The past is the past for Brandon Dubinsky.
The Columbus Blue Jackets center, who was part of Team USA at the World Cup alongside Jackets coach John Tortorella, dismissed the possibility of a rift between the two.
Facing elimination against Team Canada, Tortorella chose to scratch Dubinsky, plus Columbus teammate Jack Johnson. The Americans ultimately fell to Canada, 4-2.
"You have to separate the two," Dubinsky told Tom Reed of The Columbus Dispatch. "Like I said there are no easy decisions, especially for a staff like that when you have a group of players like we had."
Tortorella dressed New Jersey Devils forward Kyle Palmieri in place of Dubinsky.
"He’s my coach here. He’s given me, and not just here, a lot of opportunities," Dubinsky added. "I'm proud of my career that I’ve had and a lot of it has to do with how he treated me and helped me and coached me and taught me."
It's an interesting dynamic between Tortorella and Dubinsky, who also spent four years together with the New York Rangers, where Dubinsky enjoyed a career-best year, scoring 54 points in 2010-11.
Through two World Cup games, Dubinsky recorded an assist and four penalty minutes.
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