Rangers Flashback: Jakub Voracek calling out reporter brings back memories of Dan Boyle and Larry Brooks
Players calling out reporters is nothing new, but when it happens it’s usually a little jaw dropping. This was the case last night when the Flyers Jakub Voracek called out a local reporter.
The two have a “history” dating back to 2019 where Mike Sielski wrote an overly critical article on Voracek. There is also a litany of similar articles and tweets on top of that.
“Does it matter what I say, Mike? You’re gonna write f#@king shit every time so it doesn’t matter what you say,” Voracek answered back. “Uh, I wasn’t even gonna answer your question because you are such a weasel it’s not even funny.”
Dan Boyle calls out Larry Brooks
The exchange between Voracek and Sielski was mild in comparison to other interactions between players and reporters. Anyone remember the Rangers Dan Boyle telling NY Post writer Larry Brooks to “Get the F#@k out!“?
Back in 2016, Dan Boyle had a heated exchange at the end of the year break up with the hall of fame reporter. Both Brooks and his colleague Brett Cyrgalis were very critical of Boyle and some of his Rangers teammates for two seasons.
Here’s a sampling of Brooks writing about Dan Boyle to start the 2015-16 campaign.
But at this moment, there is essentially no debate that allowing Anton Stralman to escape as a free agent in order to sign Dan Boyle on July 1, 2014, stands as Glen Sather’s most regrettable decision of the final 10 years of the Rangers president’s tenure as general manager.
Boyle is a stubborn guy. He earned his no-move clause and has every right to stick to it. But he doesn’t seem to be a fit. Put aside Boyle’s issues in his own end and his difficulty winning battles. More to the point is that the predicate of Vigneault’s system is the quick first pass out of the zone, but Boyle still wants to carry the puck the way he always did. (Which he no longer is capable of, anyway.)
That’s as harsh as you can get of a player in ink.
Dan Boyle, “Get the F#@k Out!”
“I want you out of here, ” Boyle spoke directly to Brooks. “Nobody likes you. Nobody respects you. Just so you know,” the veteran defenseman emphasized.
“At least I’m leaving here with the respect of my teammates,” Boyle said with his voice starting to raise. “Instead of f**king someone like you, who tries to bury somebody. That’s all you do. It’s not a critique. I’m telling you I don’t want you here. I have no respect for you. I want you to get the f**k out.”
The exchange went on and is one of those YouTube videos that hockey fans love to watch.
Dan Boyle unapologetic for the heated exchange
After that heated exchange, Dan Boyle went on SportsTalk NY on WLIE 540 a.m. and was asked about the exchange. The defenseman wanted to make sure people understood why he did it.
“That negative stuff gets into the locker room. That’s what pissed me off. That negativity, that constant breaking down of individuals, gets through,” Boyle explained. “Not everyone has tough skin. Some guys get affected by that, and it really bothers me.”
He also revealed that his phone was blowing up with support from fellow players who felt the same way. And when it comes to having any regrets over the incident – yeah, there really was none.
“Now, I regret saying it in front of the rest of the media, because 99.9 percent of everyone there didn’t deserve to hear that coming from me, and probably made them feel uncomfortable, so I do apologize to them,” Boyle made clear.
“But I do not, for one second, take back what I said to Larry and Brett. I do not take that back for one second because the things that they have done and said over the course of the last two years.”
So was Dan Boyle wrong? Sound off in the comments below.
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