
Torts Was Ready to Strangle Someone After "Dangerous" and "Cheap" Hit on Garnet Hathaway
The Flyers lost to the Penguins 5-4 in overtime on Thursday night. Earlier, Garnet Hathaway had to be helped off the ice after a hit that was ruled a minor:
Torts is furious after Boko Imama is assessed a minor for interference on Garnet Hathaway, and Hathaway needed assistance off the ice pic.twitter.com/oXX10jvySl
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 28, 2025
The debate centered on whether or not the contact to the head was from the hit itself, vs. the fall to the ice.
Torts said this after the game:
“The explanation was it was not a hit to the head on the hit, that he his his head on the ice, and that’s why there’s a two-minute penalty. It’s probably one of the dirtiest hits I’ve seen in quite a while. That’s why he hits his head on the ice. I believe we should be thinking about what really happened on the hit, and not get glued on a hit to head originally. That’s a dangerous, cheap hit. (The ref) gave me an explanation, and I understand the explanation, but I don’t understand how you end up with two minutes on probably one of the dirtiest hits I’ve seen in quite a while.”
(follow up question – was there an intent to injure?) –
“I don’t think the player is trying to hurt a player. I’m certainly not going to accuse him of that. It’s a cheap hit, though. Garney hits, I think (Noel Acciari) there, it’s a good, legal hit, I think (Imama is) trying to hit back, but the puck’s nowhere there. It’s a blind hit, but I’m not accusing the guy of trying to hurt him. But it’s a dirty hit.”
Boko Imama is a career AHL player getting five minutes of ice time a night.