Ex-Canucks coach Green gets in fiery yelling match after epic line brawl
Former Vancouver Canucks coach Travis Green was in the NHL’s spotlight on Wednesday.
The current interim head coach of the New Jersey Devils was involved in a dramatic shouting match with New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette.
The two coaches could be seen screaming at one another from their respective benches. Laviolette even returned to the end of the bench multiple times to keep the heated conversation going.
NOW LAVIOLETTE AND GREEN ARE GETTING AT IT š¤Æ pic.twitter.com/z3V9tsoQU3
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 3, 2024
While it’s impossible to make out what the two coaches were saying from the video above, it can be assumed they weren’t making plans to get dinner together.
“As far as Peter and I go, I look over and he’s yelling, talking to me and I’m more than willing to go and talk to him. I have no idea why Peter was mad, I mean to be honest, their players were lining up fights before the faceoff,” said Green after the game.
The altercation started after a complete line brawl took place after the opening faceoff. All 10 players on the ice found a partner to fight with.
A FULL ON 5v5 LINE BRAWL TO START THE GAME š±
CHAOS AT MSG ā¼ļø pic.twitter.com/k95BsP34xA
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 3, 2024
While everyone on the ice dropped the gloves, the main event was definitely Matt Rempe against Devils defenceman Kurtis MacDermid. The two heavyweights are some of the most feared fighters across the entire league.
There is no love lost between these two rival teams. In their last matchup, the Rangers rookie enforcer Rempe was ejected for an elbow to Devils defencman Jonas Sigenthaler’s head. That incident ensured that yesterday’s matchup would be full of fireworks.
“None of would have happened if something happened the game before, which it was obvious they didn’t want it to happen that game,” said the Devils head coach. “So I have no idea why Peter would’ve been upset, that’s not on me why he’s upset. You’re going to start yelling, you’re going to get it back.”
“No,” said Laviolette when asked if he predicted the start of the game. “Our guys were reacting to what was happening out on the ice. I thought they did a fantastic job, all five of them.”
Eight players were ejected after the opening line brawl, and both teams finished the game with short benches.
This was the third time Rempe has played against the Devils in his young career, and he’s been ejected from all of those games.
The Rangers ended up pulling off a third-period comeback to win the game 4-3.
Green has held the interim head coach role for the Devils since early March when the team fired Lindy Ruff. He has a 6-9-0 record leading the team thus far as they attempt to make a push for a Wild Card spot.
The 53-year-old spent parts of five seasons with the Canucks in what was his first NHL head coaching gig. He finished that time with a 133-147-34 record and led the team to a playoff series victory in 2020.