Flyers Captain Sean Couturier Responds to Being Scratched by Tortorella

Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella does things his way and that's the bottom line. Even if it means he needs to scratch his captain in the middle of a playoff race. While he screams accountability from his players, Torts doesn't necessarily follow the same standards as he wouldn't talk about his coaching decisions after scratching Sean Couturier for two straight games.

The Flyers captain on the other hand, handled this admirably and with sincere professionalism. Something his coach could learn from. Couturier spoke to the media after finding his way back into the lineup and had this to say about the whole ordeal:

It's all good. It's always been good, honestly. At the time, it just ... it's tough to hear that (you're getting scratched). You want to help in any way you can at this time of the year. It's behind me now. I don't want to really talk about it, I just want to help the team in any way I can. It all worked out well - we got three out of four points, now five out of six. I thought, as a team, we all responded really well. I definitely felt fresh (he said with a laugh). I had a week to kind of just recover, refocus, recharge the battery.

Couturier has six seasons left on his contract at $7.75 million and holds a full no-movement clause for the next six. This season he's registered 11 goals and 36 points in 66 games. The Flyers remain in third in their division, two points up on the Washington Capitals who occupy the second wild card spot. It's going to be a battle the next 10 games and the Flyers are best suited with their captain in the lineup.

Healthy scratching Sean Couturier was unnecessary

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