John Tortorella needs to calm down
The Columbus Blue Jackets coach took recent comments from Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford and new Penguin Jack Johnson way too personally.
John Tortorella is feeling so attacked right now, and he wants you to know it.
The Blue Jackets coach did not take kindly to seemingly backhanded comments about his organization from Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford and new Penguins signee Jack Johnson.
During his introductory press conference with the Penguins, Johnson uttered the sentence, “I’ve been looking to be in a winning culture.” Tortorella chose to take that as a direct shot at his former team, and he told The Athletic as much.
“All I know is this organization, from the lawyers, the front office, J.D. [Blue Jackets President of Hockey Operations John Davidson], the managers, the coaches, players … has done nothing but try to help Jack. And for him to backhand slap us like this is utter bull—-, and he should know better.”
Oh, but Torts wasn’t done ripping Johnson a new one.
“No one wishes anything bad to happen to him and his family,” he continued, clearly wishing bad things on him and his family. “We wish him the best. But for him to put it the way he put it today is bull—-.”
That last point was directed at Rutherford, who took heat from Penguins fans for signing the 31-year-old Johnson to a five-year, $16.25 million deal. He had defended the Johnson signing thusly: “I don’t think he had a bad year. He was a healthy scratch at the end of the season. I know the reason why. It wasn’t because of how he was playing.”
Admittedly, that appears to be Rutherford taking a swipe at the Blue Jackets for mishandling Johnson’s minutes last season. But Tortorella’s response was just a tad stronger than Rutherford’s cheekiness deserved.
“The thing that pisses me off the most is a general manager in this league questioning and talking about our decision-making,” he told The Athletic, before adding, “But that can’t get in my way as far as making the right decisions for this hockey club, and that’s all we do, so Rutherford should shut the f— up.”
Woah. Talk about shots fired.
There’s nothing wrong with Tortorella expressing his displeasure at another general manager questioning his organization’s decisions. But the language he used in responding to Rutherford shows a level of defensiveness that kind of proves Rutherford right.
Winning organizations don’t react like that when called out because they have the jewelry and prestige to let it wash off their shoulders. Tortella’s response, unfortunately for him, mostly just underscores the Blue Jackets’ general ineptitude compared to the Penguins’ history of success.
Ironically, Rutherford has also been receiving plenty of flack from those questioning his choice to turn the cap space created by trading Conor Sheary and Matt Hunwick into an old, oft-injured defenseman who may or may not provide the Penguins with a real upgrade.
Exhibit A: The headline on Pensburgh’s story about the Johnson signing was literally, “Regrettably, Penguins sign Jack Johnson for 5 years,” with a subheading that read, “How to waste cap space, starring the Pittsburgh Penguins and defenseman Jack Johnson.” Tough stuff.
The difference between Rutherford’s and Tortorella’s responses to criticism of their decisions is that while Rutherford just subtly mentioned that he has insider information on Johnson’s performance last year, Tortorella told a colleague to shut the f— up and called the words coming out of one of his former player’s mouth bull—-. See the difference?
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For Johnson’s part, he clarified that he was not attempting to comment on the Blue Jackets with his “winning culture” line, taking the high road with a classy response to a barb from a former colleague. Torts would be well-served to take a page out of Johnson’s book the next time he feels attacked.