"Shocking"- Ex-NHL star left stunned by league's decision to suspend John Tortorella

The NHL grabbed attention by suspending Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella for two games. This decision came after Tortorella failed to follow the rules during a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Many, including former NHL player and Spittin Chiclets host Ryan Whitney, were surprised and raised questions about the league's decision-making process.

Whitney, discussing the incident on a recent episode of the Spittin Chiclets podcast, described the situation as a "good ol’ fashioned Mexican standoff" between Tortorella and referee Wes McCauley.

"The fact that this happened on reunion night of the 2004 Stanley cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning with Philly and torts in town. The clip, I think it was Andrew, Chuck, and a bunch of the other. I think I saw Modine with a glass of red wine. They're dying laughing. They're like, this is unbelievable." remarked Whitney.

"The fact that this is happening and we're in the building. We saw this firsthand for years. We won a Stanley cup with this lunatic, and he ain't leaving. I guess the league has to make sure that they set a precedent. Like, we can't have this going forward."

"Two games. He got two games for that. That's shocking to me. I guess if you want to give the $50,000 fine. Okay. I just can't believe he got suspended for two games,"

Host Paul Bissonnette specifically pointed to John Tortorella's hand injury:

"I think they wanted to give him a couple of days to heal up, because the funniest part of that clip is he's pointing at the referee, and he's got this cast on his hand. Like, what the Fu*k happened to his hand?"

Philadelphia Flyers coach John Tortorella ejected in 7-0 loss to Lightning

Philadelphia coach John Tortorella was ejected early in the Flyers' 7-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. After receiving penalties and expressing displeasure toward officials, Tortorella left the bench, replaced by associate coach Brad Shaw for media sessions.

Shaw said (via au.news.com),

"Well, I think he was just trying to make a point that we felt like we might not been getting our fair shake, It’s an emotional game at times, and we all get elevated blood pressure."

A disputed tripping call led to frustrations, with Shaw stating,

“It's just like two guys skating, hustling for a puck and their skates together and one guy fell down on and one didn’t,” Shaw said. “So, I wasn’t very excited about it myself.”

Later, Garnet Hathaway's 10-minute misconduct added to the Flyers' woes, with center Sean Couturier questioning Tortorella's ejection. Furthermore, Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman, present at the game, noted he never faced ejection in his extensive career.