Leading By Example

On Friday night John Tortorella cost his team the New York Rangers their first round playoff series against the Washington Capitals by throwing a beer at a fan and getting himself suspended for game 6.  Tortorella had been getting yelled at all night by several Capitals fans who took advantage of the gaps in between the sections of glass behind the bench to make their comments heard.  

It was this comment by Caps fan Ron which sent Tortorella into the rage.  "'Nice job coach, your guys put up 15 shots and you [slang term for cats] couldn't even put in a goal.'

From his days in the Cap Centre, Ron said he was accustomed to coaches spritzing rowdy fans with water bottles, and when Tortorella turned, that's what he anticipated. But he said Tortorella crossed a line by soaking him with water.

"If it had been just a little squirt I would have just laughed it off, but he just went crazy and darn near emptied that bottle on me," Ron said. "After he emptied that bottle on me I just threw that beer. Well, it was half a beer....And it just went crazy from there."

According to Ron's account, Tortorella rose up to throw the bottle at him. Ron ducked, and the bottle hit a female fan seated behind him. Tortorella grabbed the stick and the two men stared at each other, with Ron not saying much besides "You want me, I'm right here," and things of that nature.

The childish act by Tortorella earned him a suspension and forced him to watch game 6 from the press box where he watched his team get outplayed and lose 5-3 to force a game 7.  Game 7 will be in Washington where the momentum will clearly be on the Capitals side as they have twice staved off elimination.  The Rangers who looked to have this series in the bag are now going to blow it and they can blame it on their moron of a head coach.

This by the way is the same man who benched Sean Avery due to numerous stupid acts while on the ice.  He came down hard on Avery to the media and was even filmed shaking his head in disgust a number of times. How the tables have turned now as Tortorella looks like a hypocrite and should learn to follow his own advice and follow the rules that he sets out for the players on his team.

I wasn't too surprised by these actions to tell you the truth as Tortorella is a hot head idiot who too often runs his mouth off or does something stupid.  His team was catching a beating and he couldn't handle some chirps from the fans.  How has he been a coach for so long and not heard any slander or profanity before?  He over reacted and got what he deserved.

As a coach you are supposed to be the leader of the team.  The players look to you for guidance and wisdom and in times of need they are supposed to feed off of the coaches strength and his resolve not to give up.  Now when the Rangers players look to their coach they will simply see an idiot who couldn't control himself and put himself above the best interests of the team.

I have never liked Tortorella before and this incident here doesn't help his case.  When he is coaching he is getting paid millions of dollars to do a job.  If the guy was right in his ear yelling then by all means move up or down the bench to a different spot.  It is as simple as that.  He is supposed to be representing not only himself but the New York Rangers and the NHL. 

John Tortorella is like school in summertime...no class. 

Random Youtube Video