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Add Tortorella to the list that rips Pens, Malkin & Crosby


Guest Digityman

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Over the last week it's been Lavy, Cheif, Milbury and now Tortorella.

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PITTSBURGH -- Rangers coach John Tortorella became visibly upset when Pittsburgh defenseman Brooks Orpik dropped New York center Derek Stepan with a knee-to-knee hit on Thursday night, and he turned his anger on the Penguins franchise.

Orpik drew a five-minute major penalty for kneeing and a game misconduct for upending Stepan with less than five minutes remaining in the Penguins' 5-2 victory at Consol Energy Center – a hit that Tortorella called "cheap, dirty."

Stepan was carrying the puck in the neutral zone and, just as he released a pass at the blue line, he tried to cut the other way to avoid colliding with Orpik, only to be rammed knee to knee. Stepan remained on the ice for several minutes.

"I wonder what would happen if we did it to their two whining stars? Wonder what would happen?" Tortorella said, referring to Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

"So I'm anxious to see what happens with the League. There's no respect amongst players. None." Tortorella included several expletives into brief comments made following what essentially was a meaningless game for the Rangers, who have already clinched first place in the Eastern Conference.

All coaches worry about losing a key player to an injury with the Stanley Cup Playoffs about to begin, another reason for Tortorella's tirade. The Rangers did not provide a medical update on Stepan. "That's one of the most arrogant organizations in the League," Tortorella said of the Penguins.

"They whine about this stuff all the time. It's ridiculous. But they'll whine about something else over there, won't they? Starting with their two (bleeping) stars." Penguins coach Dan Bylsma compared it to a hit by Eric Nystrom on Penguins defenseman Kris Letang on Feb. 29. Nystrom was not suspended, but Letang missed the next five games. "Kris tried to get out of the way and the hit was made, and it was somewhat of a problem for the guy giving the hit," Bylsma said.

"Brooks is on his (Stepan's) path and is looking to hit the guy at an angle and he (Stepan) is definitely looking to get out of the way, and it creates that scenario." It was the second time in less than a week that an Atlantic Division coach assailed the Penguins for a hard hit.

Flyers coach Peter Laviolette became irate when Penguins forward Joe Vitale leveled forward Danny Briere with a clean, but hard hit Sunday.

Laviolette was fined $10,000 for breaking a stick, then jumping up and confronting Penguins assistant coach Tony Granato as the two stood at the end of their respective benches yelling at each other.

nhl.com
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it's hard for me to work up a good hatred for the Rangers, I like Fonzi, they compete for every inch of ice, their goaltender is terrific, and pretty cool ,, they play the game hard but clean, and seemed like decent people on 24/7. if they wouldn't be the Rangers i'd probably keep my eye on them in a good way.

good for torts for calling it like he sees it.

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Well it's good a lot coaches are calling the league to stop madness Sid/malkin thing and to do fare game.

F... commisioner is looked a joke now. I think we should tweet more about Pens and how the NHL is on thier side.

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it's hard for me to work up a good hatred for the Rangers, I like Fonzi, they compete for every inch of ice, their goaltender is terrific, and pretty cool ,, they play the game hard but clean, and seemed like decent people on 24/7. if they wouldn't be the Rangers i'd probably keep my eye on them in a good way.

good for torts for calling it like he sees it.

I don't know about that...they are a New York team thus making it easy to dislike them regardless of their make up.....Kind of like the Yankees in baseball......definitely agree with the excellent play of Lundqvist. He is probably the biggest class act on that team hands down.

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@Digityman

I am not a big fonzi fan, but he is spot on on this. When you have two of the top five drawing teams in the league calling this stuff out, the betguin show is over.

Since the matchups are set, I would dress ALL the tough guys on saturday and put them on the initial faceoff (same as the rangers - devils game). I would run them out there as the top line all game long (20 minutes). I would call up any journeyman goalie in our organization to play goal.

Then i would hit, hit, hit all game long (nothing dirty), just crush them.

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OMG...lol..I just saw this morning on the NHL station. I am so sick of the Pens getting away with murder and the league doing nothing. Crybaby is Buttman's golden child and I for one am getting sick of it. I don't like the Rangers either, but man Torts was pissed watching his interview.

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@Digityman

I am not a big fonzi fan, but he is spot on on this. When you have two of the top five drawing teams in the league calling this stuff out, the betguin show is over.

