John Tortorella VS The Media: The Never Ending Saga

One thing everyone has learned about John Tortorella over the years is that he doesn't mince words, nor does he hide his feelings. The proof of that is in the many a-fines he has paid over his career because he refused to hold his tongue when something he disagreed with came about. He's also a master deflector when it comes to attention. Mainly negative attention. He doesn't try to hog the positive attention and his intent is never to overshadow his team. It's actually quite the opposite. In a winning streak, he will deflect the media's attention to all the positives the team has been doing and get them focusing on that; in a losing streak, he'll deflect the media's ire onto himself with words or actions in order to shield and protect his team.

One thing Tortorella has, and will never, be accused of in his career is being "vanilla". He is very much an antagonist who plays the part quite well and doesn't care what anyone - especially the media - thinks of him. His only concern is protecting his team and making sure they can do their jobs without worrying about what the media is saying, or concerned with. That job is to be left for Tortorella, who will always be the master deflector and steer a question and answer session however he sees fit whether the media likes it, or not.

So now that he's in Philly, where the media has always been hard on their sports teams, the saga of John Tortorella VS The Media has begun a new chapter. With the team facing a ridiculous amount of injures and playing about on par with where everyone assumed they would before the season started, Tortorella has taken on his master deflector persona with renewed vigor, and given how the Philly media is, it has been both equal parts entertaining and annoying.

After the previous coach had no qualms about throwing his players under the bus, it has been a breath of fresh air to watch a coach stick up for his players and refuse to do so, even when it's abundantly clear that's exactly what the media wants him to do; yet, it's also been quite annoying to watch the media continue to try to get him to do so despite knowing it won't happen and then getting upset when he refuses to give them the exact answer they want. It's not his job to pacify the media. His only job with this specific group of players is to help develop the young ones while also figuring out who will and won't help this team in the future while also still attempting to get some wins to instill as much confidence as possible in the "keep" group along the way.

Anything beyond that is above him and should honestly be directed at upper management. Not surprisingly, they're nowhere to be seen during the mess that has unfolded in November. Admitting their mistakes and conceding to the fact it's time to rebuild this team would be, in their eyes, career suicide. So while they continue to keep their heads in the proverbial sand we watch as John Tortorella VS The Media gives us the entertainment the team's talent level cannot provide on the ice.