GDT: Game 14 - Blue Jackets vs Hurricanes - 2/8 7:00 pm

[LetsGOJackets!!]

You are probably right on Roslovic. He is also probably riding the adrenaline of playing for his home town team. Over time he will most likely even out and become the player he really is.

I think I will go the other way on this and say the kid Roslovic is getting an opportunity to reach for his potential. I hope he keeps fighting and taking advantage. I'm not going to make a lot of the benching of Laine. If he gives 100% effort from here out.. Torts will be fair.

 

[Monstershockey]

I think I will go the other way on this and say the kid Roslovic is getting an opportunity to reach for his potential. I hope he keeps fighting and taking advantage. I'm not going to make a lot of the benching of Laine. If he gives 100% effort from here out.. Torts will be fair.

I too would like to see Roslovic become a really good player. It would greatly benefit the Jackets if he does.

 

[AppalachianFinn13]

I think Laine will take this the right way and will draw the right conclusions. I don't think he ever got honesty from Maurice , now he's getting a full bowl of it from Torts. If he really wants to be the best player in the world like he said then he will learn from this.

I think he is still 2-3 years away from his prime and I think the tough love from Tortorella is exactly what he needs to take his game to the next level. Hopefully.

I guess we're about to find out.

 

[puckie]

If I was a pro player...I might be thinking...
1) I could play in Tampa Bay for John Cooper .... insert other locations and coaches
OR
2) I could ply in Columbus for Tortorella

Hmm....what looks more appealing?

They need a coach who players want to play for.

 

[Farmboy Patty]

I didn’t say he was flat out terrible, I said he was mediocre which he was. He had some decent moments, but in general he hasn’t performed like a superstar he is

Maybe I read too much into you kind of taking the goals for granted and nothing to be too impressed about. Because I agree with you otherwise, that Laine was pretty mediocre in other areas. He had both good and bad moments, and his timing and game speed is still not at peak level. All we need is patience with this team. In the end we'll squeak into the playoffs and then anything can happen!

 

[Monk]

If I was a pro player...I might be thinking...
1) I could play in Tampa Bay for John Cooper .... insert other locations and coaches
OR
2) I could ply in Columbus for Tortorella

Hmm....what looks more appealing?

They need a coach who players want to play for.

“I played with numerous coaches in my 12 (NHL) seasons,” Del Zotto said. “The thing with Torts … you know where you stand with him. He’s brutally honest, and if you can take it, if you have thick skin, there’s no other coach you’d rather play for.
“I’ve played for coaches where you’re not sure where you stand, where it’s tough to have a conversation with them because you’re not sure if they’re telling you the truth or not. But with him, you know where you stand every day. That’s hard to find.
“He wears his heart on his sleeve, too. He’d do anything for his players. He wants to win just as bad as the players do, and I respect him for it.”

Michael Del Zotto reunites with 'Torts,' finds a fit on Blue Jackets' third pair

 

[DJA]

If I was a pro player...I might be thinking...
1) I could play in Tampa Bay for John Cooper .... insert other locations and coaches
OR
2) I could ply in Columbus for Tortorella

Hmm....what looks more appealing?

They need a coach who players want to play for.

Who has said they don't want to play for him?

 

[Farmboy Patty]

I too would like to see Roslovic become a really good player. It would greatly benefit the Jackets if he does.

My impression of Roslovic from his time on the Jets was that he has the toolbox for being a great and entertaining player. He just needs to take that next step and become more effective in his execution and start racking up points. He can wow you with his speed, smooth hands and pretty good shot as well.

I'm happy that he is finally getting to play as center in a more prominent role than what he had on the Jets. He is not overachieving imo, he just seems to finally have taken that next step just like Connor did a few seasons ago, when he got to play on the first line with Scheifele and Wheeler.

 

[67 others]

He's playing the hot hand, credit where it's due, but Roslovic during his career hasn't really been a consistent producer either.

I hope that he will be, but there's also a chance that we will be talking about him in the same lines as we're talking about Laine right now, if his performance drops off. Even in Jets, he had these solid streaks of games, followed by being completely invisible.

What Laine has shown throughout his career, is that even if he has a bad couple of periods, he can still score a game-winner for you, just like Roslovic did. But due to the benching we will never know if he would have. I think his 2nd game against Dallas was the shits on his part, but he still scored a big goal. He did that on Winnipeg many times too, including hat-tricks in games where he had some ugly moments.

Roslovik is a first round pick that has been playing behind scheifele, little, Lowry and at times wheeler as c

 

[BullLund]

I think I will go the other way on this and say the kid Roslovic is getting an opportunity to reach for his potential. I hope he keeps fighting and taking advantage. I'm not going to make a lot of the benching of Laine. If he gives 100% effort from here out.. Torts will be fair.

I'm not sure if every defensive lapse on his part should be regarded as him not giving 100% effort though.

For the most part, Laine has been pretty responsible. He's usually the first guy back and often hangs back in order to allow the defenseman to rush forward. You don't see him "cheating for offense" like a lot of prominent wingers do.

