From The Province’s Jason Botchford, in the wake of last night’s monumental Canucks collapse versus the Islanders:
Seven goals, one period.
This, for a coach whose whole system is based around his team’s ability to keep pucks out of the net.
This, for a coach who chased out Roberto Luongo when he didn’t start him at the Heritage Classic.
It’s obvious Tortorella can’t come back next year.
You can’t oversee the disintegration of a team like this and recover.
The fans won’t have it. The players won’t have it. And even if you hire a new GM, there is no way he’ll have it.
In fact, Botchford thinks there’s a good chance Tortorella won’t be behind the bench tomorrow when the Canucks play the Jets in Winnipeg.
Who exactly pushed for Tortorella’s hiring has always been a big question in Vancouver. If it truly was Mike Gillis, it was an odd choice for a general manager who had always prided himself on a progressive hockey philosophy. Tortorella is more of an old-school coach, which is why many believe it was Canucks ownership that wanted him, not Gillis.
We wondered last week if Tortorella’s system was a major part of the problem in Vancouver, and certainly nothing we’ve seen since has made us stop wondering.
There’s plenty of blame to go around for the current state of the Canucks. The coach. The general manager. The players. And yes, ownership. All of them are responsible in some way. It’s just a matter now of figuring out who’s around next season. Ownership will be. The rest still need to be determined.