Laine in doghouse, discovers Torts has bite as well as bark

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This article was published 09/02/2021 (1671 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It didn’t take Patrik Laine very long to find his way into John Tortorella’s much-visited doghouse.

Playing just his fourth game with Columbus since the blockbuster trade that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to Winnipeg, Laine was stapled to the bench for the remaining 26 minutes of Monday’s 3-2 victory over Carolina. Tortorella, the Blue Jackets’ fiery bench boss, apparently didn’t like what he saw from the 22-year-old Finnish sniper earlier in the night.

“That’s gonna stay in-house,” Tortorella said when pressed for an explanation. “There’s a number of things that come into play with that. That will stay in the locker room. It’s what I feel I need to do… Honestly, that’s the last thing I want to do, but if I think I need to do it then I need to do it.”

Laine has three goals and no assists and is a minus-three in his four games. It was a much happier affair for the other piece of the deal, as Jack Roslovic snapped a tie with a beautiful game-winning goal late in the third period. The 24-year-old now has two goals and five assists in seven games with Columbus.

Jets coach Paul Maurice was asked Tuesday for his take on the Laine situation, which has created quite the buzz throughout the hockey world.

“The problem with me answering that question is I’m going to get attached to that situation because he played here. I’ll answer that question in a month, or two, three weeks from now, when it won’t be so topical,” Maurice said a few hours prior to Dubois’ long-awaited debut in Calgary.

However, Flames coach Geoff Ward waded into the waters, admitting striking a balance between tough love and kid gloves can be difficult these days when it comes to young players. 

“You need to communicate with them. I think that’s the biggest thing. For me, dealing with today’s player as opposed to maybe a player from 10 years ago, a player from 10 years ago you didn’t need to talk to them all the time. They knew. And if something was on their mind they’d come and find you. With guys today, they need to know why things are happening all the time. I think that’s the way the generation is now,” said Ward. “As long as they know where they stand and what’s going on, I think they’re fine. You don’t want to leave too many grey areas there. I think with today’s generation it sinks into their psyche a little more sometimes.”

VESALAINEN MOVES UP 

Kristian Vesalainen felt a bit like a kid in a candy store. The 21-year-old, with all of nine NHL games of limited fourth-line duty under his belt, was promoted to a line Tuesday night with veterans Paul Stastny and Blake Wheeler. 

“He’s earned this opportunity by his training camp. He came back and he was a completely different player. He took two big hits in training camp in the scrimmages and bounced right back up and got right back into the play. He’s physically stronger, we know he’s got some hands and we know he can shoot the puck,” Maurice said prior to puck drop at Scotiabank Saddledome.

“And then all of these guys who come in have to be able to do the basics. So for me, he’s proven in his fourth line time he can do those basics now, what the game demands. So this is the next phase of growth. I’m not saying he’s staying there all year. It’s actually up to him.”

Stastny, 35, said the advice he and 34-year-old Wheeler have given to their fresh-faced Finnish linemate is simple

“We just told him, ‘Just be yourself.’ He’s a good skater, he’s got a good shot and he’s a smart player. For him, we want him to be the shooter on our line. For me and (Wheeler), it’s trying to get back to the work of possessing that puck as long as we can and trying to work it a little bit and try to find him. The more we talk to him, the more comfortable he’ll get,” said Stastny.

“He might be a little bit nervous, but that’s everyone when they’ve been in and out of the lineup and when they’ve played with different guys all the time. But we just want him to be himself and the more that we can encourage that, the more we can just play our game, we’ll do a good job with him and as a line.”

PAYING NO MIND TO U.S. TEAMS 

Maurice admits he’s had the blinders on when it comes to NHL action south of the border this season. Such is the nature of playing every game in the Canadian division, and not really having a care in the world about what the 24 American teams are up to.

“Because they’re not coming up on a pre-scout, your time is used elsewhere. So the fact you see these teams a couple times a year, you end up watching them a lot more and you stay really in-tune with the rest of the league. I haven’t. We’ve gotten so wired in, and it’s going to become even more true in March, I think we’ve got 28 games in 52 days, something like that. I probably won’t see a game outside our division,” said Maurice.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg