Morning Wrap: Calgary Flames With Worst Own Goal Ever This Week

((ht: nhl.com))

It's never good to put the puck in your own net, but in hockey and a few other sports it happens from time to time.

But you are not likely to see an "Own Goal" like this one.

Saturday night, the Calgary Flames put one in between the pipes when goalie Jonas Hiller left the net unattended after a delayed penalty call.

Which in hockey happens quite frequently. When you know a penalty is coming, you try to run an extra attacker out there until the whistle blows.

Here's the problem: A Flames defender got the puck and launched it back towards the blue line.

Nobody was there.

The puck kept sliding down the ice and yup, it goes in the net. Vancouver Canucks defender Yannick Weber, the last Canuck to touch the puck gets credit for the goal and all Flames coach Bob Hartley can do is shake his head.

Torts Has Choice Words For Hartley... Again...

((HT: Sportsnet))

It was the end of the regular season and Vancouver and Calgary...

And Bob Hartley and John Tortorella do not like each other...
They don't like how each operate and they don't like each other teams and how they operate...

If this Sunday was the last press conference by Torts as Canucks coach, then he went out with Tortorellian flair...

Kypreos: Tort's Behavior "Disgraceful..."

((HT: Sportsnet))

Vancouver Canucks head coach John Tortorella has no regrets over his epic nutty the other night against Calgary and head coach Bob Hartley...

Even telling Hartley, who didn't engage him in the bench discussion, that "you don't fight that way..."

Sportnet's Nick Kypreos was less than enthused over Tort's behavior...

DEVELOPING: Torts Gets 15 Days Without Pay, Hartley Fined

((HT: NHL on TSN))

For this...among other things...


From the league itself:

"Mr. Tortorella's actions in attempting to enter the Calgary Flames locker room after the first period were both dangerous and an embarrassment to the League," said NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell. "Coaches in the NHL bear the responsibility of providing leadership, even when emotions run high, and Mr. Tortorella failed in his responsibility to the game."

Mr. Tortorella's suspension is effective retroactive to January 19 and runs through Sunday, Feb. 2. He will miss six games. He is not permitted to have any interaction with his club prior to, during or after games.

And Calgary Flames head coach Bob Hartley got fined $25,000 for this...
Among other things...
((HT: CBC/Hockey Night In Canada))


From the league again:

The fine was issued in accordance with By-Law 17.3 (a) for conduct prejudicial to or against the welfare of the League.

In issuing the suspension, NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations, Colin Campbell stated: "We are holding Mr. Hartley responsible for the actions of Flames' right wing Kevin Westgarth, who took the game's opening face-off and attempted to instigate a premeditated fight with an unwilling opponent -- the Canucks' Kevin Bieksa."

Will this fix things...???

Nope...

Fun to watch...but not solving anything...

Canucks-Flames Line Dance: The After...

((HT: TSN/NHL))

Well, conventional wisdom is that Canucks coach John Tortorella is going to get some kind of suspension for the outbursts last night...

Here's what he said about why he did what he did...
((HT: Canucks TV))


And from inside his locker room...
((HT: Canucks TV))


And from Calgary head coach Bob Hartley...
((HT: Flames TV))


There actually was a game played...
Vancouver won in a shootout, 3-2...
Now, all we need to know is how long the suspensions will be for this classic...

Let's Dance! Flames-Canucks Go With Line Brawl Off The Top... (UPDATED W/Tortorella Nutty)

((HT: CBC/NHL via Josh Rimer))

It has been a long couple of days for John Tortorella and the Vancouver Canucks...

But "Hockey Day In Canada" wrapped with a first period line dance among heavyweights...

The amount of figuring out the do-se-do gets a little long, but the desired effect was a real piece of work...


And the HQ loves how Bob 'artley didn't engage Torts at all...

132 minutes in penalties were doled out by the time they were done...
And here's a longer version...


There were 178 penalty minutes total in the first...

And, in the intermission, Torts charged the tunnel and still wanted a piece of the Flames...
((HT: Some Hockey Videos/TSN))

DEVELOPING: Hartley To Be New Habs Coach...??? (UPDATED: Calgary...?)

((HT: Sportsnet))

According to a report by thehockeywriters.com, Bob Hartley will be the next coach the Montreal Canadiens while Eric Veilleux, who led the Shawinigan Cataractes to a Memorial Cup title, will be hired as an assistant coach.

This would add to a front office that has Marc Bergevin and Rick Dudley on the GM front lines and, according to Renaud Lavoie over at RDS (and now the Canadiens are confirming), Scott Mellanby is going to be named Director of Player Personnel.

It looks like a lot of the old Atlanta Thrashers are hooking up in one place. Hartley was seen with Veilleux at the Memorial Cup tourney as a Shawinigan consultant. Montreal personnel were seen with both...

"One plus one" and all that stuff...

Hartley has been a winner wherever he has been and the Canadiens will have more resources than his last job in Atlanta...

If it plays this way, the new coach will be able to appease the Francophone fan base as a lot of Quebecers intended from the beginning after the Randy Cunneyworth experiment...

Here's some of Hartley's most recent action from his time at ZSC Lions- where he's got another winner under his belt...
((HT: SwissHabs/RTS))


More when we know more...

WEDNESDAY UPDATE: It could also be Calgary, or it could be nowhere...

According to RDS analyst Vincent Damphousse, Hartley has interviewed with Flames GM Jay Feaster a second time for their vacancy. But, TSN's Darren Dreger maintains that there may be problems with Hartley's ZSC Lions contract in Switzerland.

ZSC may not just rip up Hartley's current deal and wave at him from the dock...

The plot thickens...