Tortorella Reflects on Time in Vancouver

John Tortorella was fired by the Vancouver Canucks after the conclusion of the 2013-14 NHL season and after reflecting on his time with the team believes his dismissal was justified.

Tortorella spoke with WDAE 620 in Tampa Bay on Friday where he admitted his lack of consistency during the second half of the season was the main reason the Vancouver front office no longer wanted his services.

Sports Interaction’s NHL Hockey Betting

“We had a great first half but i don’t think that I did the job for the team the second half, with our consistency,” Tortorella stated in the radio interview. “And I think that’s what cost me my job. We just, we couldn’t stop the losing streaks. We need to win a couple of games with those areas. Quite honestly, I deserved to be fired after that second half of the year.”

The result of the second half collapse meant the first time in five years that the Canucks would miss the playoffs, just two years removed from playing in game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. Vancouver finished the season 36-35-11, which put an abrupt end Torts’ five year, $10 million deal after just one year.

Tortorella is still collecting paychecks from the Canucks with two years remaining on that contract, but still misses the everyday life of being a head coach. “That’s what I miss the most, is being in the room and seeing what personalities are, them coming back at me if they don’t like what they hear from me. That’s how you develop the relationships.”

Since being fired, Tortorella has been developing a consulting practice with former assistant coach Mike Sullivan that would deliver analytical information the two have parsed while watching every 5-on-5 goal scored from the previous NHL season. He’ll also be making his return to the bench on Sunday as head coach of a Tampa Bay area high school All-Star team.