The Vancouver Canucks coach was suspended 15 days without pay — which amounts to six games — for trying to get into the Calgary Flames' locker room on Saturday night. Flames coach Bob Hartley, meanwhile, was fined $25,000 for his role in the incident that precipitated Tortorella's meltdown — a line brawl instigated by the Flames.

Tortorella's fuse was lit when Hartley started punchers Kevin Westgarth, Brian McGrattan and Blair Jones. Westgarth, specifically, "(instigated) a premeditated fight with an unwilling opponent" on the faceoff in Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa.

So, after the period, Tortorella bolted for the Flames room. It was, in a word, insane — and that's what got him the (relatively) harsher punishment.

"Mr. Tortorella's actions in attempting to enter the Calgary Flames locker room after the first period were both dangerous and an embarrassment to the League," NHL vice president Colin Campbell said in a league release. "Coaches in the NHL bear the responsibility of providing leadership, even when emotions run high, and Mr. Tortorella failed in his responsibility to the game."

It's interesting (and appropriate) that Hartley didn't escape; he shirked responsibility after the game for putting that group of players on the ice, and Tortorella argued, convincingly enough, that he had no choice but to counteract with his own tough guys.

That 's fair. But the locker-room run was not a good look, and the punishment reflects that. An interesting question, though, is whether Hartley would've gotten fined had Tortorella not flipped out; he certainly should've been.

The Canucks released a statement saying they respected the decision, which means Tortorella can't have any contact with the team during his suspension.

"We would also like to acknowledge our organization's full support for John and we look forward to having him back behind the bench soon," they said.


KANE WON'T STOP FIGHTING


Winnipeg Jets forward Evander Kane has missed four games thus far as a result of a severe laceration of the hand received in a fight with Tampa Bay’s Eric Brewer. But if anyone thought getting hurt might make the 22-year-old reluctant to drop the gloves again, Kane insists he’s not planning on changing his style.

According to a story in the Winnipeg Free Press, Kane was quoted on Sunday as saying:

“Fighting is part of the game. It’s a good part of the game. It’s a necessary part of the game. You have to control the game.”

The Free Press also quoted Kane as saying he thought the fireworks at the start of the Flames-Canucks contest on Saturday was fun to watch and “probably funner to be part of.”

Wonder if Tortorella agrees.

Now there are probably some enthusiasts who applaud that willingness to scrap. But the Jets probably aren’t among them. If I were a Jets fan, I wouldn’t be either.

Kane is one of the Jets' best players. Besides having 14 goals and 11 assists in 38 games this year, among Winnipeg skaters who have played more than 15 games, he has the best Corsi Rating. Yet because he got into a fight with the game already decided, the Jets have been deprived of his other more prominent abilities. It’s not about whether you like fighting — it’s a simple matter of not wanting one of your team’s best players of exposing himself to a greater risk of injury. The NHL has enough injuries as is.

Look, Kane isn’t someone who is running out there looking to drop the gloves. As Pro Hockey Talk notes, it was just his second fight of the year. But it was still two fights too many for the forward.

The good news for Winnipeg in the short term is Kane is skating with his teammates in practice. Hopefully, that means his return isn’t far off. It will be interesting to see if the Jets' new coaching staff tries to talk him out of getting involved in fights when he does.


LETTER TO THE FANS


In a way, Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz's open letter to his fanbase is admirable — the mere act of attempting to explain a season like theirs doesn't happen all that often.

But the content of that letter? Boy, the content of that letter.

From Katz: "I know this will almost certainly be the eighth consecutive year since we made the playoffs. I hate that fact as much as anyone, but the reality is that this is only year four of the rebuild that started when we drafted Taylor Hall. The good news, if you can call it that, is that other teams that committed to fundamental rebuilds went through the same kind of droughts over the same kind of time frames, or longer. That doesn’t make it fun for anyone; it just means we have to stay the course."

Only Year 4? Okey doke. Also, "stay the course" is a phrase that shouldn't pop up in the context of a 15-30-6 team that's three points from the NHL's basement. They're in the running for a fourth No. 1 pick in five drafts though, so that's something.

The larger point of the letter is to provide a vote of confidence to president Kevin Lowe, who's been in charge for all eight of those playoff-less seasons.

Kevin is a big part of our organization, and it’s not just the Oilers that value his knowledge and perspective. He is consistently chosen, year after year, to play a leadership role with Hockey Canada. But when it comes down to it, this is Craig MacTavish’s team. He is the GM. He makes the calls, and he is accountable for building a team that can compete for the Stanley Cup — year in and year out for years to come.

So, Katz is reminding everyone that MacTavish — and not Lowe — built this season's team. That's probably good news, a few questionable moves aside, but again — they're 15-30-6.

Katz goes on to ask for patience while the Oilers "put the next few pieces of the team in place." And really, that's the problem; Edmonton has young, cost-certain talent locked up for the foreseeable future, but for a bunch of reasons, the "next few pieces" haven't come, whether it's Year 4, 8, or whatever. Hopefully, MacTavish turns out to be better with that than Lowe.

Contributors: Sean Gentille and Ben Valentine