Why is Tortorella not popular amongst fans?

[Machinehead]

Who doesn't like Torts?

I think people poke fun at him because he's a grump, but I always felt that he was well-respected around here.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

Seems like there are 10x as many people pounding their chest about how they adore a tough guy coach and don’t understand why people don’t like him…than there are people who actually don’t like him.

He’s never coached my team. I’m honestly not the most knowledgeable on his overall strategy. But there is something hard not to like about a guy coaching at the highest level that carries the attitude of someone coaching a really frustrating mid-level high school team.

I think when fans end up expressing frustration with him is when his teams aren’t playing well and he’s just deflecting questions/being testy. Same thing happened with Bill Belichick. When the Patriots were dominating, his whole media shtick was funny and everyone loved how he “put the dumb media in its place”. Then they started losing a ton and he kept the same attitude and it was no longer entertaining.

Obviously Torts isn’t Bill Belichick but roughly the same principle is at work in terms of fan sentiment.

 

[SomeDude]

Could be that he’s a dinosaur who yells at clouds about young guys trying new and exciting things.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

Could be that he’s a dinosaur who yells at clouds about young guys trying new and exciting things.

This isn't even an accurate representation of the video though. He acknowledges the skill of it, but very lightly hesitates on whether or not it's "good for the game".

You and I may not agree with it, but is an opinion like that really any reason to dislike the guy as a coach? I really don't think so.

 

[NYRKing]

(1) if your team stinks you do appreciate someone stirring the pot and calling guys out (2) if you have success under torts after perceived low work ethic or bad prior coaching, its usually a profound torts impact. I remember this feeling with NY.

 

[SomeDude]

This isn't even an accurate representation of the video though. He acknowledges the skill of it, but very lightly hesitates on whether or not it's "good for the game".

You and I may not agree with it, but is an opinion like that really any reason to dislike the guy as a coach? I really don't think so.

I don’t hate the guy. He’s a character and has moments of humor, and from all accounts, is well liked by and legitimately cares about his players.

I think it’s funny that he complains about young guys grandstanding when that’s what 90% of his press conferences are.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

I don't really "hate" the guy as a coach. He seems to get a lot of out weak rosters so he clearly knows how to scheme and motivate the guys.

I tend to find him pretty unlikable and annoying personally. He does a lot of whining and yapping during press conferences and just seems to generally have a shitty and bitter attitude.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

There's a lot of younger fans now and they get upset if someone raises their voice at them.

 

[Reality Czech]

Could be that he’s a dinosaur who yells at clouds about young guys trying new and exciting things.

How dare an older guy have an opinion.

Torts is awesome. People nowadays are just soft.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

I don’t hate the guy. He’s a character and has moments of humor, and from all accounts, is well liked by and legitimately cares about his players.

I think it’s funny that he complains about young guys grandstanding when that’s what 90% of his press conferences are.

That's the heart of it for me. It's not so much about Torts as people attribute some genius strategy to all the things he does to attract attention to himself, like it's all to help the team, when it's really just his ego.

How many weeks was it between him publicly defending Tony D'Angelo and then throwing him under the bus? Torts hasn't found a hill he wasn't willing to die on if it got him media attention.

Though the stuff in Vancouver about the cot in his office and never talking to the AHL coach is pretty funny too.

 

[SomeDude]

How dare an older guy have an opinion.

Torts is awesome. People nowadays are just soft.

He’s allowed to have an opinion and others are allowed to laugh at it.

I would call it soft to complain about the new ways players figure out how to score goals.

 

[SirKillalot]

Could be that he’s a dinosaur who yells at clouds about young guys trying new and exciting things.

Well this.

If you have three skilled guys who can score a goal with three passes, tic-tac-toe play and enormous speed, Torts is the coach who'd rather have you dump the puck in and score the goal and win the game by applying force and grind it out, than being smarter and skilful about it, because its "tough" hockey and a "hard game" needs to be played.

That's the problem, not being able to re-invent himself or staying up with the times.

 

[tomin]

The ones that he’s not popular with are b/c they’re ignorant, soft, and blindly follow the medias rhetoric.

 

[miscs75]

We need more Tortorella’s among staff and less of the Kyle Dubas’s and his inflated ego.

 

[Rich Nixon]

We need more Tortorella’s among staff and less of the Kyle Dubas’s and his inflated ego.

Got bad news for you about Torts and inflated egos.

The ones that he’s not popular with are b/c they’re ignorant, soft, and blindly follow the medias rhetoric.

"The media" loves Torts. Torts gives them more press conference fodder and team intrigue than the other 31 coaches combined. He gets glowing coverage. I don't know what you're watching and/or reading.

 

[mr figgles]

He’s a f***ing loser. 20 years since he won a cup, and since? Less than dick. The guys his age fill these threads with their old salty tears crying about the yutes. Grow a pair. He’s an asshole. Not a good one either. Some coaches are tough, but fair, and actually good at coaching. Jorts is just a lazy old asshole. Assholes are not tough. They are just assholes.

 

[EazyE1]

Havent been a fan since he stopped doin blow

 

[Kshahdoo]

I'm quite pro-Frost and I'll agree with this, but I'll caveat with two things:

Frost has missed a couple slam-dunk goals by an inch. Gaping net, puck on stick within a foot of the goal line, wide. He's created and had opportunities, and if he converts a couple of those his season and stat line so far are a whole different story.

Two, I think Frost is a somewhat fragile personality who needs to have his confidence built up. I think missing chances like that feeds into the cycle--he's off mentally, so he can't just jam a puck in the net, and then he spirals a bit deeper. That's not an ideal trait in a pro athlete, but his entire Flyers tenure has been a study in how NOT to develop a player who isn't innately confident like that--even before Torts (Vigneault lol) but accelerating dramatically in the Torts era.

Now, shit on the player all you want, but one of the functions of a pro sports team and coach is to find ways to get the most out of your talent based on what they respond to. You can't ONLY work with "your type of player." But Torts will just keep repeating the same tactics that don't work for that guy until he's a burnt-out throwaway.

Nah, NHL (and probably all major NA pro-leagues) aren't about this. Their coaches care only about top-prospects and stars. They don't care about others because they have a bunch of other players in a line to substitute losers.

 

[SML2]

I'll play!

I have Torts because of the way he's treated people. Granted he seems to be a softer guy now, but he's a douche.

I also hate Torts because I don't think he's a real X/O coach. He's a screamer who leaves the tactics up to his assistants, and doesn't answer questions from the media when they try to call him out.

Lastly, I hate Torts because he supposedly gets so much out of his teams, but what he really does is ride his players so hard that by the time it matters, they are out of gas. Nothing left to give. Torts hockey is a broken madel that is not sustainable for 82 games plus playoffs.

Oh yeah, and also the fact that every single player he's ever picked out, picked on, or ridiculed was twice the player Torts ever was. He couldn't make it as a player and he takes it out on someone on his roster almost every time.

 

[Seras]

He takes his job seriously and cares about effort rather than feelings which is basically being a nazi in 2024