John Tortorella has a reputation of rubbing people the wrong way.
Add Capitals’ Head Coach Adam Oates to that ever growing list.
After Tortorella’s Rangers eliminated Oates’ Capitals in 7 games, Tortorella accused the Caps of whining too much.
The Capitals were upset with the officiating, especially in game 6 which took place at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers were not penalized once in the game and the Capitals accrued 5 misdemeanors.
Today, Oates sat down with Washington’s 106.7 The Fan to talk about his Capitals. Of course he was asked to respond to Torts’ accusation.
When asked by LaVar [Arrington} and [Chad] Dukes what he thinks about Torts openly trashing his team, he had a response ready to go.
“Well, I think he’s out of line,” Oates said. “He should be worried about his own series. We didn’t whine once during the series. I never complained. I don’t know, did you guys ever hear me complain about officiating?”
“Not you, no,” Chad Dukes answered.
“No? Ovi did after Game Seven,” he continued. “No one complained before any game. I met with a supervisor before Game Seven. You meet with a supervisor before every single game. We never complained about anything.”
But his response to Lavar’s next question really turns it up a notch.
Lavar: Coach, I just want to know… would you beat him up in a one-on-one situation?
Oates: Yes. Easily.
During his playing days Oates wasn’t much of a brawler. However, there are probably a lot of people who’d want to see him make good on his word in this situation. Maybe even a few Rangers.
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