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Torts expresses disdain for instigator rule and ‘turtling’

Vancouver Canucks v Los Angeles Kings

at Staples Center on January 13, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.

Harry How

Two days later, hockey fans in Vancouver are still talking about the game the Canucks played Monday in Los Angeles.

That game, of course, featured all sorts of rough stuff, including Vancouver’s Tom Sestito challenging Jordan Nolan to a fight for taking a run at captain Henrik Sedin. When Nolan wasn’t willing to drop the gloves, Sestito started throwing punches anyway.

Despite the fact the Kings received a seven-minute power play for Sestito’s actions, Canucks coach John Tortorella had absolutely no problem with what happened.

“I didn’t care about the penalties,” Tortorella said today on TEAM 1040 radio (audio). “I even told the team, I don’t care about the penalties. Because if you’re trying to do things the right way to get some of the ice that is yours…you’ll probably end up getting some penalties. But you usually kill those penalties off.”

Tortorella also reiterated his disdain for the instigator rule. And without naming names, he basically called out Nolan for refusing to fight Sestito.

“Something has to happen there too, where this instigator rule and the turtling that goes on in our game, which is just so embarrassing,” said Tortorella.

“We get caught in that, but if Tommy Sestito did that again, I would applaud him. It was the right thing to do. I just think the game has lost a little bit of its honesty and its honor as we’ve gone through here. Quite honestly, a lot of it is because of the way the rulebook is written.”

Related: Sticking up for each other is the new Canucks’ mantra