Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella is rarely one to hold back on his thoughts. A recent major penalty call on Garnet Hathaway prompted Torts to open up about hitting in today’s NHL.

“It never should have been a five minute penalty. It never should have been a penalty,” Tortorella said after the game. “It was a clean hit.”

 

Hathaway was ejected from Thursday’s loss to the rival New Jersey Devils for boarding defenseman Luke Hughes. Flyers head coach John Tortorella was furious with the call.  He spoke at length about the play on Friday with Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) of NBC Sports Philadelphia:

“I’m not going to give you names, the people that have talked to me – talked to the league – said it was a nothing play.”

“I’m glad [Luke Hughes] isn’t hurt. [He’s] a really good player, young man in this league, but that’s a problem in our league right now. Our players in this league do not put enough emphasis on making sure you’re protecting yourself from hits like that. Making sure you absorb hits like that. We’ve kind of tried to turn this league into a no-hit league. Now people aren’t ready to be hit. I think it’s a lost art in how you take hits.”
 
“I do think looking at the clip, I think [Hughes] thinks it’s icing. A mistake was made. We’ve got good refs, we’ve got good linesmen. A mistake was made last night and what bothers me is we had to suffer for that mistake, losing a player.”
As Torts notes, the late icing whistle certainly contributed to the play.  An icing call would come well before Hathaway would look to initiate contact. He kept playing, where Hughes slowed down for the whistle, contributing to the dangerous nature of the hit.
 
“There is nothing wrong with the play,” Tortorella continued. “It shouldn’t even have been a penalty. It screams to the athletes in our game, be prepared to be hit because big hits are allowed. Nowadays, I’m not so sure because everyone puts their arms up when there’s a big hit. It makes me sick what goes on in the league here on big hits. That’s part of the game.”
 
“I’m not trying to run down the league, I just think we’ve taken away the policing of the game from the players. With all the new rules, we’ve taken away the policing of the game. It should belong to the players. It comes into how the game — it’s a fast game, which is fantastic. The skill in the game is fantastic. I think some of the rule changes we’ve made have improved the game. But I just don’t think we should take the foundation of the National Hockey League out. Hits are allowed. Back in the day, and I’m not trying to go way back, but you’ve got to learn how to take a hit. That’s a big play in winning games is taking a hit to make a play, and being braced to take these hits. And if you do have a big hit you shouldn’t have to fight someone two seconds later because it’s a big hit. That’s what I don’t get.”
 
“Not blaming anybody, I just don’t like where that part of the game is going…  It’s a man’s game. We’ve got it convoluted a little bit.”

The New Jersey Devils won the game 4-3 in overtime on a goal by Luke Hughes.  The clubs combined for 35 penalty minutes, 15 of which were handed to the Flyers’ Hathaway for his hit on Hughes.

The game also resulted in a fine and a suspension – to Travis Konecny and Brendan Smith, respectively – for stickwork away from the play.

Referees were Jon McIsaac (#2) and Francis Charron (#6) with linesmen Brandon Grillo (#75) and Ryan Daisy (#81).