John Tortorella Blasts the Penguins and Imama for Controversial Hit on Hathaway
The Flyers came up short against Pittsburgh on Thursday night, and after a controversial hit from Boko Imama, John Tortorella has called him and the officials out.
The Pittsburgh Penguins rode a three goal second period on Thursday night to come back and beat the Philadelphia Flyers, but the game wasn't without controversy, as forward Boko Imama was given a two-minute penalty for a hit on Garnet Hathaway.
This call from the officials didn't sit well with Head Coach John Tortorella, who exploded on the bench after the call, and after the game, he called them out again for the call.
«The explanation was that it was not a hit to the head on the hit, that he hit his head on the ice,» Tortorella said. «That's why it was a two-minute penalty. It's probably one of the dirtiest hits I've seen in quite a while. That's why he hits his head on the ice. I believe we should be thinking about what really happened on the hit. Not get glued on the hit to the head originally. That's a dangerous, cheap hit. Freddy (referee Frederick L'Ecuyer) gave me an explanation. I understand the explanation. But I don't understand how you end up with two minutes on probably one of the dirtiest hits I've seen in a while.»
The hit may have hurt Hathaway as his head hit the ice after taking the hit from Imama.
«I don't think the player is trying to hurt a player,» Tortorella added. «I'm certainly not going to accuse him of that. It's a cheap hit, though. Garny hits Acciari there. It's a good, legal hit. He's trying to hit him back. But the puck is nowhere there. It's a blind hit. I'm not accusing the guy of trying to hurt him. But it's a dirty hit.»
Ultimately, this appears to just be an unfortunate play involving Imama and Hathaway, and while Tortorella wasn't happy with the situation, it's easy to see why Boko believes this was a clean hit, so now we will wait and see if the NHL get involved in this situation.
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