John Tortorella

An Ice Hockey Wiki article.

Jonathan "John" Tortorella (born June 24, 1958 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American professional 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.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Coaching career 3 NHL coaching record 4 External links

[edit] Early life

Tortorella 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.

[edit] 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 of 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 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 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 to the Atlanta Thrashers on November 19, 2007.

John is also the current coach of the U.S. National Men's hockey team, replacing Peter Laviolette, which included leading the squad at the 2008 IIHF World Championship, where they finished sixth.

Tortorella was named head coach of the New York Rangers on February 23, 2009, replacing Tom Renney, who was fired earlier that day.

On March 17, 2009, Tortorella became the winningest US-born coach in NHL history with his 245th victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

Tortorella was suspended for game six of the first round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs versus the Washington Capitals after throwing a water bottle at a Capitals fan during the third period of game five in the Verizon Center.

[edit] 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	--	--	--	-
TB	2000–01*	43	12	17	1	3	28	5th in Southeast	--	--	--	-
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	3	4	.429	Lost East Quarterfinals
Total		560	251	232	37	40	.517		27	25	.519

- Mid-season replacement

[edit] External links

• John Tortorella's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database

Links to related articles

<span/> Preceded by Steve Ludzik Head Coaches of the Tampa Bay Lighting 2001 – 2008 Succeeded by Barry Melrose Preceded by Tom Renney Head Coaches of the New York Rangers 2009 – present Succeeded by Incumbent New York Rangers Head Coaches Patrick • Boucher • L. Patrick • Colville • Cook • M. Patrick • Watson • Pike • Harvey • M. Patrick • Sullivan • Francis • Geoffrion • Francis • Popein • Francis • Stewart • Ferguson • Talbot • Shero • C. Patrick • Brooks • C. Patrick • Sator • Webster • Esposito • Bergeron • Esposito • Neilson • Smith • Keenan • Campbell • Muckler • Tortorella • Low • Trottier • Sather • Renney

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