It was only a matter of time before these two were going to find themselves on the outs of the league. The NHL Bad Boys, Alex Galchenyuk and Tony DeAngelo, have both found themselves off their, respective, rosters in a matter of days as their antics finally overshadowed their talent.
You hate to see two very talented players get ostracized from the NHL, but these guys have had more than enough chances to change.
The Arizona Coyotes and the Philadelphia Flyers have cut Alex Galchenyuk and Tony DeAngelo, respectively, from their rosters as the antics and troubled backstories these players possess just outweighed their natural talents. And, even though you can sympathize with these players in some respects, these moves were for the best.
Now, before I say another word, I have to make it clear that the issues plaguing Tony DeAngelo and Alex Galchenyuk may have been equally troublesome for their now-former teams, but their dark deeds are not even remotely comparable.
DeAngelo was merely a locker room nuisance for the Philadelphia Flyers and HC John Tortorella as he’s been for most of his former teams, which is obviously unacceptable for a hockey roster, but perfectly fine in the real world.
Galchenyuk, on the other hand, has serious, real-world problems as only a few days after getting traded from the Avs back to the Coyotes (for the 3rd time in his career), the former #3 overall pick was charged with private property hit and run, disorderly conduct, failure to obey, resisting arrest, and threatening or intimidating by the Scottsdale Police Department.
Yeah, not a great look for a guy who’s not only become one of the most infamous draft busts in NHL history, but who has also now been on 8 different rosters (7 different teams; he had two stints in Arizona) in as many years since he was traded by the Montreal Canadiens to Coyotes for Max Domi.
Anyways, I think it’s pretty clear with all of these legal troubles and Galchenyuk’s’ horrific scoring output last season, the guy really shouldn’t get another chance in the NHL as his talent has declined (dramatically) and his troubles have increased (also, dramatically). And the Coyotes cutting him makes perfect sense and it would have been really strange for them not to do so given how useless Galchenyuk would have been for them anyways.
As for DeAngelo, he still could get another shot as he’s young (27) and he still has the capabilities to play in a Top-6 defensive paring for one of the 32 NHL teams. The only issue for DeAngelo is that he can’t keep his mouth shut from commentating on his own team’s performances and decisions.
It was never going to work for DeAngelo in Philly with a cult of personality HC like John Tortorella at the helm, but saying, “I think it’s ridiculous that I didn’t play the last five. But he’s also the coach. It’s not my job to decide that. All I can worry about is being a good teammate, which I think I did” after Torts benched him for the final five games of the Flyers season last year is very stupid.
Did he really expect that would go over well?
If DeAngelo just focuses on hockey and improving his game to the best of his abilities, then I could see him playing in the Top-6 on a short, cheap contract for a team this season. But, if he doesn’t and continues to act out, then his career will be over faster than you can say “Gritty is the scariest mascot in the NHL”.
Damn, it wasn’t a great day to be one of the NHL’s Bad Boys.
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