Tony DeAngelo might have landed himself in hot water

Tony’s Twitter is a battleground

Tony DeAngelo is hockey’s newest public enemy.  It’s no secret that DeAngelo is a die-hard supporter of President Donald Trump, and he would be the first person to tell you that himself.  As we are in the thick of one of the most controversial elections the United States has ever seen,  Democratic Presidential candidate, Joe Biden, is currently ahead in voting as the election nears an end.  Naturally, DeAngelo is unhappy about the fact that the candidate he holds near and dear, Republican Donald Trump, might be on the losing end of things in the coming hours/days.  DeAngelo quickly took to Twitter to voice his belief that the election might be fixed.

Naturally, this tweet was met with criticism, much like most of DeAngelo’s tweets are.  It only seemed to worsen when Tony brought the COVID-19 pandemic into the fight.  In a recently deleted tweet, DeAngelo alluded to the lack of COVID related coverage within the media over the last few days as the election rages on.  The tweet faced major backlash, as many have accused DeAngelo of calling the virus a hoax.

Soon after DeAngelo deleted the COVID related tweet, his account followed suit.  Tony temporarily disabled his Twitter account, but has since reactivated it and is back interacting with fans on the platform.

It’s unknown as to whether the Rangers organization had anything to do with the deactivating of the account or the deleting of the controversial tweet.  Matt Porter, hockey writer covering the Boston Bruins and the NHL over at The Boston Globe, reached out to DeAngelo and the New York Rangers organization.  He didn’t get an official response from the team and DeAngelo was not able to be contacted.

It is unlikely that DeAngelo will face any type of disciplinary action from the Rangers front office, but he may have been asked to tone down the political commentary, as I’m sure the organization disapproves of any type of negative publicity.

A history of not being able to playing nice

This isn’t the first time Tony DeAngelo’s name has been thrown around in a controversial fashion.  Back in February of 2014, when he was playing for the OHL’s Sarnia Sting, DeAngelo was handed an eight game suspension when he was found guilty of violating the OHL’s harassment, abuse and diversity policy.  The suspension came after DeAngelo was accused of using offensive slurs toward one of his teammates, and it wasn’t the first time that the teenager was in trouble for violating the OHL’s harassment policy.

DeAngelo was also involved in two more incidents when he was suspended one game for the abuse of an OHL official, and then during the 2016-17 NHL season he was suspended for three games due to a similar incident involving another official.  DeAngelo was a member of the Arizona Coyotes at the time.

DeAngelo isn’t alone on the NHL “Trump Train”

Tony DeAngelo is not the only NHL personality who is facing scrutiny for his political beliefs.  Hockey Hall of Famer and two time Stanley Cup Champion Bobby Orr recently took out a full-page ad in the New Hampshire Union Leader in support of President Donald Trump.

Many other NHL players and ex-players support the president, but none have gone to the lengths that both Orr and DeAngelo have to show their support for Trump.

Most NHLers choose to keep their noses out of American politics, logical considering that many  hail from foreign countries like Canada, Russia, Sweden etc.  There have been other articles written for Blue Line Station that take a more in-depth look at Tony DeAngelo’s political history.

Blue Line Station is a hockey website and we tend to stay out of politics, but considering the attention this issue has received, it’s worth reporting.  We aren’t going to take sides in the debate, except to say that maybe it might be a good idea for DeAngelo to take a break from Twitter and politics, so he can focus on hockey and the upcoming season.  One of DeAngelo’s most recent replies on Twitter seems to show that he is trending in that direction, and it’s refreshing to see his priorities in the right place.