The Bench Toss that Shook the Devils | SUNDAYS WITH STAN

There was a lot to like about the way Robbie Ftorek was orchestrating the Devils from behind New Jersey's bench during the 1999-2000 season.
For one thing, the head coach had fused one of the National Hockey League's best attacking units, The A Line.
Towering center Jason Arnott was flanked by a pair of gifted Czechs, Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora.
Elias would complete the campaign with a team-leading 35 goals and also was the club's point champ with 72.
Rookie center Scotty Gomez topped the assist list with 51 helpers and would win the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's foremost freshman.

The captain and leading defenseman, Scott Stevens, finished the regular schedule with a magnificent plus-30 mark.
Then, there was the energizing return of Claude Lemieux from Colorado in the deal that sent defensive forward Brian Rolston to the Avalanche. One reporter categorized The Lemieux Effect this way:
"His return immediately energized the dressing room. Claude also took a special interest in mentoring many of the Devils; especially Scott Gomez who had great talent but was a little too much of a free spirit. Lemieux would teach the kids that talent wasn't enough to win a championship."
Superficially, at least, it appeared that Lou Lamoriello was pulling all the right strings. At least that's how I felt when I met the team at Joe Louis Arena the morning of a game against the Detroit Red Wings late in January 2000.
The Winged Wheelers also played a hard, competitive game and nobody expected it to be different on this night. It proved to be a tight contest in the second period with the home club nursing a 2-1 lead.
As it happened, while doing the game for MSG Network, I was stationed near the boards in the Wings' end of the rink when New Jersey's forward Jay Pandolfo was smashed heavily into the boards by a Detroit defender.
Having covered the NHL since 1954, I had become accustomed to severe collisions but this one was more devastating than most. Frankly, I was horrified to see Jay lying in a pool of blood, face down on the ice.
Like all the Devils, I awaited the whistle from referee Steven Walkom and a penalty call against Detroit. So, did coach Ftorek as, I am sure, so did the Red Wings fans.
But there was no whistle, and on a Detroit counterattack, the Wings scored to make it a 3-1 game. I was astonished over the "No Call" and so was George Falkowski who was anchoring sports at News 12 New Jersey. He was recording the game for his upcoming sportscast.
So incensed was Ftorek that Walkom had failed to impose a penalty that he reached for the heavy visitors bench and with a mighty weight-lifter lunge, actually tossed the heavy lumber on the ice.
Falkowski's first reaction - strictly from a TV standpoint was, "This is GREAT television." Old-School Hockey in the most vivid sense of the term.
George: "Having worked 10 years with the Bruins and seeing enough craziness between Boston and Montreal, I figured that the Ftorek toss was just something that could happen during the course of an intense game.
"But as I thought about it, I began to think that maybe the pressure was piling up on Ftorek. He was a peach off the ice, but every bit as intense when coaching as he had been as a player. The reaction was clearly over the top. His style and sandpaper methods were clearly beginning to wear on the team."
That said, it should be noted that there was a method to Robbie's madness. He was sticking up for a valuable player who was badly damaged on a dirty play. Pandolfo required 84 stitches in his face and head. Ftorek's displeasure was not without reason.
The NHL did not repudiate referee Walkom in any way but the NHL's Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations certainly did. Colin Campbell suspended New Jersey's coach for one game and slapped him with a $10,000 fine.
Campbell: "The actions of Mr. Ftorek were unacceptable. All coaches must meet standards of decorum. Any coach who demeans the game is accountable."
On the other hand, MSG Networks Graphics Producer Leo Scaglione, Jr., - a young fan at the time - had this reaction to Ftorek's bench-tossing episode:
"I was at first shocked to see Robbie toss the bench; but I also was, in a fan's way, appreciative because I was angry that play wasn't stopped with Pando down on the ice and no penalty called on the play.
"To see my coach show such passion and outrage made me not only appreciative of him but the team even more. Then again, I knew it wasn't going to end well once the dust had cleared. But, frankly, at the time I was grateful that Robbie took a stand."
Likewise, as a SportsChannel reporter at the scene, I was feeling for the team I was covering; not to mention the fact that Pando was a pal of mine and this was a key game for the Devils. Losing Jay that way hurt the team almost as much as the injury hurt him.
What remained to be seen was the manner in which the Devils reacted on the ice and off once Ftorek resumed his coaching. The most important part of the NHL homestretch was ahead and the results would go a long way to determine whether the Garden Staters would remove the "Choke" label that had been haunting them for three playoff years!