Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella has decided to leave forward Bobby Brink from his roster for Friday night's game against the Wild in Minnesota.
This would have been the 22-year-old's first game at the Xcel Energy Center, as he grew up in the suburbs of Minneapolis, where the Wild Arena is located.
Some of his friends were also present at the game and wore his vest. Brink still took part in the warm-up training and took the time to take a photo with his admirers.
Bobby Brink will be a healthy player tonight in his home state of Minnesota. But a group of fans wearing Brink jerseys are still here. Brink does warm-up exercises. Just stopped by and took a photo with them. #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/9xXpNyUMwR
— Brandon J. Sommermann (@B_Sommermann) January 13, 2024
Before the game, Tortorella denied wanting to punish his first-year senior.
“Other players play better,” he said at a press conference. For Bobby, it's all part of the process. He'll be a very good player, but there are a lot of things he needs to work on and I think he's been a little inconsistent. Bobby Brink doesn't have a permanent spot in the National Hockey League. He still has a long way to go to establish himself.”
“It’s the National League. I don't have a schedule that tells me when a player's parents are coming to see him play, and I don't choose my workouts based on that. I can't. I knew this would happen.”
“Still, I would love for his parents to see him play. “It just doesn’t work that way,” Tortorella concluded on the subject.
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Brink, a second-round pick by the Flyers in the 2019 draft, will play his first full NHL season in 2023-24. So far, he has seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points in 36 games.