Tony DeAngelo: Potential Wasted

 

Tony DeAngelo is a *ahem* controversial figure in the professional hockey zeitgeist. He holds both an army of loyal fans who will defend him unconditionally, and he holds an enemy coalition of fans who hate him regardless of what he says/does. For some of those fans, particularly the former, loyalty to DeAngelo directly ties to political beliefs (ie his strong opinions about Donald Trump). Personally, I don’t give a (blank) what DeAngelo thinks of the world more than I think of any stranger with minimal experience in political science. 

Because of his polarizing status, even mentioning DeAngelo’s name brings with it a wave of criticism & scorn. I may risk bringing myself before the court of public opinion simply by writing this article, right or wrong. A conversation about DeAngelo is incomplete without bringing up his controversies. 

The issue with DeAngelo, as it has always been, is his character. He has played in five different NHL organizations now (TB, ARI, NYR, CAR and PHI) and he cannot seem to hold down a job. He was benched for eight straight games with the Syracuse Crunch (TB’s AHL Affiliate), and it was alleged that was due to “behavioral issues”. He physically assaulted a referee while playing for the Arizona Coyotes.  He once fought Rangers backup goalie Alexander Georgiev after yelling at him to “make a bleeping save!”. That fight got him placed on waivers, even though DeAngelo had recorded 53 points in 68 NHL games the year prior. Carolina moved on from DeAngelo after a season in which he recorded 51 points and was a +30. 

Since the punch, DeAngelo hasn’t spent longer than one season in any given place. He spent those seasons being coached by some of the best the NHL can offer: John Tortarella & Rod Brind’Amour. Even those guys couldn’t reel in DeAngelo.  Despite being third among defensemen in scoring, St. Petersburg SKA benched DeAngelo for two games in the KHL. Not long after, his contract was terminated for “family reasons”. That leads us to where we are now: DeAngelo has, potentially, run himself out of another team. 

There have been “divas” in professional sport. Terrell Owens, Alex Rodriguez and Alexei Kovalev just to name a few. All of those guys still managed to have long professional careers in North America. Why? Because they were really good, teams tolerated them. DeAngelo, conversely, isn’t good enough to justify tolerating him. And that’s saying something, because DeAngelo was a pretty good offensive defenseman in the NHL and a great defenseman in the KHL. Teams put up with Mike Ribero’s antics for a player of a similar role, is DeAngelo just that big of a bellend? 

I’m not going to pretend to know the answer to that question. However, actions speak louder than words. Problems don’t “follow you” forever. Eventually, you’re the problem. 

As my father told me once…“Not everyone is an a-hole except you” 

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Is this the end of DeAngelo’s professional hockey career? Probably not. He had too good of a stint in the KHL for him to be over. At minimum, some European league will give him a chance if he wants it. But that doesn’t change the fact that DeAngelo was once one of the most promising young defenseman in hockey. As a fan of a rival, I  thought the likes of him and Adam Fox would terrorize me for a decade. Instead, DeAngelo has fallen into obscurity, and it seems like it's his own fault.

 

featured image courtesy of SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL