Report: Bobrovsky’s “incident” and suspension finally explained

​Blue Jackets insider Aaron Portzline finally gets to the bottom of this strange story.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Report: Bobrovsky’s “incident” and suspension finally explained
Zuma Press

In case you missed it last week, the Columbus Blue Jackets unofficially suspended star goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky for a game for “failing to meet the expectations and values of the organization.” No further details were given, other than an “incident” had transpired in Tampa Bay during the team’s recent road trip and that Bobrovsky was being removed from the lineup for a game against the Nashville Predators.



Again, no further indication on what transpired or why the decision was made, but suffice it to say that social media was running rampant with theories. 

Ryan Whitney, host of the Spitting Chiclets podcast and formerly of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers, weighed in on the Bobrovsky situation in Columbus and said, “I’ve been told many times before that Sergei Bobrovsky likes boozing, he likes to get after it.”

Whitney made sure not to report on the record that Bobrovsky’s drinking was the impetus for the suspension, however. “Maybe, and this is me guessing, I’m not saying that this is fact, but maybe there was some boozing going on. Maybe a missed curfew.”

The team has not responded to Whitney’s allegations and for what it’s worth both the Blue Jackets and Bobrovsky have claimed that there’s no issue and that both sides are “moving on” from the drama of last week.

Earlier today though, Blue Jackets insider Aaron Portzline of The Athletic published a report that seems to get to the bottom of this entire bizarre situation. Essentially, Bobrovsky was angry after getting pulled by head coach John Tortorella in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning and decided to hit the showers early, despite their being nearly 12 minutes left in the game. This angered the team’s coaching and management staff and led to the team imposed suspension.

Check out these quotes from Portzline’s latest article for The Athletic:

When Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled from a game last Tuesday at Tampa Bay, he walked straight to the dressing room and started peeling off his gear. There were 11 minutes, 7 seconds remaining in the game.
Typically, the goaltender — if not removed because of an injury — will remain on the bench with his teammates while his replacement finishes the game.
But by the time Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella sent a member of the training staff to find Bobrovsky, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner had already showered, or was in the shower, and was unable to return to the bench.


So there it is… it wasn’t “boozing” or a war of words with Torts that led to Goalie Bob’s suspension. It was simply him saying, “Peace Out” to the game and hitting the showers a bit early. How’s that for anticlimactic?