Since the matchups are set, I would dress ALL the tough guys on saturday and put them on the initial faceoff (same as the rangers - devils game). I would run them out there as the top line all game long (20 minutes). I would call up any journeyman goalie in our organization to play goal.

Then i would hit, hit, hit all game long (nothing dirty), just crush them.

It would be awesome to watch but I think Lavy is more interested in winning Saturday to keep humming along at the CONSOL.

If this all plays out and neither team gets bullied by Buttman, not only Saturday's game but the playoff series could down as one of the best in NHL history.

Probably being a little premature as Saturday's game will set the tone, but all the ingredients are there to be a powder keg.

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It would be awesome to watch but I think Lavy is more interested in winning Saturday to keep humming along at the CONSOL.

If this all plays out and neither team gets bullied by Buttman, not only Saturday's game but the playoff series could down as one of the best in NHL history.

Probably being a little premature as Saturday's game will set the tone, but all the ingredients are there to be a powder keg.

If Buttman is not careful..this playoff series could go nuclear.

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it's hard for me to work up a good hatred for the Rangers,

They are a hard working team that has earned their way to where they are. But perhaps the key is they got rid of Avery. They are a lot less "hatable" now.

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@Digityman

I am not a big fonzi fan, but he is spot on on this. When you have two of the top five drawing teams in the league calling this stuff out, the betguin show is over.

Since the matchups are set, I would dress ALL the tough guys on saturday and put them on the initial faceoff (same as the rangers - devils game). I would run them out there as the top line all game long (20 minutes). I would call up any journeyman goalie in our organization to play goal.

Then i would hit, hit, hit all game long (nothing dirty), just crush them.

OK, Van. I want to make sure I follow this.

Laviolette has a player injured by completely clean and legal hit and goes off...complaining about the Pens tactics.

Milbury, a guy known for readily changing his opinions and his (very often) off the wall and inappropriate comments, then does the same. He also adds a few concussion jabs about Crosby. Classy.

Berube takes up Milbury's cause and runs with it.

Now Tortsie, probably the biggest whiner of all NHL coaches, does the same after a borderline dirty knee-on-knee hit on his guy pretty much echoing what Laviolette and especially Milbury said a few days earlier. Legitimate beef on the hit but really nothing to do with the players he is calling out.

Smells alot like sour grapes.

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OK, Van. I want to make sure I follow this.

Laviolette has a player injured by completely clean and legal hit and goes off...complaining about the Pens tactics.

Milbury, a guy known for readily changing his opinions and his (very often) off the wall and inappropriate comments, then does the same. He also adds a few concussion jabs about Crosby. Classy.

Berube takes up Milbury's cause and runs with it.

Now Tortsie, probably the biggest whiner of all NHL coaches, does the same after a borderline dirty knee-on-knee hit on his guy pretty much echoing what Laviolette and especially Milbury said a few days earlier. Legitimate beef on the hit but really nothing to do with the players he is calling out.

Smells alot like sour grapes.

Actually, it sounds like there is no amount if evidence that would convince you that the Pens have a perception problem. Four different guys rip the Pens and you dismiss all four as cranks. If it wants to limit the damage this does to it's brand, the Pens FO would be wise to adopt a different approach.

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OK, Van. I want to make sure I follow this.

Laviolette has a player injured by completely clean and legal hit and goes off...complaining about the Pens tactics.

Milbury, a guy known for readily changing his opinions and his (very often) off the wall and inappropriate comments, then does the same. He also adds a few concussion jabs about Crosby. Classy.

Berube takes up Milbury's cause and runs with it.

Now Tortsie, probably the biggest whiner of all NHL coaches, does the same after a borderline dirty knee-on-knee hit on his guy pretty much echoing what Laviolette and especially Milbury said a few days earlier. Legitimate beef on the hit but really nothing to do with the players he is calling out.

Smells alot like sour grapes.

I agree with the Briere hit being clean, however, what about the hit on Grossman by Vitale? Now the hit on Stephan by Orpik. This crap has been going on all season. Of course it is magnified more because it is playoff time. The fact of the matter is if it would had been a Flyer or a Ranger player doing the same knee on knee it, the vast majority of Pen's fans would be calling for suspensions. The Pens are one of the most dirtiest teams around, just as bad as all the other teams out there, but for some reason, Bettman wants to protect your franchise. Don't deny it because you know it is true. How can you honestly defend Crosby slashing away during the last Flyers game. For gods sake he broke his stick over Vorachek and no call. All that stuff was festering when the powder keg blew at the end of the game. Maybe Lavy should not have had Briere out there during the last min of play and that is lack of judgement on his part, however, Bylsma sent your goon line out with a purpose, well I support Lavy if he sends out our goon line to drop the puck on tomorrow's game.

