What a classy guy. John Tortorella, who was sitting out circus act Sean Avery in game 5 because he was showing a lack of discipline on the ice in game 4, apparently didn't have the brains to heed his own advice. In the third period of game 5 in Washington, Tortorella squirted water through two panes of glass at heckling fans behind the Rangers bench. The heckling kept up (and after being squirted with water why wouldn't it?) and then Tortorella stood up on the bench, leaned over and threw a bottle of water at the heckling fan---but the Rags coach's aim was no better than his decision making skills and he hit a female Capitals season ticket holder in the face:
Claudette Chandonia told The Washington Post the bottle Tortorella threw hit her in the head. "He was losing and he was frustrated, I guess," Chandonia said, according to the report. "I couldn't believe it. I looked up, and he was throwing the water bottle -- and then it hit me right here, right in the head, and it bounced off me."
What a jackass. If you'll recall last night we took Mr. Tortorella to task for his pissy press conference. When asked about the incident he said he didn't want to discuss it because it was nothing. When asked again, some lackey from the Rangers traveling media staff said the press conference would end if there were another question on the topic. Somebody call that Rangers employee a waaaaaambulance. We'll be taking no questions tonight about how or why our coach assaulted Capitals fans, we mean it.
The Rangers are coming unglued but remember, it was THEY who simply had to have Sean Avery come back to Broadway. They got rid of him once for a reason, and now seem somehow surprised he's back to acting like a seven year old with ADD and a sense of entitlement. As for Tortorella, he deserves the suspension. Squirting water at fans? The NHL has the tape and says Tortorella STARTED the incident. Then he throws a water bottle and hit a woman. If you would have hit Johnny's wife with a water bottle you'd not only be suspended, you'd be going to the dentist on your unexpected day off. What a big big man you are Mr. Tortorella. And now, you've put your team at a huge disadvantage going into a massively important game for your team.
So now Avery will be playing in game six while Tortorella sits it out due to lack of discipline.
Ogie Ogilthorpe could not be reached for comment.
Don Cherry told Toronto radio station The Fan 590 of Avery "I've known this kid since he was about 16 years old; Once a jerk, always a jerk."
ReplyDeleteI think you reap what you sow and the Rangers deserved the spanking they got today.
And the fact that the Rangers have an overrated GM in Glen Sather doesn't help. Why would he bring Avery back? You can get tougher without the Bozo the Clown act. There were other free agents that could have been signed or trade deadline deals made.
ReplyDeleteIt also doesn't help when Slats takes second tier offensive players who are good solid players, but expects them to run the show offensively. Guys like Drury and Gomez are fine, in fact excellent second line offensive players. When you throw huge cash at them and expect guys who have succeeded because of the attention their top line guys used to attract defensively to be elite scorers, don't be surprised when they don't live up to expectations.
Example, if the Wings hadn't signed Johan Franzen to a long term deal, and he hit the free agent market, teams would have been offering 6.0 to 7.5 million dollars a year. Franzen could pick his team but he wouldn't have guys like Zetterberg and or Datsyuk playing center for him. Franzen is also a great second line scorer because the Wings opponents have to send their one checking line (and in the salary cap ear it makes guys like Datsyuk and Zetterberg all the more valuable because they also are nominated for the Selke trophy as best defensive forward) out to play against the Hossa-Datsyuk-Holmstrom line. Then you get less responsible guys playing the Franzen-Zetterberg-Cleary line which results in big points for Franzen. Could he carry the load as the end all be all power forward? Would you like to spend 7 million a year for 5 years to find out?
Stupid Sather, in reality it all starts or ends Tuesday, with him