The Nashville Predators have one of the best pests in hockey in Jordin Tootoo. He knows how to get under opposing players' skin.
Take Saturday night's example against the Anaheim Ducks. Tootoo was very active in the third period, drawing a couple of penalties. None was more discussed than the slash he took from Corey Perry.
Have a look at the play for yourself.
I couldn't help but chuckle a little to myself seeing Perry's reaction to Tootoo's fall to the ice. He's standing by him not in an attempt to deny his guilt, but rather you can just see him thinking to himself: "Really?!?"
He wasn't the only one thinking that way. It set off Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf. Apparently he won't be buying Tootoo any postgame beers in the near future. Here is what he told Eric Stephens of the O.C. Register after the game.
“We keep talking about all this stuff and changing rules and head shots and all that kind of stuff,” Getzlaf said. ”That’s not the stuff that’s hurting our game. It’s the lack of respect on the ice. I’m tired of watching Jordin Tootoo out there, a guy who runs around and hits and does everything else but the first little slash, he’s laying on the ice and he’s out the next shift.
“It’s embarrassing and I’m sick of it. If they want to change the game and they want things to be better and they want more respect on the ice, get guys like that off the ice then. I’m sick of it.”
Needless to say, Getzlaf didn't see it as a dive worthy of a 9.8 from the judges. It was lacking a little, shall we say, artistic merit.
Getzlaf continued by explaining where the anger was coming from.
“It started in the playoffs last year,” he said. ”This isn’t the Anaheim Ducks complaining. This is me. I think it’s embarrassing for our game that a guy like that is out on the ice taking a slash ... yes, he got slashed. Guys get slashed every single shift. They don’t lay on the ice and flop around and embarrass themselves. And I hate that part of our game.
“The refs, they can only call what they see,” he said. “I don’t expect the referees to be able to differentiate all the time. It’s hard. It’s not their fault. That was a high stick at the end. He took a good, hard high stick and he went down. I don’t fault him for that.
“I know what it’s like to get hit in the face. He went down hard. That’s not the play I’m talking about. A high stick in the face is a high stick in the face. It hurts. And it’s a reaction. When a guy slashes you on the hand or the pant or something and you flop on the ice and lay there for two minutes, it’s embarrassing.”
Embarrassing (times four), sick of it (times two), flop (also times two), hurting the game. Wow. He didn't really hold back anything, did he?
Whether Tootoo flopped or not, it clearly shows he has the ability to irritate like any good pest would, drawing penalties as well as heat off the ice.
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