Anaheim Ducks star Trevor Zegras took the hockey world by storm Tuesday with one of the best assists the NHL has ever seen. It turns out everyone except for John Tortorella enjoyed it.
"It's tremendously skilled. For Sonny Milano even to yell 'Michigan' in the middle of a play in a game is skill. That's a skilled play. My position, though, is it good for the game?" Tortorella said during ESPN's broadcast Friday night.
"I'm not so sure. And again, I'm not trying to be a fool here, but I'm just not so sure it's great for the game. If you did that back in 2000, late '90s, 2000, you'd get your head taken off. It's cool, it's cool to watch and all that, but I'm not so sure it's good for the game."
Zegras was alone behind the net when he lifted the puck onto his stick and appeared to be attempting the lacrosse-style Michigan move but instead flipped the puck over for Milano to bat it out of the air for a goal.
HOW DID TREVOR ZEGRAS DO THAT!? 😱 pic.twitter.com/CqbZPLCJVx
— ESPN (@espn) December 8, 2021
Video of the goal has recorded over 50 million views on various social media channels, including 33.9 million views on ESPN's Instagram post, according to ESPN's John Buccigross.
Tortorella said Zegras' move strays too far from how hockey should be played, adding he'd be upset if one of his players did it while he coached.
"I'd have a talk with the people - I would - after the game," Tortorella said. "Again, I'm not trying to be difficult about it. It's fun to watch, it's really cool. I just think our game has gone so far away from what the game should be. A hard game, an honest game. It's almost gotten too showman. I know you need to have it, you need to sell the game. But I'm just from the ilk that it's still a hard game to play, and a good, honest hockey game needs to be played. I think some of this stuff here we get carried away."
The former NHL coach and two-time Jack Adams Trophy winner made headlines earlier in November when he called out Connor McDavid for needing to change his game to win a Stanley Cup.
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