Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella was ejected in the first period of Saturday's game at Tampa Bay after losing his mind on the officials. He got into a screaming match from the bench, seemingly refusing to leave the rink before ultimately heading down the tunnel.
Torts is not having it right now pic.twitter.com/xELagoYo7C
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 10, 2024
That scene unfolded after a Brayden Point goal gave the Lightning a 4-0 lead midway through the first period. Tortorella was initially mad about a tripping call to Ronnie Attard and a 10-minute misconduct to Garnet Hathaway.
He has always been one of the most passionate and fiery coaches in the NHL so it is not really a surprise to see an outburst like this. What makes it so funny in this instance is Tortorella was honored before the game as part of Tampa Bay's 20th anniversary of its 2003-04 Stanley Cup championship celebration. Tortorella was the head coach of that team.
The NHL does not generally respond favorably to players or coaches verbally abusing their officials so it's likely that Tortorella has a significant fine and potentially even a suspension waiting for him after that outburst.
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