“I think it’s ridiculous that I didn’t play the last five,” Tony DeAngelo said emphatically at the podium while giving his exit interviews. DeAngelo for his efforts did admit that he played well at times, other times not so much, then he played well again, and then his played dipped yet again. To his credit, he did say he was inconsistent all season.
“He’s the coach of the team, so you got to respect that, and I respect what he does,” DeAngelo continues. “Do I agree with it, what happened in the last five games? Absolutely not. That’s one thing, but he’s also the coach of the team. It’s not my job to decide that. All I can worry about is being a good teammate, which I think I did. Tried to stay out of the way. I don’t want to be a distraction to anybody, these guys had stuff to play for. There’s milestones these guys are trying to get to, guys are trying to play for contracts next year – I don’t know how many guys are due up, but all that kind of stuff. I don’t want to be a distraction, that’s why I was glad there was no – I know you guys were writing stories and all this – but it was more about, for me, what them guys were doing. I was done, wasn’t playing, so it made no difference at all. Just try to be around, be a good teammate, watch the games. There were some good games, some good stuff happened. You keep watching guys like Tip and all that and just try to take that approach. Where, what am I going to do? I wasn’t planning, it is what it is.”
DeAngelo actually took responsibility for his streaky play as mentioned above, so maybe the grass could be greener on the other side, “Like I said, I got to play, and I got to play better. I’m pretty accountable on myself. I feel like – did I have a good year offensively? Probably,” DeAngelo said. “I was probably pretty, in my opinion, I was pretty good with the puck. Did I have the points that I probably think I should have had? No. Lower year than I would have expected, even in the 70 games. There was other stuff that I didn’t do as well. I didn’t think I was great defensively all the time. There was some games where I was real good. Early in the year, I thought I was really good defensively, and then kind of dipped. As the points weren’t coming, it was all over the place. Too inconsistent. I thought it was very frustrating for myself to be that inconsistent this year, especially after the year I had last year where I thought I was very consistent. That’s not his fault. I can’t blame Torts for that, me being inconsistent and him not being happy about it. That’s stuff that I take responsibility for, and I was pissed about. It was a disappointing year for me in that sense.”
Honestly, I was expecting more deflecting from him, and not owning his bad play. However, it was anything but, as DeAngelo said it wasn’t John Tortorella’s fault for his inconsistencies. DeAngelo wants to stay with the Flyers after how this season ended, especially with him being benched in the last five games:
“I can’t blame Torts for that, me being inconsistent and him not being happy about it.” – Tony DeAngelo
“I plan on being back. I want to come back. I have no clue what’s going to happen. It’s not my decisions, but I’ll be training and getting ready to play another season here,” DeAngelo said. “When you’re getting paid five million, to me, you really can’t let that happen, and I take a lot of pride in being worth what I’m getting paid. People think that guys get paid, and they don’t really care. Maybe that’s the truth for some guys – not for me. I think I care even more, especially being a Flyer as well, so that bothered me. Having said all that, that would make me want to come back even more. I don’t care who the coach is. I want to come back, and this is where I want to be. I’ve wanted to be a Flyer forever. As far as what’s going to happen, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen. Even if I’m back next year, if I’m back after that year, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen. As long as I’m wanted here, I’ll be here.”
With all this being said, no one really knows what was said between Tony and Torts, nor does anyone know the future outlook of the blue line for next season without speculation. I get the sense that DeAngelo’s days are numbered in Philadelphia, but on the other hand Tortorella usually doesn’t end on a bad note with players like this. He usually gives players an opportunity to earn their ice time back. Whatever the case may be, this offseason will be an interesting one, let’s see what transpires here leading up to the draft.
He was AWFUL this year. I’m not a complete stats guy, but his +/- is even an eyesore for Ray Charles