Anthony DeAngelo continues to make it a habit to appear in headlines for all of the wrong reasons.
The Arizona Coyotes defenseman’s reputation has been poor during his hockey career. DeAngelo was suspended for eight games in junior for using a slur against a teammate. After getting drafted, despite putting up good numbers in his first AHL season, the Tampa Bay Lightning traded the 2014 first-round pick for a second-round pick – a move which was speculated to be made due to attitude issues. DeAngelo’s Twitter is also a mess of stupid remarks, including calling people “gay’ and “fag”. He’s a real peach.
DeAngelo got in his first bit of trouble at the NHL level. On Saturday, he got into an altercation with an official. DeAngelo acted like a child who didn’t get extra dessert, cursing and pushing an official who tried to constrain him. He received a game misconduct for abuse of an official.
On Monday, the league announced a three-game suspension for DeAngelo for abuse of officials.
“Arizona Coyotes defenseman Anthony DeAngelo has been suspended for three games, without pay, for violating Rule 40.4 (Physical Abuse of Officials) during NHL Game No. 556 in Calgary on Saturday, Dec. 31, the National Hockey League announced today.”
The most frustrating thing about DeAngelo’s actions is that he’s an incredibly talented offensive defenseman. But, he’s a hot-head and constantly refuses to use his better judgment. If he wants a long, successful career he needs to improve his attitude. Otherwise, he’s wasting his talent.