A tort is a tort.
On the night the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrated the 20th anniversary of the 2004 Stanley Cup championship team coached by John Tortorella, the current Flyers coach spent most of Saturday’s Flyers-Lightning game in the locker room.
But he wasn’t going there without a fight.
With 9:11 left in the first period and the Flyers already trailing 4-0, Tortorella was ejected from the game by referee Wes McCauley.
The ejection followed a power-play goal by Brayden Point after a stumbling call on Ronnie Attard that Tortorella didn’t like.
After McCauley announced a bench penalty and game misconduct to Tortorella, cameras showed him refusing to stay on the bench, saying, “No chance,” “No more,” and “I’m not going.” did. To leave.
At one point, the camera cuts to members of the 2004 Lightning watching from the suite and laughing at Tortorella’s antics.
After remaining there for nearly two minutes, shouting obscenities at the referees, the former Rangers coach made his way down the tunnel.
Tortorella did not speak after the game, but Flyers assistant coach Brad Shaw addressed the situation.
“I think he was just trying to make a point that he felt we might not be getting the recognition we deserve,” Shaw said. “It’s an emotional game at times and it gets everyone’s blood pressure up.”
Tortorella is no stranger to violent outbursts.
In 2014, the former Vancouver Canucks coach was suspended for 15 days for attempting to enter the Calgary Flames’ locker room to protest a game.
He was fined $25,000 for leaving a press conference early in 2020 while he was the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Unfortunately for the Flyers, Tortorella’s opposition did not add any momentum to the game.
The Lightning didn’t score on the ensuing power play, but added three more goals in the game, shutting out Philadelphia 7-0.
