Monday hearing for Tortorella; AV deftly skirts issue

Former Rangers coach John Tortorella is expected to have an in-person hearing with the NHL's Colin Campbell in New York on Monday stemming from his episode in the corridor of Rogers Arena on Saturday when he confronted Calgary coaches and  players after the first period, TSN reported.

In my opinion, Torts will be heavily fined and suspended for several games for his behavior, which is not justifiable and could have caused an escalation of hostilities and possibly injuries.

So much for the self-proclaimed "changed" Torts, who often embarrased himself in his dealings with reporters, broadcasters, staff, and players in New York, and even NBC and the league. Remember his remarks after the WInter Classic?  Guy has not been able to control his emotions---or his ego enough.

Yet he demands that players and the media should be classy.

Unfortunate.

Anyway, here's some comments from Alain Vigneault, the former coach of the Canucks, before tonight's game:

Asked if he faced a situation where Caps coach Adam Oates sent out a “goon” line to start tonight’s game, he said: “If it would happen, you’d have an answer to it…It’s a hypothetical question.”

Asked if he had been faced with a similar situation in his career: “It probably did, but I’ve turned the page on that…”

“Just like that situation last night or the goal that was allowed in the Detroit game, those are things that are happening in other arenas, which I’m not part of, so I’m not going to comment… there’s tons of people who are…I think coaches are staying out of that one.”

Asked about how easy it is for a coach to get to the other locker room, he said “as a coach in any building you can get to wherever you want"…In Rogers Arena, he said “our offices were very close to where the opposition is…”

And on the logistics and time to change a lineup when you see who the road team is deploying for the opening faceoff: After warmups, he said “the home team gets the lineup and you have about 15 minutes to figure out what you’re going to do.”

On to tonight's game...

Most significant streak:  Ovechkin pointless in last eight games vs NYR, including playoffs. Of the last three game he's coached, AV said: "He's had some Grade-A looks", but the goaltenders have been up to the task.

.