Last night saw the return of Raffi Torres to NHL ice for the first time since the first round of the playoffs last April. After serving what turned into a 22-game suspension for hitting an unsuspecting Marian Hossa in the head, he was part of the Coyotes’ 2-0 win over Dallas.
His stats for the night were uneventful (11:37 TOI, 4 shots, 0 PIM) and he was just happy to get back to action as Craig Morgan of Fox Sports Arizona shares.
“There was a lot of nerves out there, and sometimes my emotions run a little too wild and I get too caught up in the game,” he said. “The first couple shifts, I was just kind of skating around way out of position and didn’t know where I was going.”
For what it’s worth, the Stars did their part to try to stir things up with him and test out the “new” Raffi Torres. He’s vowed to be a different player after getting the book thrown at him, but if he has a Matt Cooke-like turnaround in what he does, the Coyotes hope he’ll still be the effective player he was when he wasn’t running guys all over the ice.