A lot of people forget that, with just one win in their previous nine games, the Vancouver Canucks had already started their death spiral prior to Jan. 18’s line brawl with the Calgary Flames.
A lot of people also forget that the Canucks actually went on to win that game. A rarity for them in 2013-14, their worst season since 1999-00.
That being said, if there’s one act from the brief, disastrous John Tortorella era in Vancouver that will live on in infamy, it will be the fiery bench boss’s attempt to charge the Flames’ dressing room in order to confront his old friend, Calgary coach Bob Hartley.
For that, Tortorella was handed a 15-day suspension by the NHL, which deemed his actions “both dangerous and an embarrassment to the league.”
After Tortorella’s ban was over, the Canucks proceeded to win just nine of their final 26 games, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2008.