Photo Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Following a statement 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night. Sean Couturier I’m sure was left pondering what was next in terms of playing time. Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella benched the former Selke Trophy winner hours earlier before the game started, a move that sent shockwaves through the NHL.
You don’t bench the Captain. Tortorella, I’m sure heard this from many fans and pundits alike, however, in one of the biggest games of the season. Just maybe that was a good deflection of focusing the attention on Tortorella, and not his struggling hockey team that lost three out of four. Maybe he wanted them to play for the Captain, in a game they lost to the Maple Leafs 6-2 just a week prior.
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Both Couturier and Tortorella could have handled the situation better. For starters, all Couturier had to do was confirm he wasn’t playing, and give a general statement “I wish I could play, but it’s not my decision and I have to move past it with working harder,” but Couturier instead said, “I’ve been putting the work in for a while. I’ve been struggling, but I’ve been working on my game, and it’s frustrating the way I’ve been treated around here lately. But it is what it is.”
A player should try to refrain from appearing that there may be a rift, between said player and coach, especially to the media and pundits alike. I’m not saying that there definitely is one in this case, but on the surface it can be implied as such with the way Couturier responded. That stuff is locker room candor, and it should stay there. I’m sure Couturier would like to have back some of his words that he used yesterday following morning skate, and he is passionate which is a good thing. However, it should have been dialed in a bit more, and not let his emotions take over.
In Couturier ‘s defense he has been playing solid hockey, defensively as of late. Through 40 games of the season, Couturier registered 29 points and was averaging over 20 minutes of ice time each night. However, the past five or six games he has been relegated to fourth line Center, a move Couturier did not complain or yap about.
What shocked me through all of this was that it appeared John Tortorella did not talk to Couturier about his benching, “Yea it’s tough. I feel like I have been putting the work in for a while, now I have been struggling, trying to work on my game, definitely frustrated the way I have been treated lately, but it is what it is,” Couturier said and when asked if he talked to Tortorella he said “Not really.”
Couturier continued, “Definitely (Testing patience). Control what I can control I guess. Put my ego aside here, we need to find a way to get a win tonight.” It’s a shame that he’s the Captain and didn’t really talk to the coach, he’s the Captain. That’s the shocking part, and that is something that Tortorella failed at in this situation. Couturier only has three points (Three assists) in his last 14 games played, so the benching is understandable from a production standpoint, but Tortorella should convey that to.the Captain before there is a hiccup in the locker room.
In the end no one wins this battle. Tortorella refused to talk about the situation in his post game presser, and gave a short answer as he usually does in situations like this and I understand it, “That’s between me and the player,” Tortorella said following the game. However, it just appears that there was a lack of communication from Tortorella in regards to the actual benching, and in turn, Couturier should have respondef a bit better to it, as well. Even with this, Tortorella and Couturier will move past this, and Couturier should be in the lineup Thursday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.