Maybe that is what is needed. A good ole fashion line brawl during the first couple mins of play and let everyone get it out of their system. Then lets get back to hockey.

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Actually, it sounds like there is no amount if evidence that would convince you that the Pens have a perception problem. Four different guys rip the Pens and you dismiss all four as cranks. If it wants to limit the damage this does to it's brand, the Pens FO would be wise to adopt a different approach.

Four different guys....3 coaches of arch-rivals and a commentator who has a well known dislike for the Pens and Crosby and is known for his off the wall and often inappropriate comments. The only complaining the FO did (Shero and Lemieux) was that the league needs to do more about hits to the head, concussions, etc. I guess those 4 disagree with that assessment.

If that qualifies as a perception problem then the Flyers must really have the whiniest fans in the league because that is what fans of all the other teams think. So that makes it true then? You tell me.

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@B21

I've always operated using the philosophy of "if 3 people tell you you're drunk, you go lay down"...

I think @terp is correct to point out that there is a perception problem with the Pens, throughout the league.

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OK, Van. I want to make sure I follow this.

Laviolette has a player injured by completely clean and legal hit and goes off...complaining about the Pens tactics.

Milbury, a guy known for readily changing his opinions and his (very often) off the wall and inappropriate comments, then does the same. He also adds a few concussion jabs about Crosby. Classy.

Berube takes up Milbury's cause and runs with it.

Now Tortsie, probably the biggest whiner of all NHL coaches, does the same after a borderline dirty knee-on-knee hit on his guy pretty much echoing what Laviolette and especially Milbury said a few days earlier. Legitimate beef on the hit but really nothing to do with the players he is calling out.

Smells alot like sour grapes.

You forgot to mention the part about Cindy's 2 handed slash on Giroux right off the faceoff. Cindy's 2 handed slash across Voracek's pad that broke his own stick. Cindy's late hit on Schenn which resulted in Schenn's love tap to Cindy which he then dove like a ***. Gino's hitting Giroux on the back of his head twice while he was on thye ice. Gino's punch to the face of Coots. That was just 1 game!!! What they all have in common is that they were BLATANT penalties which resulted in 0 pim's! Sour grapes? I think not. Prefferential treatmant definately. Besides they cry & dive like little biotches every time they get touched. Open your eyes the entire league is catching on to what we've been saying for years.

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@B21

I've always operated using the philosophy of "if 3 people tell you you're drunk, you go lay down"...

I think @terp is correct to point out that there is a perception problem with the Pens, throughout the league.

We as Flyers fans perceive the Pens to be dirty players and whiners.....So far all the Pens have done is reaffirm our beliefs......If a poll was done amongst the players as to who is the whiniest and dirtiest team in the league, who do you think would win? Judging by the people that are coming out and actively call them that I would say that title gos to the Pens......

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@B21

Dude.....are you saying there is no merit to any of the comments publicly made about the Pens in the last week? Listen I know you gotta defend your team, and you're outnumbered on this board so it's difficult to concede anything. But you sound like you believe EVERYBODY that speaks ill of the Pens 100% wrong....that's where I think you might wanna check yourself.

My youngest son gets away with more than his siblings, as the youngest he's mom's favorite although she denies it. I called him and my wife Sidney and Commissioner Bettman last night after a particularly egregious looking of the other way when the older kids would have gotten ripped for doing the same. I thought it was a good analogy. That's all I'm saying. Carry on....

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@pilldoc

<< I agree with the Briere hit being clean, however, what about the hit on Grossman by Vitale? >>

What about it? Not a slew. Not intentional knee on knee. Totally incidental.

<< Now the hit on Stephan by Orpik. >>

Agree. Torts has a legitimate beef with this his though his comments had nothing to do with the hit. Orpik is lunging forward to make the hit and misses as Stepan deeks past him. Knees collide. Hard to say if Orpik intentionally stuck his knee out to get Stepan's knee. He was already in a wide stance....which oh by the way was the same argument made by Rangers fans when Rupp took out Jordan Staal's knee. Back to Orpik, at first even the Rangers announcers said no then maybe then not sure. I.E. - borderline. I think those guys are pretty fair and when they see something dirty they'll call it out pretty emphatically. They weren't too emphatic here at all.