His problem is more so that he's just not a great defense player, and probably never will be. He can read how to make offensive plays but he can't read defense the same way. A lot of what people deem to be a "lack of effort" is actually him just not being able to read the play correctly and positioning himself poorly. Even at best, he's just a body who blocks shots (which he does quite often, including the last game) and can prevent some passes going through, or force some giveaways, with his big stick and reach.

It's more of a matter of putting faith in him being able to cover up those mistakes with his offense, as well as putting him with compatible players. Anyone who thinks he's going to be turned into this great two-way player is kidding themselves, at best such efforts just succeed at nullifying his offense.

I would be more concerned about him not scoring goals than I would be about him turning the puck over or losing his man on defense. So far, at Columbus, he has done as advertised. It's just that what he brings to the table, doesn't seem to be what Tortorella is asking for. Obviously there has been some sort of a miscommunication between management and the coaching, and their respective vision for the Columbus franchise. Kekäläinen seems to want more offense while Tortorella is asking for more defense.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

I think the practice thing might be the rub here. Maybe his practice ethic hasn't been up to snuff and Torts might think it is working its way into his game. Roslovic hasn't been here much longer and he has yet to feel the wrath of Torts. This benching goes beyond this game.

So how egregious has he possibly been in the week he has been here where they've only had 2 non-game day practices? We were fed information that said they spoke frequently before he arrived? Were proper expectations not set or understood regarding work ethic? I still think that getting benched for 1/2 of a game after being on the team for 1 week has to be some pretty serious transgressions in order to be warranted. It almost seems comparable to giving someone jail time for their first speeding ticket.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Who has said they don't want to play for him?

Nobody says it publicly but go look at the results of anonymous player polls.

The 2019 NHL Poll: Best player? Most overrated? Players weigh in on the best (and worst) in the game

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Were proper expectations not set or understood regarding work ethic?

Or were they, and they weren't followed, and the player was benched? Believable, straighforward and boring.

 

[Monstershockey]

So how egregious has he possibly been in the week he has been here where they've only had 2 non-game day practices? We were fed information that said they spoke frequently before he arrived? Were proper expectations not set or understood regarding work ethic? I still think that getting benched for 1/2 of a game after being on the team for 1 week has to be some pretty serious transgressions in order to be warranted. It almost seems comparable to giving someone jail time for their first speeding ticket.

Don't know. Torts said it was more than one play that got him benched. Maybe he was including practice. It did seem like a lot, I thought he would play in the 3rd, but I wasn't shocked he didn't. He was probably just sending a message. How Laine responds will tell if it worked or not. Not being extended, Torts has nothing to lose, so he may have gambled on this. It will either work, or blow up in his face.

 

[majormajor]

It`s 4 games in for Laine. He looked a bit lost out there so maybe the system hasnt sunk in yet. He also lacked some effort on the play. I think he`ll be fine. Torts did good showing Laine straight away that floating is not tolerated. The only thing that bothers me is that he benched Laine for the rest of the game - I would have benched him for the rest of the 2nd period, that would already have sent a message, now he wanted to humiliate the player IMO

I don't agree with the benching at all. But if I would go down the benching path I agree with you fully. To sit him for the rest of the game at that point is just pure bs.

This will make Laine an enemy of Tortorella, and I'm sure he won't sign a new contract as long as he's still around.

Roslovic knows him better than we do and he very confidently asserted that he expects Laine to come back next game and be one of the best players.

It's easy to tell if someone has watched Laine play or just buy into the false narrative about him being useless 5 vs 5, and if they are aware of what happened 18-19.

If Laine was bad 5 vs 5 through all his time in the league, then that would make Mark Scheifele even worse, and Wheeler and Connor dumpster fire level bad. Yet we don't hear silly claims like that on the forums.

Scheifele and Connor aren't very good at 5v5, many people have said this. They score a lot and get scored on a lot. They were also better after Laine was moved off of their line. Sometimes good players don't fit with each other, it happens.

I hear you, but actually so far Torts has allowed Laine to try to score from the rush. And Roslo just scored that GWG and did not get benched after that... So far CBJ resorts less on dump & chase & cycle than Maurice, but obviously they do it a lot too.

I really have a hard time believing that. Last year the Jackets were the top forecheck and cycle team in terms of goals scored through that approach. They were at the absolute bottom on the rush, and though Torts has said he will be opening up somewhat I have doubts it has changed that much so far. It has just been sloppier in every aspect. It doesn't take a lot of viewings of Jets games to figure out that Ehlers and to a lesser degree Connor, Scheifele, and Wheeler, are all very capable at zone entries with possession, they have a big edge on the Jackets in that regard and the Jackets just sent the Jets Dubois, who was the Jackets best guy at gaining the zone with the puck. I think the Jets were at worst in the middle of the pack as far as number of zone entries with possession, with the Jackets consistently nearer the bottom. Obviously we don't have public stats on that.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Hell, maybe Torts saw that Laine's fitness wasn't good and instead of sending him out there exhausted, not helping his team and maybe embarrassing himself and costing his team chances against, he just benched him.

