Speculation: Your starting 5 against "the idiots"?

[wpgsilver]

If hockey has seriously degraded to "I guess I better put my fighters out so they cant assault my superstars" then maybe I should quit watching/supporting the sport.

I start a non-useless line against their line of pylons. Ladd Joker Buff Bogo and I dunno. Someone else.

Tough guys, in case they get "attacked", but also a talented line so that they can make the move look as stupid as it really is.

Clearly Torts believed it was a possibility.
I don't think for a second he wanted that brawl to happen.

 

[BrianFromAIH]

Ladd-Little-Buff
Stuart-Bogo unless Kane can take draws then I'd put him at Centre.

 

[Channelcat]

I would have put the Sedins out there. No one would blame them for turtling, or skating away if they got jumped...no one expects them to fight. The officials would pull them apart soon enough and you probably come out there with a couple of powerplays, and Hartley comes out looking like a fool, and probably the one to get a talking to by the league.

I tend to agree with this, although I think with the Jets it would be very different as our skill guys also tend to fight. I wouldn't want Kane, Ladd, Trouba or Buff out there because you know they won't back down. Particularly Kane, who may need to decide whether he wants to be a star on the ice or on the IR.

 

[IceCapsFanNL]

Make sure you have called up Cormier-Schnell-Lipon the day before the game

 

[SCP Guy]

I would pull the goalie and have 6 fighters on the ice......The Flames goalie better be ready for a beating !!!!

 

[McDrailers]

Make sure you have called up Cormier-Schnell-Lipon the day before the game

Cormier hasn't fought in so long. Lipon would go head to head with both Westgarth and Mcgratton at once so throw a skill player out there for the breakaway. Plus if you havn't watched the ice caps last game highlight package watch tonights game. 50/50 chance that it ends up in a brawl.

Also, start Eddie Pasquale. He went ape **** last game and one punched JF Berube (or sure as hell tried to)

 

[LadyJet26]

There really isn't any proof that the brawl still would have resulted if the first line was sent out instead. IMHO, it played out the way it did, because Torts took the bait and responded with his own 'role players/goons'. Goons rarely fight stars; goons fight other goons, or at the very least, players who are known to be part-time fighters.

Unless you're a boxing hobo on skates of course.

Sestito and Nolan? Nolan cheapshoted Hank Sedin and then turtled when Sestito challenged him. IMO Nolan deserved what he got.

Canucks are very entertaining this year. Much better then last season with AV at the helm.

Either way, there's no way in hell I'd want Mo to start our skilled players against the kind of lineup Calgary started Saturday night.

 

[Positive]

Clearly Torts believed it was a possibility.
I don't think for a second he wanted that brawl to happen.

I think the possibility was very slim, and the risk mitigated by the ability to turtle (very effective) or skating away. Anyways, the main board has some interesting discussion going on. This post raised an eyebrow, from TMuffin:

On Dec. 20, 2011, coach John Tortorella’s New York Rangers visited their rivals the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center in Newark for the first time that season. It was a key division game, and one that would set the tone for the rest of their season series.

The Rangers, as the road team, would determine the personnel on the opening faceoff. In their previous two road games, New York started No. 1 center Brad Richards’ line for the opening draw.

In this game, Tortorella opted for a different look: Fourth liners Mike Rupp, Ruslan Fedotenko and Brandon Prust.

Devils Coach Pete DeBoer responded in kind: Rather than throwing Zach Parise to the lions, like Randy Carlyle did when he lined Phil Kessel up next to John Scott this season, DeBoer skated out Cam Janssen, Eric Boulton and Tim Sestito.

The result? Comedic mayhem

Fast forward three months, and the Rangers and Devils met again at Madison Square Garden. This time it was DeBoer that sent out the goons: Eric Boulton, Ryan Carter and Cam Janssen. Tortorella was forced to send out Brandon Prust, Brandon Dubinsky and Mike Rupp. Dubinsky was recovering from sinus damage, so defenseman Stu Bickel took the opening draw, knowing what was bound to happen

Tortorella loudly scolded DeBoer from the Rangers’ bench, pointing and hurling F-bombs at the opposing coach … for doing exactly what he had done in Jersey months earlier.

“I guess in John’s world you can come into our building and start your tough guys, but we can’t do the same in here,†DeBoer said. “He’s either got short-term memory loss or he’s a hypocrite. So it’s one of the other.â€

Said Janssen, via Fire & Ice: “If they didn’t want to do it and didn’t think it was necessary, then they wouldn’t have done it. It takes two guys to fight and we both agreed upon and we both obviously thought it was necessary and that’s why we did it."

Torts is a hypocrite. He's done the same "player selection" **** people are putting on Hartley, so don't act like he's some harmless victim just protecting his team.

As far as Westgarth or McGratten fighting a Sedin, there are some differing opinions there. Some think Westgarth/McG would have dropped the gloves with anyone who was in front of him. Some others think there's no way he would have dropped the gloves against a Sedin. I lean towards the latter.

 

[garret9]

How often do star players fight non-in-the-moment goons?

 

[YWGinYYZ]

The problem with starting anyone but 4th liners, if you truly believe that Westgarth or McGratten would have dropped the gloves with anyone, is that there are a good chunk of guys on the Jets who are NOT goons that will definitely drop 'em. Someone mentioned starting Buff, Olli, Ladd, and Bogo, for instance: none of them are "fighters", but they'll all gladly oblige. They could get dusted, and if not, they'd end up being chucked out of the game. Advantage Calgary.

