Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Can John Tortorella Lead Again?

12/11/2015 at 11:34am EST

from Gary Lawless of TSN,

The persona had swallowed the person whole.

Somewhere between hoisting a Stanley Cup in Tampa and a disastrous one-season run in Vancouver, we stopped seeing John Tortorella the hockey coach.

All we saw was Torts - a bristling, fuming caricature; a human blowtorch with a penchant for burning so fiercely that it couldn’t possibly last.

Passion is one thing. Logic-clouding fury is another.

“It’s a double-edged sword with John. It’s what makes him great and what gets him in trouble,” said Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen. “I love the passion. He shows passion every day, to learn and to get better as a coach. But it can go too far and John knows that. We didn’t even have to bring it up. It was the first thing he said when we starting talking to him about the job. He admitted he’d made mistakes but said he’d learned from them and it was time to move on.”

Torts can take a team a certain distance, but there’s a defined expiration date on that coach. But what about John Tortorella? Can he, once a championship coach and a man who loves to teach, keep his inner dragon on a leash? The early returns in Columbus say yes and we may be watching the prelude to a bravo second act.

continued

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About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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