No, I do not think that's what happened. But I'm getting bored of repeating that we don't know what happened so I'm just going to make stuff up now.

 

[majormajor]

So how egregious has he possibly been in the week he has been here where they've only had 2 non-game day practices? We were fed information that said they spoke frequently before he arrived? Were proper expectations not set or understood regarding work ethic?

I think proper expectations were probably set when Laine was acquired that he was probably going to be benched at some point and that it would just be up to him to handle it like a pro, which he probably will. Jarmo probably briefed him on it, as did half the team.

This shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone who knows Laine's game and knows Torts' approach.

 

[Monk]

Nobody says it publicly but go look at the results of anonymous player polls.


The 2019 NHL Poll: Best player? Most overrated? Players weigh in on the best (and worst) in the game

It's interesting that he also tied for #4 on the anonymous "who would you want to play for" poll.. granted, 6% of the vote, but that would have been more than the #5 guy right?

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

It's interesting that he also tied for #4 on the anonymous "who would you want to play for" poll.. granted, 6% of the vote, but that would have been more than the #5 guy right?

Well it was an anonymous 200 players so only 12 people would have said it. I’d be willing to be most of those had already played for him in the past.

As far as not wanting to play for him, 60 out of the 200 said they wouldn’t. I bet most have never played for him but it could certainly be a deterrent if they had a choice.

 

[majormajor]

Just as players accept that some players are paid more for different reasons. I think players accept that players are treated differently.

I don't think they actually accept that. There are bottom sixers around the league that are pissed off that the top guys don't get benched more often. It happened with the Jackets when Johansen was here, they were lobbying for him to be benched!

Roslovik is a first round pick that has been playing behind scheifele, little, Lowry and at times wheeler as c

Not quite. He actually played a bit more than 50% of last year with Wheeler and Ehlers. Roslovic also got to be 3C for a long time too. His execution is the biggest thing. He's obviously super skilled but he couldn't execute in Winnipeg for whatever reason. Perhaps he needed the confidence boost that comes with being a big fish in a little pond. He is currently the best puck carrier on the Jackets so that probably gives him a lift.

I'm not sure if every defensive lapse on his part should be regarded as him not giving 100% effort though.

For the most part, Laine has been pretty responsible. He's usually the first guy back and often hangs back in order to allow the defenseman to rush forward. You don't see him "cheating for offense" like a lot of prominent wingers do.

His problem is more so that he's just not a great defense player, and probably never will be. He can read how to make offensive plays but he can't read defense the same way. A lot of what people deem to be a "lack of effort" is actually him just not being able to read the play correctly and positioning himself poorly. Even at best, he's just a body who blocks shots (which he does quite often, including the last game) and can prevent some passes going through, or force some giveaways, with his big stick and reach.

I've definitely considered this as a possibility. Do you think Laine's misreads are coming from a lack of attention to detail in the defensive game? And that this might be fixed with more focus on the job?

Nobody says it publicly but go look at the results of anonymous player polls.

The 2019 NHL Poll: Best player? Most overrated? Players weigh in on the best (and worst) in the game

The players also still think Carey Price is the best goaltender. They're not all keeping up with the whole league. Name recognition is going to be the biggest factor in polls like these, and Torts has more name recognition than any other coach. I'd pay more attention to what Torts' ex players have to say.

 

[Monk]

Well it was an anonymous 200 players so only 12 people would have said it. I’d be willing to be most of those had already played for him in the past.

As far as not wanting to play for him, 60 out of the 200 said they wouldn’t. I bet most have never played for him but it could certainly be a deterrent if they had a choice.

Presumably you can only pick one (and not your current coach).. so your point stands, I just think it's interesting that for ~12 non-CBJ players he's their #1 choice. And that doesn't rule out the possibility that he's in the top 5 for more.

 

[Halberdier]

Hell, maybe Torts saw that Laine's fitness wasn't good and instead of sending him out there exhausted, not helping his team and maybe embarrassing himself and costing his team chances against, he just benched him.

No, I do not think that's what happened. But I'm getting bored or repeating that we don't know what happened so I'm just going to make stuff up now.

We need to get another match already and Laine on ice to put this to the rest. In social media Laine is kind of still "benched" and lot's of hot takes follow that.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I heard that Koivu's retirement is in protest of the Laine benching.

I mean, either heard or made up.

 

[Vapaatunnus]

We need to get another match already and Laine on ice to put this to the rest. In social media Laine is kind of still "benched" and lot's of hot takes follow that.

And that is the reason why benching whole third period was a stupid idea.

 

[Halberdier]

And that is the reason why benching whole third period was a stupid idea.

Agreed. But what is done is done, and it's now 100% on Torts and Laine to figure out how to turn that into positive. If Torts does not elaborate Laine why he did bench him and what he expects from him this and that situation, the benching did only hurt. But I sure hope Tortorella has done it already.