Well That Sucked (Game 5 Wrap Up) – Tortorella Suspended
Game 5 Wrap Up
Conspiracy theories aside, that game was terrible. There were 3 players on the ice wearing white that gave 100% last night and their names are Dubinsky, Callahan, and Betts. And just like Rick Carpiniello over at Rangers Report said, “When you see Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky still playing after everybody quit, two letters come to mind: C and A.”
It’s certainly wonderful that Chris Drury wants to play through his injury, but it is clear that he should not be playing. It’s time to give Captian Clutch some time off. Whether it’s his hand or his arm, he is clearly under performing. Last night’s minus-3 performance with just 7:21 of ice time should set off alarms in John Tortorella’s head. Someone should be called up from Hartford. The Rangers don’t even have a taxi squad! All they have is Aaron Voros.
John, Sean Avery was not the person to sit. Chris Drury was. As a coach, it is your responsibility to play with the team that will give you the best chance of winning. By sitting Avery, Tortorella sent out a team not at it’s best. If you think that Aaron Voros is a worthy replacement for any player on this team, you are sadly mistaken. And when you flip out on the bench and start throwing waterbottles at drunks in the crowd, you’re not setting the greatest example for the team to “put team first.”
Tortorella Suspended
We're screwed!
This evening, the NHL announced that John Tortorella has been suspended for game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarter Finals against the Washington Capitals for throwing a water bottle at a person in attendence at Verizon Center on Friday night. I honestly can’t say I’m surprised, but I do think it should have been nothing more than a fine.
M Hurley from My Blueshirt Heaven has a more in-depth retelling of what happened:
My friend sitting right behind Schoenfeld on the glass said he heard and saw the whole thing. (See man in blue and woman in white Ranger jerseys with the Let’s Go Rangers thunderstick.) he was 5 ft away from the abusive fan.
Schoenfeld and Tortorella had requested the Caps Arena security to speak to the abusive fan. Security did speak to the fan but they did not eject him. He was left there to continue the abuse. The incident that precipitated Tortorella’s outburst was the fan spilling something on Tortorella through a large separation in the glass.
The whole back of Tortorella’s suit was wet. It prompted Tortorella’s verbal and then physical response by throwing the water bottle at the abusive fan. The bottle bounced off the abusive man and hit a nearby woman on the arm, not the head as claimed.
She goes on to say that the Dolans should immediately file an injunction against the NHL and not allow NBC into Madison Square Garden tomorrow until the NHL reverses their decision.
That’s not a bad idea actually. I know the NHL is not very happy with Rangers management and locking the broadcast team out of the building might put them on thinner ice, but the NHL has to answer to NBC at this point. NBC would not be happy if they had to scramble to fill a 3 hour timeslot on a sunday afternoon. I’m no lawyer and I know nothing about the NHL’s contract with NBC, but what harm could it do if the Dolans pushed back against the Tyrant Bettman and his right hand man, Colin Campbell?
According to Steve Zipay of Newsday, the Rangers released this statement:
We disagree with the suspension and will have no further comment.
About the author: Eric is an engineering student from Long Island, NY. His all-time favorite Rangers are Mike Richter and Petr Prucha. Currently, his favorite players are Henrik Lundqvist, Ryan Callahan, and Marian Gaborik. Related posts:
