John Tortorella has a reputation for his temper tantrums and harsh words for officials and media members. While the coach of the Philadelphia Flyers has remained in control throughout the majority of the season, he received a game misconduct in his team's 7-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday. The NHL further punished the coach by suspending him two games for his reaction to a reversed penalty call.
The NHL says it has suspended #flyers coach John Tortorella for two games and fined him $50,000.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) March 10, 2024
Hearing John Tortorella has been suspended two games.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 10, 2024
Tortorella was upset with referees Wes McCauley and Brandon Schrader after Brayden Point scored a power-play goal following a tripping call against Flyers defenseman Ronnie Attard. Originally, Tampa Bay's Mikey Eyssimont was called for tripping, but the officials changed their minds and penalized Attard instead.
After Point's goal, Tortorella let out his displeasure to the officials and was ultimately tossed from the game. He continued to protest and then finally left the bench and went to the locker room. Assistant coaches Brad Shaw and Rocky Thompson took over for him.
“I think he was just trying to make a point that we felt like we might not have been getting our fair shake,” Shaw said. “It's an emotional game at times, and we all get elevated blood pressure. I'm not going to speculate on whether or not it was the right call. It's an emotional game, you know, and Wes decided that was the right thing to do. That's his decision in the moment.”
John Tortorella will be forced to sit out Philadelphia's games two home games this week against the San Jose Sharks and the Toronto Maple Leafs. He will be able to return Saturday when the Flyers play the Bruins in Boston.
Follow Us
Subscribe