Remember when Ed Snider would go through a brick wall for his players, regardless of what infractions, fines or suspensions the Flyers were guilty of? Well it sounds as if that mentality has returned if an interview with Comcast (and Flyers) CEO Dan Hilferty is any indication.
Saturday night, after Tampa Bay scored its fourth goal at 10:49 of the first period, Tortorella, clearly pissed off at the officiating led by referee Wes McCauley, received a game misconduct. Tortorella refused to leave the bench during an occasionally profanity-laced tirade aimed at McCauley for what looked like not skating over to chat with the coach. Play didn’t continue until about 80 seconds later when Tortorella left the bench, leaving assistant coach Brad Shaw to roll the lines in a 7-0 drubbing. As of Sunday afternoon the league has yet to announce any fine to Tortorella for his actions. But it didn’t stop Hilferty from chiming in.
“I’m really proud of Torts for standing up for his/our team,” Hilferty told NBCSP’s Al Morganti. “This new era of Orange is about having each other’s backs. Last night, Torts had our collective backs. I respect any action the league might feel a need to take but if it includes a fine, I am paying it.”
If Tortorella is fined it’s not the first time he’s been dinged in the wallet. According to a 2020 feature by TheAthletic, this possibly latest fine from Saturday night will be the 16th of his coaching (and assistant coaching) career. Some of the previous 15 were games where Tortorella was coaching against the Flyers, including a March 8, 2002 game between Tampa Bay and Philadelphia the Flyers won 3-2. Tortorella called Brad Meier a “bad referee,” a “terrible referee” and an “awful referee” after the game. That cost him $1,000.
In the 2012 Winter Classic which saw the New York Rangers edge the Flyers 3-2, Tortorella said referees Dennis LaRue and Ian Walsh “reffed horribly” while implying broadcaster NBC wanted an overtime game hence the calls during the game. After that costing him $30,000, Tortorella said the quotes were “sarcastic comments” and “tongue in cheek.”
Of course those infractions are perhaps some of his least known. A tete-a-tete with Rangers beat reporter Larry Brooks on April 20, 2007 following a 3-0 shutout by the Devils against Tampa Bay saw the coach tell Brooks to “get the f–k out of here then” after some back and forth between them. And of course there’s the Jan. 18, 2014 incident where Tortorella, then Canucks head coach, attempted to enter the Flames dressing room during the first intermission following an opening faceoff brawl between both teams. Tortorella. That resulted in him serving a 15-game suspension.
As for the Flyers, the last time the team was fined by the league appears to be “an undisclosed amount” in early 2015 for flying on Boxing Day (Dec. 26) to avoid flying to Nashville the day of their Dec. 27, 2014 game. According to USA Today, then general manager Ron Hextall refused to state the amount of the fine but said the decision came after being “approached by the players and after giving it some thought, it’s pretty hard not to allow them the best possible chance to win a game….” The collective bargainning agreement forbid players from any team actions as Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day were all deemed to be “off-days.”
