Tony DeAngelo breaks his silence, says he's been 'misportrayed', but doesn't wish to play the victim

Almost two weeks have passed since blueliner Tony DeAngelo was removed from the picture in New York following an altercation with teammate Alexandar Georgiev, that only blew up after DeAngelo lit Georgiev's fuse.

Up until now, DeAngelo would not publicly comment on the whole ordeal, but on Friday, DeAngelo chose to sit down for a call with The New York Post's Larry Brooks to clear the air.

What is most surprising about the situation is that DeAngelo did not wish for any sympathy, nor did he wish to play the role of the victim - something he made very clear at the beginning of the interview with Brooks.

"I'm obviously disappointed about the way things ended in New York and how things have unfolded, but I'm not going to sit here and play the victim card at all," DeAngelo began.

"Hockey-wise, there are mistakes that I have made. I've gotten hot-headed at times. I'm the first one to admit that and I take responsibility for it. I've tried to learn and get better and better at it, but there are still times where things have happened and emotionally I've gone over the line a little bit, and I accept responsibility for that. The thing with Alex, exactly like he said, emotions got away.

"I wish things had happened differently, but like I said before, I'm not in any way playing the victim card."

Obviously, DeAngelo's history came into play when the Rangers made the decision to waive him, as well as when the other 30 NHL teams passed on claiming him. This didn't all stem from a physical altercation between he and Georgiev. His ousting was more to do with several issues unrelated to the tussle with his netminder. The fight was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

It was believed that DeAngelo's treatment of rookie teammate K'Andre Miller, who happens to be Black, played a role in his dismissal from the team as well. More specifically, an allegation that he had stole the puck from Miller's first NHL goal, robbing the rookie defenseman of the joy that would come with retaining his first goal puck - a nice piece of memorabilia for any NHL player to have.

Well, according to Miller's own agent, Ian Pulver, K'Andre was never actually involved in DeAngelo's story at all.

"There were no issues between them of any kind," Pulver told the New York Post on Friday. "There is no reason he should be part of this.

"As far as the first-goal puck being an issue, K'Andre never even knew it to be an issue. It was always his understanding that the puck was with the training staff. It's not right that he has become part of this story."

Even DeAngelo's former defensive partner Marc Staal, now a Detroit Red Wing, is having a hard time with how far out of control this whole mess has spun, claiming that even his Detroit teammates are curious about DeAngelo - who has a less-than-stellar reputation around the league for some reasons more obvious than others.

There has been some speculation as to whether or not DeAngelo is a racist, which he vehemently denies that he is. Staal absolutely echoes DeAngelo's denial of that character trait, condemning those who would aim to paint him with that brush, and feeling bad for his former teammate, whom he knows to be a different person from how he is characterized by his critics.

"There has never been any indication at all that Tony has racist tendencies," Staal told the NY Post. "I hear these things about him, and it's as if they're talking about a different person. The guys here in Detroit, they're all super-curious about him.

"I feel bad for him, to be honest. Whether it's the junior stuff that warps into this, I don't know. He's a lightning rod, and yeah, he yells at coaches and referees and he has these moments where he goes overboard, but he's a good teammate.

"Racist? I'm telling you, some of this stuff is just insane."

DeAngelo also advocated for himself during his call with Brooks, describing himself as "misportrayed", despite previously violating the OHL's harassment, abuse and diversity policy during his time with the Sarnia Sting.

"I'm definitely misportrayed in my opinion," DeAngelo said. "I'm not a racist, I'm not an extremist and I'm not an insurrectionist.

"That stuff is completely false. That's nothing that I stand for and I don't think anyone stands for. People have different opinions and I respect everyone's opinion. I never attack anyone for their opinion. I have mine that obviously I shared, but I never thought that I crossed the line with anything.

"I understand people not liking it, the way things went, but I'm definitely not an extremist, that I can tell you. I thought I gave my opinion, I respect other people's opinions, and that's all I thought I was doing.

"There's a lot of nasty stuff on social media, and sometimes it frustrates you. I know I shouldn't respond to people who said things I thought were over the line, but I did, and it was stupid, but I won't be doing that anymore.

"The post about COVID, it was taken out of context," DeAngelo said. "I shouldn't have tweeted it, obviously, but I was commenting more about how the media was covering it following the election, the parades after the election that President Biden won, there were no more worries about masks and social distancing in the street compared to the way the Trump rallies were portrayed.

"That was my point, not that the virus wasn't real. There have been family members and friends that have had it. I respect the seriousness nature of it, I have followed all the health and safety protocols. I didn't explain it well on that tweet, but it's important for me to do that now. I'm not a COVID-denier."

Having been away from NHL ice for a couple of weeks, DeAngelo has continued to skate with a U18 hockey program in South Jersey, helping the kids in the program in any way that he can with his knowledge of the game at the pro-level. In fact, many of the parents of the kids in the program have really admired and appreciated the work DeAngelo has been doing and the attention he has given to the kids, including Jason Fray, who has two sons who DeAngelo has helped immensely.

"The depiction of him does not resemble the person I know," said Fray. "He is one of the kindest, most giving people I know. He spends hours and hours at the rink, with the kids. He's generous with his words, his approach. He's just so well liked by the kids, by the parents. My wife is heartbroken over this."

Another of the parents, Jim Reilly, spoke to DeAngelo's willingness to use his mistakes to try and teach the kids to make better decisions.

"He talks to these kids about mistakes he's made and how you learn from them. He gives them lessons, off the ice, too. He gives away his skates and gloves. The guy I read about and the guy I know are not the same guy," said Reilly.

When asked what his hopes are and what his next steps include, DeAngelo was adamant that he wants another chance to prove that the picture everyone seems to want to paint of him isn't the most accurate portrayal of Tony DeAngelo, the man - or Tony DeAngelo, the player.

"I want the chance to show people who I really am," said DeAngelo. "I'm very determined to get back and not prove people wrong, per se, but prove to teams that will chance on me that they are right.

"I want to show that I'm not what people say I am and that if a team is willing to take a chance with me, that I will help their team, be good in the community and be there for a long time. I think I can help a lot of teams. I am hopeful and I am staying positive.

"I'm just a guy who wants to play hockey."

Rumours out of New York are that there are several suitors in line for DeAngelo's services. Now it's just a matter of Rangers GM Jeff Gorton trying to negotiate the best deal possible to ensure that the Rangers get a quality return on DeAngelo.

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