Raffi Torres has a pretty colorful history littered with questionable hits and multiple suspensions. After serving five suspensions across his 16-year career, Torres continues to face an uphill battle in reshaping his image. With a 41-game ban after a hit on Jakob Silfverberg in the preseason last year fresh in the minds of most hockey fans, Torres is once again claiming he can change his image.
Recently, the Carolina Hurricanes gave Torres a professional tryout offer which again grants the 34-year-old another opportunity to prove he can be more than a dirty player.
Torres recently spoke about what he believes might be his last shot, as seen in The News & Observer:
“Obviously I’m very grateful to get this opportunity. I realize it’s probably my last shot, with where I am in my career. I’m grateful, I’m thankful and I’m excited.
People are going to say what they’re going to say. I have not helped myself. You sleep in the bed you make. I accept that, I believe I had paid my dues and I have dealt with what I had to deal with. I think I can change the way I play.
I know I’ve got to change. I know I say that over and over, but I’ve got to change and I can change. People say, ‘What about the five or six suspensions?’ and I understand that, but overall I think I can change, I can still play, can still be productive.”
Do Torres’ comments sound familiar? They should, as he made similar comments in October 2015 and back in April of 2013 after receiving suspensions. The “change my ways” position is one Torres has had for far too long and he might be the best example where actions speak louder than words. Instead of going out and actually changing his game, Torres has continued to be a menace on the ice.
How many suspensions will it take for Torres to learn his lesson? He’s lucky he even has an opportunity at this point in his career and he needs to beyond careful as the next incident should be a permanent ban.
