Friedman Reveals the Real Reason Behind John Tortorella's Decision to Scratch Matvei Michkov
A few days ago, the hockey world was surprised to learn that head coach John Tortorella had removed young Matvei Michkov from his lineup.
Today, we understand more.
Michkov was indeed left out for two consecutive games by the Flyers due to comments made directly on the players' bench.
Let's recall that John Tortorella had protected his young player by publicly stating that this decision was part of the process for Michkov, but it has now come to light that there was another reason.
Matvei Michkov was benched due to comments made on the bench, reports Elliotte Friedman
He didn't give details, but evidently, for the young player to miss two games for this reason, it must have been unacceptable.
The team wanted to handle the matter and send its message quickly.
Were these remarks directed at a coach, a teammate, an opponent, or a referee? We have no idea, but we imagine it was aimed at someone within the organization.
To explain Michkov's actions, Friedman mentions the highly competitive personality of the young Russian and notes that he simply needs to learn to better manage his competitive side.
One thing is certain: now that the sanction has been imposed, the Flyers are looking ahead and seem to have moved on.
We can only hope for them that this doesn't happen again because logically, the sanction would need to be harsher than a two-game Scratch.
To be continued, in any case.
