NHL hands out massive fine and suspension for Tortorella meltdown: report
The NHL has handed out a $50,000 fine and two-game suspension to Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella after he got ejected from a game on Saturday night and refused to leave the bench.
The situation started early in a game between the Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning. Just over 10 minutes into the game the Lightning had already built up a 4-0 lead, with two of their goals coming on powerplays.
After the fourth goal was scored, the 65-year-old coach had some choice words for the officials and told them that he would not leave the bench despite being kicked out. He did eventually relent, but not after a lengthy screaming match.
Torts didn't want to leave the bench after being ejected. š³ pic.twitter.com/VTt70Bho49
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 10, 2024
While it was good for a laugh, the NHL doesn’t appear to find Tortorella’s antics all that amusing. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman had the first report of the league handing out the massive punishment.
Hearing John Tortorella has been suspended two games.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 10, 2024
There is also a $50000 fine
ā Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 10, 2024
For many NHL fans, this is classic Torts, who has made a career of being one of the more fiery bench bosses in the league, even challenging former Calgary Flames coach Bob Hartley to fist fight while he coached the Vancouver Canucks back in 2014.
In this instance, Tortorella was angered by Hartley’s decision to have a bunch of fighters start the game for the Flames, which ended up in a line brawl off the opening puck drop.
He was given a 15-day suspension without pay for that particular incident.
The NHL is known to fine both players and coaches for criticizing officials after the game, so punishing Tortorella for publicly defying the officials during a broadcast does track.
This is the largest fine that the NHL has given the veteran coach, but not the first. Tortorella has been fined a whopping 15 times in his coaching career (with the previous largest being a $30,000 fine for criticizing officials after the 2012 Winter Classic), and suspended on three separate occasions.
While some teams might not like having a coach as outspoken and controversial as Tortorella, the Flyers seem more than happy with his passion. It was reported today by NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Al Morganti that Flyers CEO Dan Hilferty has offered to pay any fine that the NHL sends to his head coach, we’ll see if that holds after the ruling.
"I'm really proud of Torts for standing up for his/our team.," he said "This new era of Orange is about having each other's backs. Last night, Torts had our collective backs.. I respect any action the league might feel a neeed to take but if it includes a fine, I am paying it."
— al morganti (@nufced) March 10, 2024
Tortorella has paid over $150,000 in fines since he started his NHL coaching career in 1999.
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