John Tortorella
Date of birth | June 24, 1958 |
place of birth | Boston , Massachusetts , USA |
Nickname | Torts |
size | 173 cm |
Weight | 79 kg |
position | Right wing |
Shot hand | Left |
Career stations | |
1978-1981 | University of Maine |
1981-1982 | Kristianstads IK |
1982-1983 | Erie Golden Blades |
1983-1984 | Erie-Virginia |
1984-1986 | Virginia Lancers |
John Tortorella (born June 24, 1958 in Boston , Massachusetts ) is a former American ice hockey striker and current coach . Since October 2015 he has been the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets from the National Hockey League . Previously, he was in charge of the New York Rangers , the Vancouver Canucks and the Tampa Bay Lightning , with the latter winning the 2004 Stanley Cup .
Career
John Tortorella began his career in 1978 when he played for the University of Maine . After three years he left college and played for a year in Sweden at Kristianstads IK before moving to the Atlantic Coast Hockey League for the Erie Golden Blades for the 1982/83 season. He played in the ACHL for a total of two years before joining the Virginia Lancers in 1984 . In the following two seasons he showed good performances there, scored 87 and 96 points and then ended his career in the summer of 1986.
Tortorella stayed with the team and took over the duties of general manager and trainer and led the Lancers to the ACHL championship in 1987. He was also named coach of the year by the league. The Virginia Lancers then joined the All-American Hockey League and Tortorella coached the team for another year.
In 1988 the New Haven Nighthawks hired him from the American Hockey League as an assistant coach and the following year he moved to the National Hockey League for the Buffalo Sabers . There he also took the post as assistant coach and worked there until 1991 under head coach Rick Dudley and then under John Muckler . The Sabers qualified for the play-offs each year , but only got past the first round once.
In 1995 the Sabers appointed John Tortorella to coach the Rochester Americans , their farm team from the AHL, and he led them to win the Calder Cup in the 1995/96 season . After another season in the AHL, he moved back to the NHL and joined the Phoenix Coyotes and was there under Jim Schoenfeld assistant coach. In the summer of 1999 he joined the New York Rangers , where he became John Muckler's assistant for the second time since his time in Buffalo. However, this was released shortly before the end of the season and Tortorella looked after the team for the last four games.
But shortly afterwards he also left the Rangers and was hired by the Tampa Bay Lightning as an assistant coach. On January 6, 2001, he replaced Steve Ludzik as the head coach of Lightning and from then on he built a competitive team around the young stars Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards . In 2003 he reached the play-offs with them for the first time and moved into the second round.
In the 2003/04 season , the Lightning achieved the best result in their history. They ranked first in the Eastern Conference and second in the entire NHL in the regular season . They survived the first two play-off rounds with only one defeat versus eight wins. The Lightning narrowly won the Eastern Conference final against the Philadelphia Flyers after seven games, and the Calgary Flames led the series 3–2 in the Stanley Cup final before the Lightning won the remaining two games and won the NHL Could celebrate play-offs. After the season, Tortorella also received the Jack Adams Award for best coach in the league.
After the failure of the NHL season 2004/05 because of the lockout , the Lightning were able 2005/06 also due to the departure of goalkeeper Nikolai Chabibulin , which was an important support in winning the Stanley Cup, only to eighth place and thus the last Play Reach off place in the Eastern Conference and were eliminated in the first round of the play-offs. In the following season they only just reached the play-offs and failed again in the first round.
The 2007/08 season meant a significant setback for the Lightning, who finished last in the league at the end of the season and thus clearly missed the play-offs. The management then drew the consequences and fired John Tortorella. This then accepted an offer from the Canadian sports broadcaster TSN , where he acted as an expert. After Tom Renney's dismissal as the head coach of the New York Rangers on February 23, 2009, Tortorella was introduced as the team's new coach on the same day. Previously, the Tampa Bay Lightning had given him clearance because he had a valid contract there until the summer of 2009.
After the Rangers were eliminated in the playoffs of the 2012/13 season, Tortorella was released on May 29, 2013. On June 25, 2013 he was introduced as the new head coach of the Vancouver Canucks , but dismissed after one season.
In October 2015 he was hired as the new head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets , succeeding Todd Richards , who was sacked after seven defeats in the first seven games of the season. During the 2015/16 season, Tortorella was in his 1000th NHL game as head coach behind the gang and became the first American to succeed.
In September 2016 he was the head coach of Team USA at the World Cup of Hockey 2016 behind the gang, but retired with the team in the group stage.
