The NHL has announced on Wednesday that Columbus Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella has been issued a fine for comments he made about the officials and the league following a 3-2 shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on December 29th.
Tortorella has been fined $20,000 for the initial comments, calling into question the integrity of the officials and condemning the league for failing to correct the mistake on the time clock following a call to the "war room" in Toronto.
As a result of the mistake, and not having set the clock to 19.2 seconds following an icing call, Columbus would fail to beat the buzzer when they looked to have scored in overtime, only to eventually lose in a shootout. The goal would have counted if the clock was set back to the proper time.
During the shootout, Blue Jackets starting netminder Joonas Korpisalo would also be sidelined with an injury that may cause him to miss his first career All-Star appearance, as well as a month of game action, after suffering an injury while attempting to stop a Jonathan Toews deke on his shootout attempt.
With Torts going off the way he did, the league has also decided to issue a conditional $25,000 fine, as a preventative measure, that would be collected should Tortorella repeat his offense between now and Dec 29, 2020.
A stiff penalty, to be sure. But one that it would be difficult to argue, wasn't warranted.
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