TOP 100 OILERS: RAFFI TORRES (79)
8 years ago
I met Raffi Torres for the first time at the 2000 NHL Entry Draft in Calgary. Like many of the young men who filed into the room to meet reporters that day, the likes of Rick DiPietro, Dany Heatley and Scott Hartnell, Torres was nervous, dutifully answering the same old questions as best he could.
Unlike those other young men, Torres, who would be taken fifth overall by the New York Islanders the next day, had the most intense and intimidating stare I’ve ever seen. Disconcerting, it was. I had no idea then I was meeting a future member of the Edmonton Oilers and a player who has gone on to fund the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund to the tune of almost $700,000 (so far) with his on-ice acts of mayhem.
Raffi Torres #14
NUMBER: | 13 | BIRTHDATE: | October 8, 1981 (AGE 34) |
HEIGHT: | 6′ 0″ | BIRTHPLACE: | Toronto, ON, Canada |
WEIGHT: | 215 | DRAFTED: | NYI / 2000 NHL Entry Draft |
SHOOTS: | Left | ROUND: | 1st (5th overall) |
BY THE NUMBERS
SEASON | TEAM | GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | S | S% |
2001-02 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 0.0 | |
2001-02 | BRIDGEPORT SOUND TIGERS-AHL | 59 | 20 | 10 | 30 | -5 | 45 | ||
2002-03 | 17 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 12 | 0.0 | |
2002-03 | BRIDGEPORT SOUND TIGERS-AHL | 49 | 17 | 15 | 32 | 6 | 54 | 123 | 13.8 |
2002-03 | HAMILTON BULLDOGS-AHL | 11 | 1 | 7 | 8 | -3 | 14 | 24 | 4.2 |
2003-04 | 80 | 20 | 14 | 34 | 12 | 65 | 136 | 14.7 | |
2004-05 | EDMONTON ROADRUNNERS-AHL | 67 | 21 | 25 | 46 | 4 | 165 | ||
2005-06 | 82 | 27 | 14 | 41 | 4 | 50 | 164 | 16.5 | |
2006-07 | 82 | 15 | 19 | 34 | -7 | 88 | 154 | 9.7 | |
2007-08 | 32 | 5 | 6 | 11 | -4 | 36 | 87 | 5.8 | |
2008-09 | 51 | 12 | 8 | 20 | -4 | 23 | 74 | 16.2 | |
2009-10 | 60 | 19 | 12 | 31 | -8 | 32 | 99 | 19.2 | |
2009-10 | 14 | 0 | 5 | 5 | -3 | 2 | 21 | 0.0 | |
2010-11 | 80 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 4 | 78 | 115 | 12.2 | |
2011-12 | 79 | 15 | 11 | 26 | 2 | 83 | 99 | 15.2 | |
2012-13 | 28 | 5 | 7 | 12 | -1 | 13 | 40 | 12.5 | |
2012-13 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 20 | 10.0 | |
2013-14 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 33.3 | |
NHL TOTALS | 635 | 137 | 123 | 260 | 2 | 497 | 1,039 | 13.2 |
CAREER PLAYOFF STATISTICS
SEASON | TEAM | GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | S | S% |
2005-06 | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 2 | 16 | 42 | 9.5 | |
2008-09 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -3 | 2 | 4 | 0.0 | |
2009-10 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 0.0 | |
2010-11 | 23 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 28 | 20 | 15.0 | |
2011-12 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 14.3 | |
2012-13 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 2 | 12 | 8.3 | |
2013-14 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 6 | 33.3 | |
NHL TOTALS | 68 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 6 | 80 | 98 | 11.2 |
NOTABLE
Traded to the Oilers with Brad Isbister by New York for Janne Niinimaa in March 2003, Torres played 276 games with the Oilers, scoring 20-or-more goals twice, including 27 in 2005-06. He tallied 67-53-120 overall. Built like a cross between a pitbull and fire hydrant at six-feet and 215 pounds, Torres could flat-out play. He could skate. He could score. He could hit.
It’s the latter Torres is best remembered for by Oiler fans. Specifically, how he blindsided San Jose’s Milan Michalek with a textbook headshot that, at the time, was seen as an act that swung momentum Edmonton’s way in their second-round series against the Sharks in the 2006 playoffs. Torres blew him up good, and the Oilers advanced to the conference final against Anaheim.
Had that wicked hit on Michalek stood alone as an example of playoff intensity, a split-second decision gone wrong, a one-off, Torres would have been fine. That, of course, isn’t his story. Like Bryan Marchment before him, Torres can’t help himself. In the years since 2006, with the NHL’s intensified focus on taking headshots out of the game, Torres is the dictionary definition of a predatory hitter.
THE STORY
All told, Torres, traded to Columbus by Edmonton for Gilbert Brule in July of 2008, has been suspended five times and fined or warned by the NHL’s head office on four other occasions. His rap sheet includes four games for a hit on Oiler Jordan Eberle. His latest suspension, 41 games with San Jose for steamrolling Jakob Silfverberg, brings to 74 the games he’s been suspended for. In all, his dirty deeds have cost Torres about $670,000 in salary.
In terms of his career, it’s too bad, really. If Torres would’ve tried to toe the line, as he usually (not always) did during his time with Edmonton, instead of too often jumping across it with both feet, chances are we wouldn’t have seen him make stops in five different cities after leaving the Oilers.
Torres was often an effective player, and sometimes a force, during his tenure with the Oilers, but he’s been unable, or perhaps unwilling, to adapt. Instead of playing a significant part in another playoff run, like he did in 2006, Torres is running out of time.
This series will look at the top 100 Edmonton Oilers from the NHL era 1979-80 to 2014-15, starting with 100 and working up.
Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TSN 1260.
PREVIOUSLY:
- 80. Mike York
- 81. Andrew Cogliano
- 82. Mariusz Czerkawski
- 83. Eric Brewer
- 84. Tom Poti
- 85. Radek Dvorak
- 86. Igor Kravchuk
- 87. Lubomir Visnovsky
- 88. Luke Richardson
- 89. Willy Lindstrom
- 90. Bryan Marchment
- 91. Miroslav Satan
- 92. David Perron
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