It’s the first round of the National Hockey League playoffs, and Raffi Torres is trending again.
But this is not 2012, Torres is not a member of the Phoenix Coyotes, and (so far) the winger has been far removed from the supplementary-disciplinary discussion.
Despite the Vancouver Canucks’ interest in reacquiring him, Torres was a tenacious player for the San Jose Sharks in the teams’ lopsided opening-round series. Not only did Torres remain penalty-free through the sweep and forecheck with persistence, he also scored the game-winner in Game 2.
More importantly, Torres — a man who has sent out one tweet lifetime — has gone viral, picking up the torch from Colin Kaepernick, Tim Tebow and the guy who first planked.
Thanks to Sharks fan @nuggetsauce (real name withheld), “Torresing” — the Western Conference quarterfinals’ version of getting bug-eyed — is a thing, and it’s coming soon to a T-shirt and retweet near you.
Seeing a screen grab of Torres on the bench, his eyes open to a comical degree, @nuggetsauce saw Torresing as “something fans could get behind that related Torres to something more positive.”
The fan never thought CSN would pick up on the trend or that fans would bring oversized Torres faces to the Tank.
“When (the) Sharks got Torres, I saw a barrage of ‘oh no’ on my timeline,” @nuggetsauce explains, through an interview conducted on Twitter (of course). “I was glad to have someone with a strong presence. I didn’t anticipate how great of an impact he’d have for the team, but excited for it.”
And you know it’s an official Internet meme once kitties begin participating:
