Don Cherry addressed the John Tortorella suspension during his seven-minute segment Coach’s Corner on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday.
Cherry said the ban of 15 days, equal to six games, levied on Tortorella by the National Hockey League on Monday was “too much.”
Tortorella, the fiery Canucks’ head coach, received the supplemental discipline after charging over to the Calgary Flames’ dressing room during the first period of last Saturday’s fight-filled affair at Rogers Arena.
Television cameras caught Tortorella in the middle of a scuffle in the hallway just outside the Flames dressing room, with players jammed up in the tunnel looking on.
Tortorella was angry with Flames head coach Bob Hartley for starting his tough guys Brian McGrattan and Kevin Westgarth. He countered a lineup that included Tom Sestito and Dale Weise. The result: a line brawl off the opening faceoff.
Hartley was fined $25,000 by the NHL for his role in the brawl. Flames interim general manager Brian Burke also voiced his disagreement with the fine, saying he was “perplexed” by the league’s decision.
Burke later added during a public lecture to law students at the University of Calgary: ”...we all know the Canucks started it.”