I hate this kind of crap: Hartley's an idiot for doing this.

 

[BigZ65]

Byfuglien for sure.

I noticed towards the end of the Phoenix game that the Coyotes were starting to run around and it was getting a little testy. Maurice tossed Byfuglien's line out for a shift and everything calmed down real quick. There aren't a lot of guys who want to test Byfuglien.

Peluso-Wright-Thorburn
Stuart-Byfuglien

 

[almostawake]

Start your best offensive lineup and avoid any players that could get sucked into a fight (ex. Kane).

I just cannot see how guys like McGrattan and Westgarth, who by all accounts have always played by the rules of the 'code', are just going to go out and start jumping skill players at the start of a game.

Hartley presented the opportunity. Tortorella (stupidly) accepted it. Then Bieksa made it a lot worse by taking the faceoff.

 

[AlphaLackey]

When I see this, I play my five biggest goons, ship our four worst players out along with their four worst players for the whole game, and take great delight in knowing that we've solved our depth problem 2 seconds into the game.

 

[Gil Fisher]

Westgarth proved Hartley's intentions by immediately grappling with Bieksa on the opening faceoff. Tortorella was correct in this matter.

And he let him go...so no doubt he wouldln't have fought a skilled player. Proving the intentions weren't to fight whomever came on the ice.

 

[Gil Fisher]

When I see this, I play my five biggest goons, ship our four worst players out along with their four worst players, and take great delight in knowing that we've solved our depth problem 2 seconds into the game.

Our depth is better than Calgary's.

 

[Nothing Is New]

I actually enjoy watching a Torts-game, but he is getting a little too much love here and Hartley too much hate. Torts put out his thugs also. Torts moved a fighter to the face-off position and moved Laine out. Last three games Torts and team ran up an average of 54 PIMs per game versus an average of 31 for the opposition. Vancouver leads the NHL in fighting majors this year.

Not quite so cut and dried.

I would have played the first line. I'm betting Kane or Wheeler can easily out skate Westgarth and McGrattan. Say what you want to, but coaches seldom send out thugs to beat up stars (Glen Hanlon the exception).

 

[AlphaLackey]

Our depth is better than Calgary's.

You saying you wouldn't enjoy a game without Thorbs, Wright, Tangradi and Stuart?

 

[Gil Fisher]

You saying you wouldn't enjoy a game without Thorbs, Wright, Tangradi and Stuart?

now now now....don't put words in my mouth.

this kind of stuff follows Torts around. he's a mug.

 

[AlphaLackey]

now now now....don't put words in my mouth.

and I get your point, Calgary's one of the few teams where we probably do have an edge on the 4th line. But in general, I think Winnipeg benefits from both team losing their 4th line and 6th D to start the game.

this kind of stuff follows Torts around. he's a mug.

I absolutely have no respect for him at all. Maybe he really is a keen hockey mind, maybe not. But when he went off on a tirade accusing the NHL, the referees and NBC of making some tripartite conspiracy to screw the Rangers so the Winter Classic got higher ratings, that's when I realized that you can't spell "Tourette's" without "Torts".

I will be very disappointed if he isn't hit with a hefty fine and a suspension for this. He's the very definition of "repeat offender".

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Sestito was sticking up for his captain. Calgary started off the game fighting. There's a huge difference there. Nolan turtled like he always does.

Lol, Nolan leads the Kings in fighting majors. But yeah he "always" turtles.

 

[PaperRockChamp]

Technically, we should just throw Byfug, Bogo, and Peluso out there.

Byfug takes two guys, Bogo takes two, then Peluso can grab the last guy.

 

[YWGinYYZ]

Technically, we should just throw Byfug, Bogo, and Peluso out there.

Byfug takes two guys, Bogo takes two, then Peluso can grab the last guy.

Bogo was actually dragging 3 Oilers around the ice there. Bogo mad.

 

[Just Ducky]

You know everyone has a buddy or something you NEVER want pee off. Bogo is one of those guys imo. When that switch is flicked- UGLY. As for the thread title- each coach shares the blame. By the rules- Heartley did not break any- so good on him but he did knowingly cross the "code" and put Torts in a bad spot. Torts- whom I see as nothing more (now) as a mouthpiece - his antics between periods was bizarre- almost Shoenfeld status. Simply stupid and will be dealt with as such.

 

[JC Numminen]

I would put out:

Kane-Scheifele-Wheeler
Bogosian-Trouba

Get a nice quick goal and rub it in to the other team for trying to start **** And tell them that if they get sucked into a fight they will be sitting most of the game.


Or I start:

Thorburn-Peluso-Tangradi
Stuart-Ellerby

To kick the **** out of them

 

[JetsFan815]

Just listened to Tortorella's post-game presser, and watched the clip of him at the Flames dressing room.

I see Tortorella's point of view in his post-game presser, 100%. I understand it, I see where he is coming from. But, it's a bit old school to me. In this day and age, meh, I don't think much comes of it at the beginning of that game if he started the Sedins.

I'd start our top line, no question. And I'd likely enjoy a quick 1-0 lead within about 30 seconds. Wouldn't fall for the goon tactics. Go play the game, fight when the time is right. There is a time and place for it, but that isn't it and what Hartley did, if his intention was to indeed goon it up, was pretty stupid. In that instance, make him look foolish and beat him on the scoreboard. People will see it for what it is.

This