Tortorella looks for ‘more bite’ from Canucks
VANCOUVER — He had me at hello. OK, at least, John Tortorella had me at sorry.
On the first official day of his new job with the Vancouver Canucks, the notorious coach transformed from Torts-the-Terrible to John-the-Penitent. It was an astonishing start to the cleansing of his reputation.
The 55-year-old Tortorella, troubled that his reputation for yelling at players and reporters now clouds his fine record as an NHL coach, sure seemed genuine in his repentance.
He utterly disarmed accusers when finally introduced by general manager Mike Gillis as the Canucks’ first American head coach.
He left nothing with which reporters could attack him because Tortorella owned it all.
He made this bed of nails and in New York, where he was fired as the Rangers’ coach on May 29, he had to lie on it.
He wants to sleep better in Vancouver, to remake himself and be known for things other than anger and arrogance.
And when Tortorel la mentioned his pet dogs, well, it was over. Game, set and match.
No one in Vancouver is going to deny a second chance to a man who, with friends and family, took over an animal shelter in New York because dogs were being mistreated.
Yeah, people here might give that guy the benefit of the doubt.
“That’s what I’m being known as — this guy that doesn’t get along with the media and does some stupid things,” Tortorella said of his reputation during an afternoon radio interview.
“I think I’m more than that. But I certainly make my own bed and put myself in that spot. I wish it didn’t get out of hand in New York because I respect that organization also. I need to make some corrections.”
You could see in 15 minutes of the news conference what Gillis saw over many hours of interviews with Tortorella: a coach willing to change, eager to be better than he was.
There has never been any issue about Tortorella’s ability to coach. There are doubts about his demanding, confrontational nature inside the dressing room and the short shelf life it creates — Gillis is giving him a five-year contract — and questions about the type of hockey Tortorella favours.
But he is 410-340-104 in the NHL, won a Stanley Cup in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning and helped position the Rangers to challenge for one. And despite being 43-46 in the playoffs and carrying all his baggage, Tortorella was apparently the first choice of owner Francesco Aquilini and Gillis.
“At the end of the day, we were both unanimous in our selection of who we thought the best coach would be, and that’s John,” Gillis said.
Tortorella understands he is in danger of becoming a coaching caricature, the same way Mike Keenan did later in his NHL career.
“I think (Gillis is) sticking his neck out a little bit for me because I do come with some baggage,” Tortorella said. “He feels I’m the guy right now for the team and I respect that and certainly appreciate it.
“One of my dreams ... was some day I could coach in Canada. To be here now with this team ... I couldn’t be more excited. I mean that.”
In Vancouver since Friday, Tortorel la hasn’t gone anywhere without being recognized.
“I walk down the street ... and the first thing that comes out of their mouth is: ‘Are we going to win a Stanley Cup?’ That’s not a bad thing. Everybody has been great, but we haven’t lost a game yet.”
The same can be said of Tortorella.