Sergei Bobrovsky - Off The Case? (Part 2)

[Bobcat110]

So Bob got pissy, got showered and into street clothes with 11 minutes left in the game. Wonder what would have happened had Korpi got injured? Delay of game penalties? Forfeit?

Pretty much what we were figuring. Kind of a dick move but also a team rallying moment that should have CBJ holding at least 2nd in Metro for All Star Game and Bye week.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Lee already mentioned what it was: but here's the official story for support.

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.
This scenario, first reported by Sportsnet in Canada, was confirmed to The Athletic by multiple NHL sources in recent days.

Bobrovsky’s actions incensed Tortorella but also infuriated and disappointed his teammates, sources said, prompting a meeting with the Blue Jackets’ leadership group before they boarded a flight from Tampa to Columbus.

Seth Jones, Boone Jenner and Cam Atkinson were among the players who pulled Bobrovsky aside on the tarmac of a private runway at Tampa International Airport before allowing him to board the charter with the rest of the club.

Captain Nick Foligno was not on the trip because of his daughter’s recovery from surgery.

Bobrovsky’s decision to head to the dressing room didn’t ultimately cost the Blue Jackets. His replacement, Joonas Korpisalo, finished the game by stopping all three shots he faced.

But imagine the scenario had Korpisalo been injured and the Jackets had nobody available to play in net. Also, think of the message it sends to Bobrovsky’s teammates.

That was the Blue Jackets’ chief concern, and it’s why general manager Jarmo Kekalainen forced Bobrovsky to stay home from the rink Thursday when the Jackets played Nashville. Korpisalo had 32 saves in a 4-3 win over the Central Division leader.

“To me, it doesn’t matter who it is,” Kekalainen told The Athletic on Friday. “We have the values that we believe in. If you’re not going to live up to them, you face consequences, no matter who it is.

“If it’s the biggest star on the team, the highest-paid player on the team … the rules are the same. The values are the same for everybody. We expect everyone to live up to them.”

The Blue Jackets have refused to discuss Bobrovsky’s “incident,” issuing a strict gag order to players.

Kekalainen met with Bobrovsky’s agent, Paul Theofanous, on Saturday in Washington, D.C., sources said, before the Blue Jackets played the Capitals. Korpisalo started that game, too, playing perhaps his best game of the season, making 32 saves in a 2-1 overtime win.

'Incident' explained: Sergei Bobrovsky was not available to...

 

[JacketsDavid]

Well the story makes sense. 100% makes Bob look like a spoiled child.
Korpi is our #1 going forward (IMO), keep Bob unless we can trade him and as an insurance policy.

 

[DJA]

Surprised the “leadership group” let him on the plane. I would have been in favor of leaving him on the tarmac and letting him spend a few hundred on a commercial flight home.

 

[Madifer]

Surprised the “leadership group” let him on the plane. I would have been in favor of leaving him on the tarmac and letting him spend a few hundred on a commercial flight home.

imagine he would fly first class or at least business class and post pic pics of him drinking champagne and smiling.

 

[Jovavic]

Surprised the “leadership group” let him on the plane. I would have been in favor of leaving him on the tarmac and letting him spend a few hundred on a commercial flight home.

That would be good but I bet there is some CBA issue with that

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Surprised the “leadership group” let him on the plane. I would have been in favor of leaving him on the tarmac and letting him spend a few hundred on a commercial flight home.

Believe me I would have smiled at the prospect of that myself but this thinking sort of follows the ‘bag skate’ idea of punishment.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

 

[Cyclones Rock]

So Bob takes a shower with 8 minutes left in a 4 goal game and Jarmo creates an international incident.

Just trade him already.

 

[Viqsi]

So Bob takes a shower with 8 minutes left in a 4 goal game and Jarmo creates an international incident.

Just trade him already.

I guess you missed the part where it was repeatedly made clear that this is one of those things that is Not Okay no matter who you are or what your role is.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

I guess you missed the part where it was repeatedly made clear that this is one of those things that is Not Okay no matter who you are or what your role is.

I guess you missed the part that he was not coming back into the game and that Jarmo is making mountains out of molehills.

 

[Madifer]

the question is: why did Torts pull Bob when the game was as good as lost. To me it looked like a bitch slap for poor performance. And it came after we all saw how saddened Bob was by each goal that he let in.. Genuinely saddened I mean.

 

[Viqsi]

I guess you missed the part that he was not coming back into the game and that Jarmo is making mountains out of molehills.

Not relevant. Someone's supposed to be there as the backup. That was made clear. That Bob's normally the starter does not excuse it. It's unfortunate timing, but the only person to blame here is Bob.

* * *​

the question is: why did Torts pull Bob when the game was as good as lost. To me it looked like a ***** slap for poor performance. And it came after we all saw how saddened Bob was by each goal that he let in.. Genuinely saddened I mean.

I seem to recall someone mentioning earlier about how it was supposedly a slap in the face to leave him in for eight goals against versus Tampa. This is seeming very damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't.

 

[Hello Johnny]

I guess you missed the part that he was not coming back into the game and that Jarmo is making mountains out of molehills.

The dude's teammates called him out on his bullshit before Jarmo did. To imply Jarmo is the only one who gives a damn about this sounds an awful lot like, oh I don't know, pushing a tired agenda.

