Rangers' Tony DeAngelo says he'll join Parler after deleting Twitter account
Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo skates against the Ducks during the first period of an NHL game at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 22, 2019. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo has been spoken to by the team about his activity on social media, coach David Quinn said, after DeAngelo on Friday called Twitter "a disgrace’’ and announced Saturday that he was leaving all social media except for Parler.
Parler was one of the social networks reportedly used by people to organize the attack on the Capitol building in Washington on Wednesday.
"We’ve handled that internally with Tony,’’ Quinn said when asked about DeAngelo in his post-practice Zoom news conference Saturday. "I’m going to be honest with you: I don’t have a Twitter account, I’m not active on social media, so I don’t know enough about it. Obviously, we’re aware of what happened and we certainly have addressed it.’’
DeAngelo, an unabashed far right conservative, has been outspoken in the past on social media in his support of President Donald J. Trump over the years. When Trump permanently was suspended from Twitter on Friday, DeAngelo shut down his own Twitter account, announcing he would be moving his comments and his "Watch Your Tone’’ podcast to Instagram.
But Facebook and Instagram also had suspended Trump, and DeAngelo posted on Instagram on Saturday that he will be moving his social media presence to Parler, which was taken off Google Play and has been threatened to be removed from the Apple Store.
"If they let Parler back up at some point, I will be on Parler,’’ DeAngelo said Saturday on Instagram. "Until then, I will not be using social media apps.’’
DeAngelo has a history of getting into trouble for things he has said and for years carried a reputation as an attitude problem.
With the Rangers, DeAngelo had a few early run-ins with Quinn but seemed to mature during the last couple of years.
DeAngelo had his best NHL season in 2019-20, putting up career highs in goals (15), assists (38) and points (53) in 68 games. He was tops among Rangers defensemen in scoring and was tied for fourth in the league in scoring by defensemen. A restricted free agent in the offseason, DeAngelo signed a two-year, $9.6 million contract to remain with the Rangers.
At the start of training camp, Quinn experimented with playing DeAngelo, a righthanded shooter, at left defense so he could partner with Jacob Trouba, who also is a righthanded shooter and could be considered the Rangers’ No. 1 defenseman. But in their intrasquad scrimmage Thursday, the Blue team, which included DeAngelo and Trouba, lost to the White team, 6-1.
Quinn, not happy with the performance of the Blue defense, separated DeAngelo and Trouba at Saturday’s practice, moving DeAngelo back to the right side with newcomer Jack Johnson.
Quinn said Saturday’s move does not necessarily mean the experiment with DeAngelo on the left is finished.
"Um, no, it’s not,’’ Quinn said. "Without K’Andre [Miller, who did not practice] here today, things kind of changed a little bit. We’re still in that mix-and-match mode on what our ‘D’ pairs are going to look like.’’
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.