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| Born | June 24, 1958 , Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Height Weight |
5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb) |
| Position | Right Wing |
| Shot | Left |
| Pro clubs | Virginia Lancers |
| Pro career | 1982 – 1986 |
Jonathan "John" John Tortorella (born June 24, 1958 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American professional ice hockey coach and is currently the head coach of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is perhaps best known for his tenure as head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he led the team to the 2004 Stanley Cup. Tortorella became head coach of the Lightning on June 6, 2001 and stayed on until his firing on June 3, 2008 after six and a half seasons, having compiled a 239-222-36-38 record. The firing took place four years after the team's Stanley Cup victory.[1]
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Early life
Tortorella "The Paper Italian" played college hockey at the University of Maine from 1978–81, along with his brother, goaltender Jim, who now serves as head men's coach for Division III Colby College. He also played right wing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and ACHL. He briefly played with Oren Koules while with the Hampton Roads Gulls of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League. The two would later reunite in Tampa Bay, as Tortorella was the coach and Koules became one of the new owners of the Lightning.
Coaching career
Tortorella's coaching career began with the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Rochester Americans and the ECHL's Virginia Lancers. He was also an assistant coach for the AHL's New Haven Nighthawks and Rochester Americans, and the NHL's Buffalo Sabres, Phoenix Coyotes and New York Rangers. He won the Calder Cup with the 1996 Rochester Americans.
Tortorella is an exuberant coach, known for criticizing his own players and for his somewhat unusual style of systematically rotating goaltending duties. He was particularly hard on Lightning goaltender John Grahame for much of the 2005–06 season. Grahame subsequently signed with the Carolina Hurricanes before the start of the 2006–07 season.
He was involved in controversy yet again after game five of Lightning's series against the New Jersey Devils during the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs. During a press conference in which Tortorella was visibly irate and disappointed, he told New York Post reporter Larry Brooks to "get the fuck out of here" live on CBC television.
Tortorella was fined $10,000 by the NHL for negative comments he made about the on-ice officials after a 4–3 overtime loss at the Atlanta Thrashers on November 19, 2007.
John is also the current assistant coach of the U.S. National Men's hockey team[2], replacing Peter Laviolette, which included leading the squad at the 2008 IIHF World Championship, where they finished sixth.
After his dismissal from the Lightning, Tortorella was an in-studio panelist on the NHL on TSN.
Tortorella was named head coach of the New York Rangers on February 23, 2009, replacing Tom Renney, who was fired earlier that day.[3] On March 17, he became the American-born coach with the most wins in NHL history, surpassing Peter Laviolette.
Tortorella was suspended 1 game by the NHL for an altercation with several Capitals fans behind the bench in the third period of Game 5 in the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Replays show Tortorella throwing a water bottle at a fan before grabbing a stick from Aaron Voros and trying to spear the fan through a space between 2 panes of glass. He did not receive a penalty on the play despite the fact NHL Rules state any physical altercations with fans result in ejection from a game; however, the next day the NHL stepped in and suspended him.[4]
NHL coaching record
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | Finish | W | L | Win % | Result | ||
| NYR | 1999–00* | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | - | 1 | 4th in Atlantic (73 Pts.) | -- | -- | -- | - |
| TB | 2000–01* | 43 | 12 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 28 | 5th in Southeast (59 Pts.) | -- | -- | -- | - |
| TB | 2001–02 | 82 | 27 | 40 | 11 | 4 | 69 | 3rd in Southeast | -- | -- | -- | - |
| TB | 2002–03 | 82 | 36 | 25 | 16 | 5 | 93 | 1st in Southeast | 5 | 6 | .455 | Lost East Semifinals |
| TB | 2003–04 | 82 | 46 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 106 | 1st in Southeast | 16 | 7 | .696 | Stanley Cup Champions |
| TB | 2005–06 | 82 | 43 | 33 | - | 6 | 92 | 2nd in Southeast | 1 | 4 | .200 | Lost East Quarterfinals |
| TB | 2006–07 | 82 | 44 | 33 | - | 5 | 93 | 2nd in Southeast | 2 | 4 | .333 | Lost East Quarterfinals |
| TB | 2007–08 | 82 | 31 | 42 | - | 9 | 71 | 5th in Southeast | -- | -- | -- | - |
| NYR | 2008–09* | 21 | 12 | 7 | - | 2 | 26 | 4th in Atlantic (95 Pts.) | 3 | 4 | .429 | Lost East Quarterfinals |
| Total | 560 | 251 | 232 | 37 | 40 | .517 | 27 | 25 | .519 | |||
* - Mid-season replacement
See also
References
- ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080603/ap_on_sp_ho_ne/hkn_lightning_tortorella
- ^ "John Tortorella, Scott Gordon join U.S. Olympic Hockey Coaching Staff". ESPN. June 29, 2009. http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olyhockey/news/story?id=4294731.
- ^ "Tortorella named head coach of Rangers". New York Rangers press release. February 23, 2009. http://rangers.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=410744.
- ^ Staple, Arthur (2009-04-26). "Now it's Tortorella that gets benched". Newsday. http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/rangers/ny-spstaple0426,0,5709970.column. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
External links
- John Tortorella's career stats at Hockey-Reference.com
- "Slumping Rangers oust Renney," ESPN.com news services, Tuesday, February 24, 2009.
- John Tortorella's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
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