 

[blahblah]

Because we are a worse team without his contribution, whether it be lacking due to his being traded or lacking due to his being so out of it that he can't perform up to snuff.

This post makes the assumption that no goalie from outside the organization is added and that no goalie inside our organization can perform at something close to his level.

We've seen a few goalies come in, from development leagues, around the league and do pretty well fairly quickly.

 

[Viqsi]

This post makes the assumption that no goalie from outside the organization is added and that no goalie inside our organization can perform at something close to his level.

We've seen a few goalies come in, from development leagues, around the league and do pretty well fairly quickly.

That first assumption is probably safe because we're extraordinarily unlikely to get one of the better goalies out there in free agency or via trade, and the second assumption is potentially also safe because nobody's shown the ability to do it yet (and even when the phenomenon you're describing does happen, said goaltenders can easily end up being "solved" within a year - see Mason, Steve).

Of those two, the second assumption is the most tenuous, as it's possible that, say, Korpisalo may abruptly learn consistent badassery (indeed, that seems to be a popular presumption on the part of... certain individuals here who shall remain unnamed ). I can accept that as a reason to take the gamble - however, given the number of teams that have tried to "solve" goaltending this way and failed, I remain extremely ambivalent to the idea. And for the record (altho this wasn't in your comment), I also continue to take issue with presumptions that have come up w/r/t "we need to get rid of Bob Right ****ing Now".

 

[thebus88]

Surprised the “leadership group” let him on the plane. I would have been in favor of leaving him on the tarmac and letting him spend a few hundred on a commercial flight home.

Possibly interesting usage of words in there.

"before allowing him to board the charter"

Could have easily been worded, "before they boarded the charter"

Just sayin. It is what it is. We know that.

 

[thebus88]

I guess you missed the part where it was repeatedly made clear that this is one of those things that is Not Okay no matter who you are or what your role is.

SO TRADE HIM ALREADY

 

[Viqsi]

Possibly interesting usage of words in there.

"before allowing him to board the charter"

Could have easily been worded, "before they boarded the charter"

My assumption is that that was less a "you aren't one of us" thing and more a "we are not leaving until we have had this talk" thing.

* * *​

SO TRADE HIM ALREADY

If I dumped folks with that kind of vigor and thoroughness for crossing those sorts of lines, this board would have a whole hell of a lot fewer users on it.

The punishment fit the crime IMO.

 

[thebus88]

I guess you missed the part that he was not coming back into the game and that Jarmo is making mountains out of molehills.

Can you name 1 (one) other situation like this occurring with a teams goaltender, other than Roy in Montreal?

ECHL even.

Your not getting re-hired, Doug.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

Can you name 1 (one) other situation like this occurring with a teams goaltender, other than Roy in Montreal?

ECHL even.

Your not getting re-hired, Doug.

You're telling me that no goalies ever go to the showers when pulled with 10 minutes left in a hopeless game? Stop it.

It was a minor matter which should have been handled internally.

 

[thebus88]

The dude's teammates called him out on his bull**** before Jarmo did. To imply Jarmo is the only one who gives a damn about this sounds an awful lot like, oh I don't know, pushing a tired agenda.

THIS. The MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT of this whole incident, is the 1 that's being the MOST IGNORED.

What are the OTHER PLAYERS feeling on Bob? And now, its come out that there is a "gag order" on the players?

I think this narrative that the other players don't really care, is COMPLETE BS.

Bob getting the, "It is what it is", response in this situation, is NOT good for him. And its NOT good for the TEAM having this type of "feelings" towards its goalie.

Also, he was asked if he wanted to finish the year on THIS TEAM. You think the team didn't see his answer? You think Bobby didn't express to them that he doesn't want to be there anymore, and that it has no effect on the future of the lay in front of him?

"Well, I, I am here"

Didn't say, EVEN IN A BS WAY, in any way, "yes" or "of course".

 

[thebus88]

This post makes the assumption that no goalie from outside the organization is added and that no goalie inside our organization can perform at something close to his level.

We've seen a few goalies come in, from development leagues, around the league and do pretty well fairly quickly.

How many Vezina's have any of these guys won?!

EXACTLY

 

[brianhatesu]

Possibly interesting usage of words in there.

"before allowing him to board the charter"

Could have easily been worded, "before they boarded the charter"

Just sayin. It is what it is. We know that.

I guess you could look deeper into the wording if it was maybe a first hand account but this being retold a couple times before it was written. Maybe you can ask Porty about his choice of words instead of speculating.

 

[blahblah]

That first assumption is probably safe because we're extraordinarily unlikely to get one of the better goalies out there in free agency or via trade, and the second assumption is potentially also safe because nobody's shown the ability to do it yet (and even when the phenomenon you're describing does happen, said goaltenders can easily end up being "solved" within a year - see Mason, Steve)..

I'm not making those assumptions. It's possible that a goalie we consider lesser than Bob comes in and does just as well as he did, or the team at least. I'll concede their would likely be a hit in the short term, but the question is how long and now deep. Having said that Bob does go into deep slumps, so we may actually not notice much. Goalies are pretty funny in that you really have no idea what you are going to get when you bring them up.

It's an unknown. It's also quite possible we end up a better team in the long run.

Having said that it's unlikely that anyone we brought in next season would go a month or two at a time at a 2.0 GAA pace. With more consistent play in the net we may not even need that. We're starting to prove that we can put the puck in the net with some consistency.