Rangers Coach John Tortorella Suggests Winter Classic Conspiracy
Well, the Rangers got just about everything they could have hoped for in Monday’s Winter Classic.
Coming out with the 3-2 victory, the Rangers turned in a heck of a performance, with incredible ratings, and saw the return of their no. 1 defenseman, Marc Staal.
That doesn’t mean that everyone is satisfied, however. Questionable officiating throughout the game, particularly at the end, had John Tortorella very unhappy after the contest, even leading him to suggest some sort of conspiracy between the officials for the game, and NBC.
A pair of calls, or lack of, in the third period involving Kimmo Timonen were part of the reason that Torts was so livid after the win. After Timonen got away with a hook of Marian Gaborik, he was set to go to the box for hooking Ryan Callahan. Only Callahan was called for holding the stick on the play, negating any power play opportunity for the Blueshirts.
But of course the biggest reason for anyone to suggest a conspiracy is the penalty shot that Danny Briere was awarded with just over 19 seconds left in the game, with a chance to force overtime for the Flyers.
A late Flyers flurry led to a crowd around the net in the waning seconds, leaving a loose puck behind Henrik Lundqvist. Ryan McDonagh swept the puck under Lundqvist’s pad to get the stoppage, which is legal, but officials claimed McDonagh covered the puck with his hand, which is not.
It’s a curious call, to be sure, as McDonagh obviously made contact with the puck with his hand, but there wasn’t really evidence that he covered the puck up. Nonetheless, the referees made the quick decision and awarded Briere the penalty shot.
If there was any sort of conspiracy, it was foiled when Lundqvist made the save on Briere, as well as the rest of the game in which Lundqvist was absolutely brilliant.
Whether you believe Torts’ conspiracy theory or not, it’s hard to argue that the officiating in Monday’s game was extremely questionable. Though it wasn’t uncommon on Monday, with issues with referees occurring regularly in the day’s action, the fact that it was on a national stage amplified the problems of the officials.
Tortorella can expect a hefty fine coming his way as a result of his comments, one which he will gladly pay I’m sure. I’m also sure of the fact that he’s not the only one out there cooking up some conspiracy theories that led to Briere getting that shot, even with the Rangers getting the win.
When it comes down to it, what happened over the course of the game isn’t as important as the final result. The Rangers got the two points and have now taken all three games against the rival Flyers this season, capturing their most recent two points on a national stage.
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