Tollefsen scatched tonight

According to the Dispatch blog OK Tollefsen has been scratched from the lineup tonight. According to them its got nothing to do with OK's performance. Apparently there will be an ongoing rotation amongst defensemen for the next few weeks (read: until someone gets injured).

This is certainly an unexpected move one in which I don't really agree with. I understand that somebody needs to sit but your taking the most physical defensemen we have out of our lineup even though our identify as a team strives to be a big physical team to play against. So if its not based on performance then it really comes down to a numbers game -- you carry 7 d-men but are only playing 6 then somebody has to sit.

I gotta figure Russell was kept in the lineup b/c you don't want to scratch him and chance hurting this kid's confidence this early in the season. Hejda was a free agent acquisition so scratching him may also send the wrong message. So it comes down to Westcott and Tollefsen and apparently Hitch felt Tollefsen was the right guy to hold out of the lineup tonight.

Something else I'll throw out there is perhaps the team is showcasing a player for a potential trade and scratching him may send the wrong message to a team looking at possibly acquiring said d-man?

Lets see how it unfolds but as a fan I'll certainly miss his physical presence out there and am fairly certain we'll see an even more fired up player next game he's back in the lineup.

-LTL