Achievements and Awards
- 1987 ACHL Championship with the Virginia Lancers
- 1987 ACHL trainer of the year
- 1996 Calder Cup win with Rochester Americans
- 2004 Stanley Cup win with the Tampa Bay Lightning
- 2004 Jack Adams Award
- 2012 nomination for the 2012 NHL All-Star Game
- 2016 nomination for the NHL All-Star Game 2017 (rejection for family reasons)
- 2017 Jack Adams Award
NHL statistics
team | season | regular season | Play-offs | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Games | S. | N | U | OTL | Pts | Place (division) | S. | N | result | ||
New York Rangers | 1999/00 | 4th | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4. ( Atlantic ) | - | - | not qualified |
Tampa Bay Lightning | 2000/01 | 43 | 12 | 27 | 1 | 3 | 28 | 5. ( Southeast ) | - | - | not qualified |
Tampa Bay Lightning | 2001/02 | 82 | 27 | 40 | 11 | 4th | 69 | 3. (Southeast) | - | - | not qualified |
Tampa Bay Lightning | 2002/03 | 82 | 36 | 25th | 16 | 5 | 93 | 1. (Southeast) | 5 | 6th | Conference semifinals |
Tampa Bay Lightning | 2003/04 | 82 | 46 | 22nd | 8th | 6th | 106 | 1. (Southeast) | 16 | 7th | Stanley Cup win |
Tampa Bay Lightning | 2005/06 | 82 | 43 | 33 | - | 6th | 92 | 2. (Southeast) | 1 | 4th | Conference quarterfinals |
Tampa Bay Lightning | 2006/07 | 82 | 44 | 33 | - | 5 | 93 | 2. (Southeast) | 2 | 4th | Conference quarterfinals |
Tampa Bay Lightning | 2007/08 | 82 | 31 | 42 | - | 9 | 71 | 5. (Southeast) | - | - | not qualified |
New York Rangers | 2008/09 | 21st | 12 | 7th | - | 2 | 26th | 4. (Atlantic) | 3 | 4th | Conference quarterfinals |
New York Rangers | 2009/10 | 82 | 38 | 33 | - | 11 | 87 | 4. (Atlantic) | - | - | not qualified |
New York Rangers | 2010/11 | 82 | 44 | 33 | - | 5 | 93 | 3. (Atlantic) | 1 | 4th | Conference quarterfinals |
New York Rangers | 2011/12 | 82 | 51 | 24 | - | 7th | 109 | 1. (Atlantic) | 10 | 10 | Conference finals |
New York Rangers | 2012/13 | 48 | 26th | 18th | - | 4th | 56 | 2. (Atlantic) | 5 | 7th | Conference semifinals |
Vancouver Canucks | 2013/14 | 82 | 36 | 35 | - | 11 | 83 | 5. ( Pacific ) | - | - | not qualified |
Columbus Blue Jackets | 2015/16 | 75 | 34 | 33 | - | 8th | 76 | 8. ( Metropolitan ) | - | - | not qualified |
Columbus Blue Jackets | 2016/17 | 82 | 50 | 24 | - | 8th | 108 | 3. (Metropolitan) | 1 | 4th | Conference quarterfinals |
Columbus Blue Jackets | 2017/18 | 75 | 45 | 30th | - | 7th | 97 | 4. (Metropolitan) | 2 | 4th | Conference quarterfinals |
Columbus Blue Jackets | 2018/19 | 82 | 47 | 31 | - | 4th | 98 | 5. (Metropolitan) | 6th | 4th | Conference semifinals |
total | 1257 | 622 | 493 | 37 | 105 | 1386 | 3 division titles | 52 | 58 | 1 Stanley Cup |
S = victories; N = defeats; U = tie; OTL = defeat in overtime or shootout ; Pts = points
Web links
- John Tortorella at eliteprospects.com (English)
- John Tortorella at hockeydb.com (English)
Goalkeeper:
Joonas Korpisalo |
Elvis Merzļikins
defender:
Wladislaw Gawrikow |
Scott Harrington |
Seth Jones ( A ) |
Dean Kukan |
Ryan Murray |
Markus Nutivaara |
David Savard |
Zach Werenski
attacker:
Josh Anderson |
Cam Atkinson ( A ) |
Emil Bemström |
Oliver Bjorkstrand |
Brandon Dubinsky |
Pierre-Luc Dubois |
Nick Foligno ( C ) |
Boone Jenner ( A ) |
Riley Nash |
Gustav Nyquist |
Devin Shore |
Alexandre Texier |
Alexander Wennberg
Head Coach: John Tortorella Assistant Coach : Brad Larsen | Paul MacLean | Kenny McCudden | Brad Shaw General Manager: Jarmo Kekäläinen
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Tortorella, John |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American ice hockey player, coach and general manager |
DATE OF BIRTH | June 24, 1958 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Boston , Massachusetts |