New York Rangers coach John Tortorella apologized on Wednesday for remarks he made regarding the officiating in the 2012 NHL Winter Classic.
"I tainted the Winter Classic with my mouth," he said, according to ESPN's Katie Strang.
New York defeated the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday, 3-2, but Tortorella later lashed out against officiating that afforded a penalty shot to Philadelphia with 19.6 seconds left.
"I'm not sure if NBC got together with the refs and wanted to turn this into an overtime game," Tortorella said at the podium in the basement of Citizens Bank Park. "I'm not sure if they had meetings about that or what."
"I didn't think the game would come down to that situation," Rangers GM Glen Sather told The Bergen Record. "You see three or four calls that are enough to blow your mind... Look at all of it."
During his apology, Tortorella said that he never truly felt the game was being fixed and that his comments were meant to be taken in jest.
Keep up with SB Nation New York's 2012 NHL Winter Classic for the latest coverage of the event. You can visit Blueshirt Banter for the Rangers perspective. For the Flyers perspective, see Broad Street Hockey or SBNation Philly.