Since becoming the head coach of the Blue Jackets on Oct. 21, John Tortorella hasn’t been shy about leaving his mark on his new team.
There was that time he told star center Ryan Johansen he was out of shape.
He made Fedor Tyutin a healthy scratch in back-to-back games in late October.
And on Friday night, it was Scott Hartnell’s turn to watch from the press box.
The 33-year-old hasn’t done himself any favors in the last little while. He has just one goal and one assist over his last eight contests and there was the “incident” in Montreal earlier this week.
With the scored tied 1-1 late in Tuesday’s game against the Canadiens, Hartnell took a bad penalty that led to Max Pacioretty’s game-winning goal.
#CBJ Tortorella on Hartnell scratch: "That’s a really tough penalty to take in Montreal. But it’s not a reaction just to that. His game ...
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) December 5, 2015
"...has struggled a little bit."
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) December 5, 2015
More on Hartnell: "Sometims ... young, old or in between, you need to sit and watch and self-evaluate."
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) December 5, 2015
How did the Jackets respond to Hartnell’s scratching?
Well, they didn’t exactly look great in Friday’s 2-1 shootout loss to Florida and all signs point to him playing in Saturday’s game against his former team.
Blue Jackets' Scott Hartnell is in Torts' doghouse. He was a healthy scratch Fri. but is expected to play vs. Flyers tonight.
— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) December 5, 2015