Flyers star Jakub Voracek called a reporter a “weasel” during a stunning Friday night rant.
Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Mike Sielski, who was critical of Voracek last October, asked the 31-year-old attacker if this unprecedented season felt different.
Voracek seemed annoyed as Sielski spoke, buried his head in his hands and replied, “No matter what I say, Mike, you’re going to write f-king shit every time.”
Teammate Travis Konecky, who was also on stage during the video call, nearly spit out his drink.
Voracek then said that this season felt “different”, paused and went on to berate Sielski.
“I didn’t even want to answer your question, you’re such a weasel it’s not even funny,” said Voracek, a Czech resident. “Next question.”
The two players giggled for a moment when another reporter started asking a question about Flyers’ 5-2 win over the rival Penguins.
Sielski suggested in an interview with Philadelphia-based website Crossing Broad that Voracek’s anger may have stemmed from a column he wrote last season when the Flyers were 5-5-1 and consecutively skewed.
Sielski wrote that Voracek and teammate James van Riemsdyk laughed while head coach Alain Vigneault “urged his top players to go for us”.
He said he apologized and updated the column after Flyers’ PR department contacted “because they thought I was writing that Voracek and van Riemsdyk were laughing at Alain Vigneault.”
If Voracek did indeed laugh at his coach, Sielski wrote in the updated column, “Well, Vigneault has already dropped Voracek to the fourth line once this season, and maybe it’s time for a Flyers head coach to point out the limitations of the two players. the franchise has been considered and treated as indispensable for years, ”the other player is captain Claude Giroux.
Sielski, who has been a sports columnist for The Inquirer for seven years, said he offered to “smooth things out” with Voracek.
Apparently that never happened.
Voracek tweeted on Saturday that Sielski never contacted him after the incident, “because he knew I was going to break up. Believe me, I would like to [meet] eye in eye. That was our first interaction since then, ”he said, referring to Friday’s video call.
Media access has declined since March, when it was interrupted last season due to the coronavirus. Personal interviews have since been off limits.
Sielski defended himself Saturday morning after his earlier tweets apparently criticizing Voracek resurfaced.
A tweet Sielski wrote in 2016 said, “The #Flyers are collapsing, and it’s Jake Voracek’s fault. My column:”
He said it was written for fun.
“There is no column,” he said. “It’s a” joke I make all the time “.
The Flyers kicked off this season, which started three months later than usual and is like no other due to the COVID-19 outbreak, a popular choice for winning the Stanley Cup.
Voracek, who is in the fifth year of an eight-year deal worth $ 66 million, had two assists in Friday’s win.