NHL Strong vis-a-vis John Tortorella Nonsense

Vancouver Canucks' head coach John Tortorella

Here's the story, in a nutshell.  The Calgary Flames head coach Bob Hartley began the game with a lineup of goons, hoping to face the top line of the Vancouver Canucks.  But John Tortorella, seeing the provocation, had last dibs on which of his players to actually put on the ice.  So he countered with his own goon squad.  Not surprisingly, multiple fights ensued.  Like it or not, that much is hockey gamesmanship.  

But Tortorella added unnecessary fuel to the fire by trying to enter the Flames' locker room after the first period.  Which resulted in a 15-day suspension.

ESPN Scott Burnside offered a good piece on the incident, but I think the title is overstated:  Tortorella's actions black eye on NHL.  Yes, it's a black eye, but I simply doubt that any negative fallout among fans, for example, will be that significant.  On ESPN 1000 radio, Waddle and Silvy talked about the added difficulty the NHL will have in attracting casual fans to the game.  I just don't think this incident will unduly add or subtract from that difficulty.

At least not any more so than the impact of other dumbass actions by head coaches had in their respective leagues:

• Case in point: Jason Kidd, spilling a cup of water late in a game, to buy an unwarranted timeout (NBA, Brooklyn Nets)
• Mike Tomlin, standing in an off-limits area on the sidelines, while an opposing player was running up field along those same sidelines (NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers)
• Countless MLB managers, like Lou Piniella, making fools of themselves on the field, while arguing vociferously with the umpire

That said, the NHL is the least popular among major North American sports.  NHL news hardly appear on the ESPN home page, and even among the Chicago teams, the regional page hardly highlights the on-ice exploits and triumphs of the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks.  That page was dominantly by the mediocre, struggling Bears, until their season's end.  Then it was dominated, it seemed, by the mediocre, struggling Bulls.  

So put this way, Burnside has reason to worry that the Tortorella incident will slip the NHL further down the lucrative food chain known as professional sports.  But again much as this was a bonehead thing to do, I don't think it will have that much of an impact.

The NHL is scoring off the ice like never before thanks to its Canadian teams.

Reference: The NHL's Most Valuable Teams.

The lockout, notwithstanding, which threatened to scuttle the 2012-2013 entirely, we hockey fans came back in droves.  Said Blackhawks won their second Stanley Cup in four seasons, and life was good. 

For one, from the above Forbes study, I have reason to believe that the rising strength of the NHL will manage any Tortorella fallout well.

For another, I am so thankful the Blackhawks don't play goon hockey in the least.  There was talk, in fact, that their championship was good for the NHL, because they play a clean, finesse, speed game.

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD