A More Subdued Tortorella

I have often been told that before going off and accusing the world of all the wrongs that one feels one has been dealt, I should sleep on it and see if one feels as angry or slighted as the day before. It seems clearer heads came to work on Monday morning following John Tortorella's rant against the officials and the NHL last night after the Columbus Blue Jackets lost their Sunday night game against the Chicago Blackhawks and had starting netminder Joonas Korpisalo go down with a knee injury. While none of that sounds good, the language used by Tortorella was worse, and it seems that he has realized that there are still rules he has to follow after last night's frustrating loss.

According to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, John Tortorella started his post-practice comments to the press with this.

While everyone may nod and agree that this was the best thing for Tortorella to do, there's still a question of what happened in Columbus last night. Colin Campbell said in a statement that the decision not to add time to the clock was a judgment call by the referee as he had checked with the clock operator before denying the Blue Jackets' request to put the 1.1 seconds back on the clock. Campbell also stated that the NHL Situation Room didn't see the need to get involved after the referee's ruling on the ice.

I'm not going to beat a dead horse here because the NHL will never admit that it got things wrong, but Campbell's statement today is entirely the opposite of what he stated back in 2012 to Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times.

I guess this is par for the course for Campbell and the NHL when it comes to explanations. Had he simply stated that NHL operations and/or the NHL Situation Room agreed with the referee's decision on the clock, it would lend much more credibility to the official's decision and this would be laid to rest. Instead, his line of not needing to get involved leaves the water murky when it comes to judgment calls, and calls into question whether or not the NHL is actually watching the final minute of periods as Campbell said they would be in 2012 to ensure clock issues, among other things, don't play a factor in the outcomes of games.

While it's still likely that John Tortorella gets a fine for his outburst last night, the NHL should be embarrassed with how this whole situation unfolded. Choose your words wisely in the future, Colin Campbell, because you're doing no favours for the NHL with your statement today.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!