Could coach John Tortorella fix the Vancouver Canucks?

This much we know: former New York Rangers coach John Tortorella reportedly met with the Vancouver Canucks about their head coach vacancy earlier this week. At this point, that’s about all we know, but that hasn’t slowed the speculation and rumors at all.

By Thursday afternoon, there were rumblings on Twitter that Tortorella could be named the Canucks’ head coach by as early as next week. As of yet nothing has been confirmed – a number of sources pointed to an as yet unsubstantiated ESPN radio report – but it’s an interesting idea all the same.

Many people were surprised after the fiery bench boss was dismissed by the Rangers after they fell to the Eastern Conference champion Bruins. That said, Tortorella certainly isn’t the easiest coach to play for and there was some talk that he had lost the room.

But that’s part of Tortorella’s allure and other teams, such as the Dallas Stars, are also said to be interested. After a terrible end to this season, many feel the Canucks need a drastic change and the bristly 54-year-old would supply that if nothing else. Still, Vancouver supporters should be very careful for what they wish for right now.

The Canucks are still a very good team, probably a squad that needs a different voice from that Alain Vigneault, but a team loaded with skill and potential. They’re also a team with a lot of egos in the room and a goaltending situation that needs fixing, so is bringing in another strong personality into the mix the solution? Maybe, though making a move for Tortorella is probably going too far.

If players like Henrik Lundqvist, Ryan Callahan and Dan Girardi had problems with Tortorella, just imagine what the Sedins, Ryan Kesler and Kevin Bieksa will get along with him. Vancouver needs someone new, but Tortorella could be a disaster in that dressing room, especially if he starts preaching at his star players to block shots and collapse to the net like he did in New York.

He probably wouldn’t do that with Vancouver’s firepower, but it’s hard to see how he could get the Canucks to buy-in to his brand of hockey. What’s more likely here is Vancouver is kicking tires to see what’s out there and there’s certainly no harm in talking to Torts. For my money, I’d take a major run at former Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff.

He’s another veteran coach who can help the power play and get the Canucks pulling in the right direction instead of pulling apart at the seams.