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Tortorella Banned For Game Six
Neil Becker
29sports.com
NHL Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell had no choice but to suspend New York Rangers coach John Tortorella for what was truely an ugly incident game five incident that should have been avoided.
Tortorella who took over behind the Rangers bench late in the year crossed the line in a big way early in the third period in Friday night’s loss when he whipped a plastic water bottle at a fan who was heckling him. If that wasn’t bad enough the bottle ended up to hit a lady who had nothing to do with the apparent confrontation.
“He was losing and he was frustrated, I guess said Claudette Chandonia who was hit in the head with the plastic bottle. “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.”
During what was a 4-0 victory for the Washington Capitals, Tortorella apparently also sprayed a fan with water before getting a beer doused on him.
After throwing the water bottle, Tortorella had to be restrained by assistant coach Jim Schoenfeld after he grabbed a hockey stick and making threats.
“While it is a difficult decision to suspend a coach at this point in a playoff series, it has been made clear to all our players, coaches and other bench personnel that the National Hockey League cannot and will not tolerate any physical contact with fans,” said Campbell.
The Rangers who are winning their series 3-2 will try to close it out back at home on Sunday afternoon without Tortorella who was given a one game suspension. More than likely it will be Schoenfeld behind the bench.
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