The NHL lockout has been in effect for more than two months now, and so, with no actual games to report on, we’re going to link to a different hockey video every day until a new CBA is reached. Today: John Tortorella and Larry Brooks have words.
There was a hockey game featuring actual NHL players this weekend, and it happened driving distance from New York City: A charity game in Atlantic City on Saturday night featured teams captained by Brad Richards and Scott Hartnell. It was hardly the type of play hockey fans should be watching right now — the final score was an All-Star Game–esque 10-6, with Team Richards emerging victorious. (The more competitive area hockey game this weekend was actually a college game at the Garden, in which Cornell topped Michigan in front of a sell-out crowd.)
The Atlantic City game raised money for Hurricane Sandy relief, which is great. And we certainly get the appeal of any game featuring real-live NHL players right now. But this is what it’s come to: The closest fans came to watching NHL action this weekend involved a game in which Vinny from Jersey Shore was an honorary coach.
That last bit of information reminded us of something else missing from the hockey world right now: Rangers coach John Tortorella, and his ability to make headlines for things other than instituting a system that has the Rangers poised to contend for a title. You’ll recall that his occasional blink-and-you’ll-miss-them postseason press conferences got the Rangers coach loads of attention last spring. After all, that sort of behavior is magnified when it happens on a relatively big stage.
But for our money, the ultimate Tortorella clip is the one below, featuring a back-and-forth with New York Post writer Larry Brooks. We’re not condoning this sort of thing, but considering the history between Tortorella and Brooks, this showdown was all but inevitable.
The NHL and the players are headed for non-binding federal mediation, though that won’t necessarily end this stupid work stoppage. And so on this, Day 72 of the NHL lockout, here’s the coach of the New York Rangers telling a writer, “You were probably beat up in the bus stop most of the time.”