Tony DeAngelo Calls Out Boston Bruins Fans Ahead Of Game 5

If Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Tony DeAngelo’s goal is to become one of the most hated sports villains in recent Boston Bruins and Bostons sports history, he’s doing a great job.

After allowing Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand to get under his skin and remind him of his troubled past, DeAngelo, and his Hurricanes teammates unraveled in a 5-2 loss that sent this first round playoff series back to Raleigh tied at two games apiece. DeAngelo was jeered viciously by the Boston Bruins fans at TD Garden after his interaction with Marchand and then after he cross-checked and punched Boston Bruins forward Curtis Lazar.

Following Hurricanes practice on Monday, DeAngelo shrugged off the idea that the Boston Bruins have seized momentum in the series heading into Game 5 Tuesday at PNC Arena in Raleigh. He also took a shot at Bruins fans saying PNC is a much louder arena than TD Garden is.

“There’s no panic in our locker room. 2-2 series, and we’re back in front of a much louder building than it was in Boston, so we’ll be fine,” DeAngelo said.

As for the exchange with Marchand at the end of the first period in which he pointed at his nose in jest of Marchand’s rather large beak, and to which Marchand retorted by yelling at him “You’re a racist, you’re a F!$*&%G racist,” DeAngelo had this to say:

“Nothing. Just playoff hockey. All good,” he said.

That was far less humorous that how the veteran Boston Bruins winger who had five points (2g, 3a) in Game 4 explained it.

“I was just asking him if he he had a good Mother’s Day,” Marchand replied with a smirk when asked about the interaction with Tony DeAngelo following Game 4.

Tony DeAngelo was if tossing his stick at Marchand as the Boston Bruins winger broke in alone for an empty-net goal to seal the win for the Bruins in the waning seconds Sunday was another example of him losing his cool?

“Yeah, is that right?,” DeAngelo responded when asked about stick toss. “I’d rather knock off the puck… if it knocks off his stick, it’s gonna count as a goal anyways. So would you rather see it go in the net or go wide? It is what it is. It doesn’t bother me very much that I can’t do it.”

As far as Tony DeAngelo is concerned, his childish behavior had no bearing on the outcome and didn’t fuel a Bruins team grasping for a spark after trailing 2-1 after the first period.

“I don’t know what emotions we’re talking about here” DeAngelo said. “It’s playoff hockey. We’re losing the game, so obviously we’re a little frustrated, but I don’t think anything happened. Nothing happened in the game. Everybody wants to write a little story about it or something, but we’re trying to win a series here. If you don’t have any fire, you’re not gonna win. I’m gonna keep doing what I’m doing. I’m not very concerned what anybody thinks.”

"We're trying to win a series here. If you don't have a little fire, then you're not going to win"

Tony DeAngelo says yesterday's back-and-forth with Brad Marchand was just playoff hockey. FWIW If he can keep it in check, I think it's good edge to have #Canes pic.twitter.com/zwY25BneuC

— Kacy Hintz (@KacyHintz) May 9, 2022

That answer doesn’t hold much weight though considering what one Bruins fan claimed Tony DeAngelo did to his two teenage sons following the game. DeAngelo apparently challenged the youngsters to a fight.

Tom in West Bridgewater tells @TheRealGresh and @Keefe21 that after Game 4, Tony DeAngelo mouthed at Tom's two teenage sons, who were booing DeAngelo from a box, to "come down here…"😂😂😂@WEEI @smclaughlin9 @EvanMarinofsky @PeteBlackburn @ShukriWrights pic.twitter.com/7TqChMkvMZ

— Gresh & Keefe (@GreshKeefe) May 9, 2022

On thing is for sure, if Tony DeAngelo truly thinks that he wasn’t out of line and didn’t hurt his team, then the Bruins will have a better chance of egging him into penalties and heading back to Boston up 3-2 in the series with a chance to clinch in Game 6 Thursday.