When Vancouver Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler was suspended in October for a hit to the head of San Jose Sharks winger Tomas Hertl, Canucks head coach John Tortorella didn't agree with the decision. That might be putting it mildly, actually.
“I would teach that play to all our defencemen,” Tortorella said at the time. “The one he was suspended on we’re teaching that. The league just happens to believe it’s suspendable.”
Edler has struggled of late, and thanks to some unfortunate bounces at both ends of the ice finds himself right near the bottom of the league in +/- (a stat that doesn't do a good job of capturing defensive play, but that rank and file hockey media pay attention to).
Asked for an explanation for Edler's permissive defensive play of late, Tortorella expressed his opinion that Edler's October suspension was a factor:
Torts on Edler: "I just know he was playing really well prior to that ridiculous suspension."
— Jason Botchford (@botchford) November 30, 2013
Torts on Edler: "So I'm going to blame shanahan for his crappy play. Not really, but I thought he was assertive and we lost some of that"
— Jason Botchford (@botchford) November 30, 2013
Shots fired?
