Details have emerged regarding why Sergei Bobrovsky was sent away from the Columbus Blue Jackets following last week’s Tampa Bay loss.
Last week was an up and down ride for the Columbus Blue Jackets. It started with a 4-0 beating at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning in Florida. That was followed by an “incident” that led to the two time Vezina trophy winning goalie being kept away from the team.
Details have emerged about the “incident” that sent Bob away from the team following the Tampa game. According to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, after being pulled in the third period, Bobrovsky went to the dressing room instead of staying on the bench with the team. He took off his pads and showered during the final period of play.
This is a major no-no as Bob essentially quit on the team that night and left them without an option at goal in case of emergency. If Joonas were to be injured in the final minutes, the team would have been without a replacement in net.
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On top of that, he threw the towel in on his teammates leaving them high and dry. After the game and before heading onto the plane, the Jackets assistant captains, Boone Jenner, Cam Atkinson, and Seth Jones, confronted Bob about the situation.
The matter was handled by the team leadership and a very appropriate decision to sit Bobrovsky for the next game was made. There was no airing of the dirty laundry in public, and the team moved forward.
The Jackets rallied around Joonas Korpisalo and went on to win their next two games with their backup in net and Bob came back for a third win on Sunday. Joonas then earned another start last night against the New Jersey Devils and shined in a 4-1 victory.
The “incident” wasn’t Bob’s brightest moment but the team and him will move forward. Sitting him out for a game was absolutely the right thing to do, even if the Jackets lost the following games. This organization has come too far and built too solid of a culture to go back now and unless there are consequences for actions, the culture would deteriorate.
The results though have been positive and Korpisalo stepping up is a happy coincidence.