Former NHL forward Rich Sutter strongly defended John Tortorella this week, praising the Vegas Golden Knights coach’s leadership.

Sutter said he would “walk to that building” to play for Tortorella, and this was a pretty new take considering Tortorella as one of hockey’s toughest and most controversial coaches.

This happened during a tense period for Tortorella after the NHL fined him and punished the Vegas Golden Knights over recent playoff media violations.

“Look, I work beside him, alongside him. I think he’s a wonderful human being and the things he’s got going on in his life,” Sutter said while discussing about the coach.

“So yeah, I think if I had a choice, if I was still playing, would you play for John Tortorella? Wouldn’t you? And I’ll go, I’d walk to that building to work for that guy.”

Sutter’s words hold a lot of weight considering that he is a former NHL winger who has spent decades around the game both as a player and coach. A member of the famous Sutter hockey family, Rich Sutter played more than 700 NHL games during his career with teams including the Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks, and St. Louis Blues. 

And moving on to Tortorella, he has been viewed as one of the NHL’s most demanding coaches. Over the last few years, he has built a reputation for his hard coaching. Still, many of his former players continue to praise the structure he brings into a locker room.

Sutter reminds us that, despite the criticism surrounding Tortorella, he should still be respected for the leadership qualities that helped him remain at the top for decades.

Those positive comments, however, came just as Tortorella found himself in the middle of another controversy.

Media controversy adds to Tortorella debate

The NHL recently fined Tortorella $100,000 after he reportedly refused to proceed with the postgame media formalities after Vegas’ win over the Anaheim Ducks. The league also stripped the Golden Knights of the second-round draft pick after saying that they had put up enough “flagrant violations” of NHL media regulations.

According to the reports, Vegas did not properly open the locker room to accredited reporters after the game, while Tortorella also skipped his part with the media. NHL officials have noted that the team had previously received warnings regarding similar circumstances.

The situation quickly became the center of discussion among the fans and the league.

Tortorella’s tense relationship with the media is nothing new. Throughout his career, he has regularly shown frustration during interviews and press conferences.

As the media continues to criticize him for his behavior, support from respected hockey figures like Rich Sutter shows why many teams and players still stand with him.

Read more at NHL Fan Central!

Written by

Aadhya Nalla

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason