VANCOUVER — He can chuckle about it now, but former Vancouver Canucks head coach John Tortorella calls his role in a brawl against the Calgary Flames two years ago "one of the biggest mistakes I made during my career."
"It was a distraction at that point in time our team certainly didn't need," Tortorella said Wednesday during a Columbus Blue Jackets practice. "That's on me. That's embarrassing."
The Canucks play the Blue Jackets Thursday in Tortorella's first NHL game back at Rogers Arena since being fired in the spring of 2014 after just one turbulent year as Vancouver's coach.
The line brawl started just seconds into a Jan. 18, 2014 game. Flames' coach Bob Hartley started a lineup of tough guys and Tortorella responded with his own.
After the first period, a furious Tortorella shocked management and the team's owners by trying to get into the Flames' locker-room. Tortorella, who was prevented from getting at Hartley, was suspended for six games.
"As I always said, my heart was in the right place," said Tortorella. "I told my team before it happened, I apologized before I put that lineup out there.
"I knew it was going to happen. That may sound stupid but I thought I was protecting my team doing that. It was certainly one of the biggest mistakes I made during my career."
The incident was the beginning of the end for Tortorella in Vancouver. The Canucks were 2-4-0 while he was suspended and 2-7-1 when he returned.
Vancouver missed the playoffs with a 36-35-11 record for 83 points. The team won just 13 of its final 41 games and finished 25th overall. A lack of scoring haunted Vancouver all season. The Canucks managed just 196 goals, leaving them tied for second fewest in the league.
Being fired after just one year was a difficult pill to swallow for the man who won a Stanley Cup in 2004 with Tampa Bay.
"It was hard," he said. "I think it takes more time than that for you to get your team concept to a team, for your team to understand you, for you to understand your team."
Tortorella admitted "it was weird' to return to Rogers Arena, especially walking down the same hallway to the visitors' room where he once was held back from throwing punches at Hartley.
"I walked down that hallway, the one I shouldn't have done before, and had a couple of chuckles there," he said. "I really liked it here. I liked the people, the organization, the team.
"It didn't work out. That's part of the business. I still have a lot of friends here. There was a lot of crap going on that year."
Tortorella replaced Todd Richards as Blue Jackets' coach on Oct. 21 after Columbus started the season 0-7-0. The Blue Jackets, who were beaten 5-1 by Edmonton Tuesday night, are last in the Eastern Conference with a 19-28-5 record.
The time in Vancouver helped prepare Tortorella for the task in Columbus.
"With Columbus there is a lot of teaching going on," said Tortorella, who missed three games behind the bench after breaking two ribs in a collision with Rene Bourque during a Jan. 22 Blue Jackets' practice. "I'm trying to allow the players to grow and listen.
"As a coach, I think I have been more patient that way. I get put in a box like I'm this knucklehead that won't listen to anybody. I think that perception is there when I come to a new team. I want them to see it is a two-way street here and we are going to solve our problems together."
In Vancouver, Tortorella preached defence and shot-blocking. He heaped ice time on star players like Daniel and Henrik Sedin, who averaged 21 minutes 48 seconds of ice time a night.
While Tortorella may have rubbed some players the wrong way, others liked him. Back in November, when the Canucks had a day off prior to a game against the Blue Jackets in Columbus, the Sedins paid Tortorella a visit.
"We had a lot of respect for each other and I always believed that he was a very good coach with his bench management and tactics," said Daniel Sedin.
"We have nothing but good things to say about him."
Tortorella still exchanges texts messages with the brothers.
"Those are two relationships I feel very honoured and fortunate (to have), that I think I am going to have my lifetime," he said.
A look at some of John Tortorella's quotes from his time in Vancouver
VANCOUVER — A look at some John Tortorella quotes during his time as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks:
"Yeah, he's a weird dude. … It's good to have weird dudes. I think sometimes we have locker rooms that are blase. You need personality. As you go through a long year, you need things to happen. I'm sure he'll find a few things along the way for us." — Commenting on then Canucks forward David Booth.
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"I think it's the most narcissistic thing I have ever seen, Twitter. I am not going to handcuff them and treat them like little kids. There better be no information come out of the locker-room with that damn Twitter. It's nothing but trouble to me." — Leaving little doubt on his thoughts on Twitter.
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"I was going to get him. I'm not going to lie to you. If I got to him, I would have." — Talking about his attempt to reach Bob Hartley in the Calgary Flame dressing room after a brawl in in Vancouver.
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"I felt from day one that it's stale. That's not their fault. This is a group that has been together for a long time. It needs youth. It needs a change. The team needs to be retooled. It's a young man's game. It's certainly not a criticism of (the veterans). We need to surround them with some enthusiasm." — His assessment of the Canucks prior to being fired after the team missed the playoffs.
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"We're not in 2011. We have to stop talking about 2011. The core needs to change." — On Vancouver losing Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup.
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"I wish nothing but the best for this organization, I really do, because I do have a little bit of tightness over there with some of their players and I wish them the best." _ Commenting Wednesday about his feelings toward the Canucks.