But I can see why Tortsie was upset.

<< This crap has been going on all season. Of course it is magnified more because it is playoff time. The fact of the matter is if it would had been a Flyer or a Ranger player doing the same knee on knee it, the vast majority of Pen's fans would be calling for suspensions. >>

Kinda like Flyers and Rangers fans are doing?

<< The Pens are one of the most dirtiest teams around, just as bad as all the other teams out there, but for some reason, Bettman wants to protect your franchise. >>

Here we go again...are they "one of the dirtiest teams around" or "just as bad as all other teams out there"? Can't be both.

<< Don't deny it because you know it is true. How can you honestly defend Crosby slashing away during the last Flyers game. For gods sake he broke his stick over Vorachek and no call. All that stuff was festering when the powder keg blew at the end of the game. Maybe Lavy should not have had Briere out there during the last min of play and that is lack of judgement on his part, however, Bylsma sent your goon line out with a purpose, well I support Lavy if he sends out our goon line to drop the puck on tomorrow's game. >>

I'm not defending Crosby. I am saying he does nothing that a Jagr or Hartnell or even Giroux does. Don't sit here and tell me that those guys do not take just as many liberties with their sticks or with hooks or slashes or whatever AND don't get called for it all the time. The same thing you want to literally villify Crosby and the Pens for is the same thing your own players do....your own STAR players do....AND get away with just as often. Why the double standard? Please...dislike the Pens all you want because they are the Pens. But literally inventing conspiracies is such BS. And to go along with that, all of a sudden guys like Torts and Milbury who are regularly killed in this form (and were on silly.com) for their own comments are suddenly gospel when they call out the Pens. The irony kills me.

And if Bylsma sent his guys out to send a message, why did it take so long for anything to happen? Why no fights right off the faceoff? Were the Pens just hoping Briere skated up ice with his head down so they could level him so "maybe" they could send a message? And since when do Flyer fans have issues with LEGAL hits meant to send a message (assuming that was the intent)???? Maybe when its their team getting the message?

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@B21

I've always operated using the philosophy of "if 3 people tell you you're drunk, you go lay down"...

I think @terp is correct to point out that there is a perception problem with the Pens, throughout the league.

I like the drunk quote. ;)

I think there is a perception issue that the Flyers and Rangers and Milbury have...but really...is that new?

Milbury has hated the Pens ever since he accused Badger Bob of "gooning it up"...Milbury not liking goons. Go figure.

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We as Flyers fans perceive the Pens to be dirty players and whiners.....So far all the Pens have done is reaffirm our beliefs......If a poll was done amongst the players as to who is the whiniest and dirtiest team in the league, who do you think would win? Judging by the people that are coming out and actively call them that I would say that title gos to the Pens......

Funny...I only see Tortsie, Lavi, Berube and Milbury doing the whining. 2 of the 4 are kinda known for being...well...whiny.

The last Pens players to be suspended were Letang earlier this year and Engelland back in December. Google the comments made by Bylsma, Letang and Engelland tell me who the whiners are.

Now take your coach fuming over a legal hit that would not have been made had 1) he not put the player out there and 2) said player was not skating with his head down. Again...tell me who the whiners are.

Lemieux was not allowed to complain about head shots because he employed Matt Cooke. Funny I don't recall Tortsie having any issues with Avery. I guess it's OK for him to complain now that Avery is no longer a Ranger?

Yeah - but the Pens are the biggest whiners.

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Four different guys....3 coaches of arch-rivals and a commentator who has a well known dislike for the Pens and Crosby and is known for his off the wall and often inappropriate comments. The only complaining the FO did (Shero and Lemieux) was that the league needs to do more about hits to the head, concussions, etc. I guess those 4 disagree with that assessment.

If that qualifies as a perception problem then the Flyers must really have the whiniest fans in the league because that is what fans of all the other teams think. So that makes it true then? You tell me.

Interesting rebuttle because Shero did indeed comment about concussions. The only problem was that Milbury didn't "make light of" Sid's concussions. Shero was playing the victim, but the offense never occurred. So it was an odd thing to complain about. In fact, it sounded like more whining.

So far as your comment about Flyers fans, this is an apples to oranges comparison. Two head coaches, an assistant coach and a prominent broadcast personality called out the organization and their marquee players. This isn't perception, it's fact and it is damaging to the Pens' brand. The Pens would be wise to take this seriously and do something other than malign the sources and complain about invented offenses against their club.

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