Blues GM Doug Armstrong chews out TD Garden crew, gets perfectly Boston response, apologizes
Blues GM Doug Armstrong wasn’t happy with the TD Garden ice crew, and got a taste of Boston snark for his troubles. He has since apologized.
Mar 2, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Team Canada general manager Doug Armstrong smiles as he speaks with media during a press conference for the upcoming 2016 World Cup of Hockey at Intercontinental Hotel. (Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports)
Dan Hamilton-USA TODAYBy Matt Dolloff, 985TheSportsHub.com
One of the classic tenets of a born-and-bred Bostonian is the ability to never take crap from anyone, no matter who they are. So it sounds perfectly Boston that a member of the TD Garden ice crew wasn't going to just take a tongue-lashing from Blues GM Doug Armstrong.
According to multiple reports out of the Garden on Tuesday, just one day before the Blues and Bruins square off in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, Armstrong wasn't happy with the punctuality (or lack thereof) of the crew putting the ice together for practice. Per Blues reporter Frank Cusumano, Armstrong told them "Do your [expletive] jobs."
And according to Darren Dreger, a crew member threw back at him: "Who pissed in your Cheerios this morning?"
In fairness to Armstrong, Dreger later reported that he came back to apologize to the crew after cooling off. But there's your latest sign of someone in an organization who's never been in this spot before.
Quick background: The TD Garden crew who assembles the ice for hockey games, and all other surfaces, is known as the "Bull Gang". One of the members is John Grzelcyk, the father of Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk. So obviously there are some deep-rooted Boston ties among that group. That one of them snapped back at Armstrong was probably the least surprising news of the season.
All in all, not a major deal. Armstrong realized that just because he's a big bad GM doesn't make it right for him to treat crew workers who work for the other team like they're his peasants. But perhaps there's another reason for Bruins fans to hate the Blues ahead of Game 7.
Matt Dolloff is a digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff or email him at matthew.dolloff@bbgi.com.
