John Tortorella Issues Twitter Warning to Vancouver Canucks

When John Tortorella issued a public warning to his Vancouver Canucks about airing the team’s dirty laundry over social media, he might as well have just sent a tweet to Roberto Luongo’s widely known Twitter handle @strombone1.

Next to Phoenix Coyotes tough guy Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0), Luongo is probably the NHL’s most prolific tweeter – even though Luongo himself has never copped to the handle. But now, with Tortorella in town, that may change in a hurry.

The on-again-off-again-on-again relationship between Luongo and the Canucks heads into this season with a lot of question marks as it is. So it made sense that Tortorella would issue a warning shot to his team about social media on the evening before training camp opened.

“I think that Twitter and tweeting is one of the most narcissistic things I’ve ever seen, as far as people saying, ‘I’m here doing this,’” Tortorella said in an interview with Sportsnet. “There better be nothing coming out of our locker room, as far as what goes on there.”

Torts did say he might meet his team “halfway” on Twitter (whatever that means) and has publicly stated his intention to dial back his fiery personality – especially with the media. Torts also mentioned possibly scaling back his notoriously brutal fitness tests that normally kick off training camp. However, we all know what Tortorella is all about and why he was chosen to coach the Canucks. Vancouver is listed at +1400 to win the Stanley Cup and Tortorella is supposed to be the guy to get this squad there before the window closes.

This has been one of the most skilled teams in the NHL for years, but has never found the right mix between grit and finesse to get over the hump. That’s where Tortorella is supposed to make a difference. He’s already stated Daniel and Henrik Sedin had better get ready to kill penalties and block shots and says that Ryan Kesler has more to offer.

So, expectations are extremely high for a team that’s bringing in a new coach with a new systems and a very questionable situation in between the pipes. If Tortorella can win the Canucks over early in the year, they could have a chance at topping Sports Interactions over/under points total of 95.5. On the other hand, if Vancouver doesn’t buy into Tortorella’s way of doing things, it might be a long year for Canucks fans and Twitter supporters alike.