NHL: John Tortorella upset with media, hopes Trevor Zegras “does it again”

“I live under a rock,” John Tortorella said on ESPN’s The Point. “I didn’t realize all of this was going on after the show.”

Torts began speaking about his comments on the Trevor Zegras’ “pass streamed around the world”, where he criticized if it was “good for hockey.” While he still feels it’s debatable if that pass is a good hockey play, he wanted to set the record straight.

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Tortorella reached out to Zegras

Anaheim Ducks rookie Trevor Zegras has been the toast of the NHL since pulling off an amazing puck flip pass for a goal that has been viewed over 50 million times so far.

“I’m not trying to be difficult about it. It’s fun to watch, it’s really cool but I just think our game has gone so far away from what the game should be. A hard game, an honest game. It’s almost gotten to showman,” Tortorella said last week. “I know you need to have it, you need to sell the game but I’m from the ilk that an honest hockey game needs to be played.”

The criticism left Zegras even more shocked than the pass play he executed. “I didn’t really see where he was coming from,” he responded. “It’s just one of those things that he’s entitled to this opinion. I guess we got to just live with it.”

tortorella zegras
BUFFALO, NY – DECEMBER 7: Trevor Zegras #46 reacts to Sonny Milano #12 of the Anaheim Ducks scoring a second period goal during an NHL game against the Buffalo Sabres on December 7, 2021 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)

After hearing about the backlash and a fellow coach sending him an article where it sounded like he was being critical of the player, not the play, Torts reached out to Zegras.

“I read the article and saw what this kid was going through with the questions being asked and my heart dropped,” the former coach said. “That was the furthest thing from my mind criticizing this kid.”

“What bothers me is the media – my comments have been taken out of context trying to pit and Trevor against one another” Torts explained. “I feel terrible about that and I reached out to him and his coach. I hope he does it again quite honestly.”

Note: This article was originally published at The Daily Goal Horn.

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Anthony Scultore is the founder of Forever Blueshirts and has been covering the New York Rangers and the NHL... More about Anthony Scultore

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