John Tortorella was fired by the New York Rangers Wednesday afternoon, ending the tenure of one of Broadway’s most outspoken personalities.
The fiery 54-year-old was well-known for his outbursts at the media, his opposition and at times, his own players.
Here, sportsnet.ca takes a look at Tortorella’s colourful commentary during his tenure in the Big Apple:
“It’s a cheap, dirty hit. I wonder what would happen if we did it to their two whining stars over there.”
The embattled coach was fined $20,000 for his comments.
Tortorella seemed to believe the league had an agenda against his Rangers.
At one point, Tortorella was particularly upset about the league’s supposed preferential treatment of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and his temper boiled over after Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik crashed with Derek Stepan on a knee-on-knee collision.
The Massachusetts native seemingly never considered that his complaints about the Penguins, could too be perceived as whining, however.
However, the Penguins were far from the lone team to draw Tortorella’s ire.
“I look at Zubrus’ elbow to Stralman, I look at Parise launching himself into Del Zotto,” Tortorella said. “Maybe if our players stay down on the ice, we’ll get something.”
Tortorella made this statement after Game 3 of last year’s Eastern Conference final against the New Jersey Devils, singling out Dainius Zubrus and Zach Parise for egregious offences.
Perhaps Tortorella was ruing that his players didn’t simulate injuries, as the Devils defeated the Rangers before eventually losing to the L.A. Kings in the Stanley Cup.
Tortorella’s wrath extended to the media, and he was never one to hold punches. New York Daily News columnist Larry Brooks often took the brunt of Tortorella’s criticism.
“You were probably beat up at the bus stop most of the time.”
Brooks unwittingly became Tortorella’s most famous sparring partner, and incurred some vintage bullying from the Rangers coach after a 2-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in January of 2010.
After Brooks retorted that Tortorella was a “great representative of the city”, the veteran Rangers coach told the reporter to “go stand somewhere else.”
“Some of you [reporters] sit here and tell me I’m curt or whatever. I’m not going to have a staring contest. If you don’t ask me questions, I’ll just leave.”
Always one to hold reporters accountable for their questions, Tortorella was sick of accusations and demanded the media asked him questions, instead of critiquing his team’s work.
“Ask me a question. Don’t say talk about it, ask me a question. I’m not going to talk about it if it isn’t a question.”
The Rangers’ coach would have made every journalism professor proud, demanding the media compile questions, instead of utilizing the eccentric bench boss for a mere soundbyte.
Tortorella wasn’t particularly happy to be questioned over Brad Richards’ diminished playing time:
No one was safe from Tortorella’s comments, least of all his players. Tortorella had a notable feud with forward Carl Hagelin over the past two seasons.
“He stinks on the power play. I don’t know why. I wish I could play him more on the power play but every time I put him on, he stinks.
“He’s a jitterbug and he screws it up. But the power play stinks. It’s true. That’s why he may get an opportunity.”
Hagelin was often in the coach’s doghouse, and though the Rangers power play struggled immensely in this year’s playoffs, the former University of Michigan forward was never utilized.
Hagelin responded saying “I don’t really have comments. All I can say is I don’t stink.”
However, Tortorella’s colourful comments could sometimes be presented in a positive light:
“I thought that little [expletive] Benn Ferriero played well.”
Following a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs this season, Tortorella made a backhanded compliment of his 5-foot-11 centre.
Tortorella’s tenure in New York was memorable, to say the least. However, star forward Marian Gaborik may have some poignant insight:
