NHL Wheel of Discipline: John Tortorella

By now, you probably know that the New York Rangers were spanked in Game Five of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal playoff series with the Washington Capitals last night, 4-0. You probably even know that Rangers head coach John Tortorella was involved in an altercation with a unidentified fan that involved the coach tossing a water bottle.

So how did it all go down? Truth be told, I'm not really completely sure. It's clear from the TSN video that we linked to earlier this evening that the Rangers coach was going after somebody with a stick, but most of the rest of what we know came from the commentary provided by Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro.

But now, thanks to another video uncovered by Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy and some on-the-scene reporting from Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post, we know that Tortorella did indeed toss a water bottle, and that he was provoked by little more than the usual in-game harassment by the local fans. Video and more after the jump.


According to Svrluga's report:

With 13 minutes 27 seconds remaining in the game, Tortorella, the fans said, became so angry with them that he hurled a water bottle over the plexiglass that separates the bench from the crowd, a bottle that struck Capitals' season ticket-holder Claudette Chandonia in the head.

[...]

"He was losing and he was frustrated, I guess," said Chandonia, who lives in the District. "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."

According to further comments from Gary Handleman, president of facilities at Verizon Center, no fans were ejected as a result of the incident, while a security guard who had tried to prevent Tortorella from throwing the water bottle said that the only person who was throwing anything was Tortorella.

The great irony of all this, is that earlier in the evening, Tortorella had scratched winger Sean Avery from the lineup because of a pair of undisciplined penalties Avery committed in the third period of Game 4 that gave the Caps a pair of power plays while the Rangers were clinging to a one-goal lead. Of course, now the shoe is on the other foot, and it's the hot-headed coach, rather than the bad boy player, who might have to answer some tough questions about his behavior and possible enrollment in an anger management class.

Svrluga took the extra step of attempting to contact NHL discipline czar Colin Campbell about the incident, but didn't get a reply to an email. In any case, it's just about impossible to see how the league can avoid disciplining Tortorella in some way, shape or form for throwing an object into a crowd during the game and following it up with some potential stick work.

As we mentioned earlier, Tortorella was in no mood to discuss the incident afterwards, and it's not hard to see why, when he might be staring down the barrel of at least a fine if not a suspension. So what say you readers of FanHouse, where will the wheel of discipline stop when Campbell takes a spin on the fate of Tortorella?

After thinking about it, it's hard not to recall another famous incident involving a New York team from the 1997 NBA playoffs. It was in Game 5 of a series between the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat that a huge melee broke out that eventually resulted in the NBA issuing one-game suspensions to five New York Knicks players spread out over the last two games of the series. The Knicks lost Games 6 and 7, and New York fans still haven't forgiven NBA Commissioner David Stern for what he did. Something tells me that in considering a possible suspension, that the NHL's Campbell might very well have the 1997 incident in the back of his mind.

UPDATE: Disciplining coaches falls under the purview of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, not Campbell.