, however it has to be said that it should come as no surprise that Anthony Duclair is the man on the receiving end of such treatment either. 

After his first full season as a member of the Arizona Coyotes Duclair seemed destined to be a difference maker at the National Hockey League level, he had 20 goals and 24 assists for 44 points that season, but that has simply not come to fruition. Instead Duclair has bounced from team to team disappointing at every stop along the way, and it seems he may be doing so once again.

[pub]


Source: