Dan Boyle admits that he had mixed feelings following a run-in with New York Rangers media at breakup day in 2016. But any doubts he had about verbally jousting with Larry Brooks of the New York Post in a public display that went viral on social media disappeared several hours later.
"What people don't know is that when I showed up for a team dinner at the end of that night, I got a standing ovation from my teammates, which gives me goosebumps to think about because I was a voice for them because they couldn't," Boyle shared on The Steve Dangle Podcast earlier this year.
"I felt like shit for a couple hours after I said that, but that night everything went away because I knew I did the right thing. Those guys to this day are like, 'That was fu**ing incredible.'"
Boyle played the final two of his 17 NHL seasons with the Rangers from 2014-16. During that time, he believed Brooks scapegoated him for any troubles the Rangers had on ice, and took it personally. Boyle said he didn't speak out publicly during his Rangers tenure so as not to cause a distraction or shed any negative light on the organization.
That changed after the Rangers were eliminated by the Pittsburgh Penguins in five games of their best-of-7 first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series in 2016. His contract was up and Boyle knew he was not returning to the Rangers. In fact, he retired that offseason at the age of 39.
So, when he stood by his locker to answer questions from the media at breakup day, Boyle first let Brooks know the reporter was not welcome. The back and forth got ugly, and eventually Brooks did walk away. Since the exchange was caught on camera, the argument went viral outside the locker-room doors.
Many felt it was an overreaction. Boyle believed it was justified.
"I was handcuffed for two years there and at the end of the year (2016) I was like I'm not going to be quiet any more," Boyle stated. "Media has a responsibility to cover the game but when they take it personal and it becomes trash and it becomes about them and it becomes inaccurate and wrong, and 'Boyle did this' and I'm like 'I wasn't even on the ice for that goal,' that kind of shit.
"So, obviously I blew up at the end of that year."
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Those couple minutes are likely what most people remember about Boyle's tenure on Broadway. He did help the Rangers win the Presidents' Trophy and reach the Eastern Conference Final his first season with them, when he had 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) and was plus-18 in 65 games.
The following season, Boyle scored 10 goals and totaled 24 points in 74 games. But his overall game, and that of the Rangers, was not at the same level. The Rangers finished third in the Metropolitan Division, ninth overall in the League, and then were kayoed quickly in the playoffs by the Penguins.
"In New York, we had a Presidents'(Trophy-winning) team one year, we had a very good team for two years, but I was surprised how negative the media was," Boyle said. "Players always say 'Oh, we don't listen to that, we don't read that,' but I don't buy that … I mean, that's probably true. We don't read it, but someone else does and it filters its way into the locker room."
Boyle played — and starred — in smaller media markets earlier in his successful career. He helped the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Stanley Cup in 2004. And then he helped the San Jose Sharks finish first in the Pacific Division three times and reach the Western Conference Final twice in his six seasons playing in northern California.
All told, Boyle totaled 605 points (163 goals, 442 assists) in 1,093 NHL games, and another 81 points (17 goals, 64 assists) in 130 Stanley Cup Playoff games. An undrafted free agent, Boyle was one of the top offensive defensemen of his day.
And a fierce competitor.
That edginess holds true to this day, when he recalls the last chapter of his career in the dressing room at the MSG Training Center nine years later.
"I got texts from players I didn't know, numbers, saying 'Thank you for saying what I didn't have the ba**s to say.'"
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