Spare us the crap, John Tortorella.
The coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who often deliberately chooses to not be insightful during his media availability, took a few shots over the bow at media in Toronto on Monday.
Tortorella didn’t like that Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe took some heat after Columbus eliminated Toronto on Sunday night.
“I just can’t get over people ripping Sheldon Keefe and his staff, as far as the job he has done with that Maple Leaf team,” Tortorella said. “They have done a terrific job with that team. Some of the things I read and some of the things I watched last night, half of the pundits in this city think they really know about the game, but they really don’t.
“It just pisses me off for a fellow coach in this league, and I know it’s Toronto, a great city, a great hockey town, I love being here, but some of the things he is criticized for, is beyond belief to me.
“And it just shows that people have no clue what’s going on in this game. I’m glad we won. I want to support him because I think him and his staff have done a terrific job with that hockey club.”
If Tortorella had paid a bit of attention during the regular season — though he might have been busy practising his customary post-game non-answers — he would know that Keefe often was praised in Toronto for getting the Leafs going in the right direction after taking over from Mike Babcock.
Tortorella couldn’t care less about media and now suddenly he gives a whit? Yeah, sure.
Keefe and the Leafs lost to a team they should have beaten. The criticism was justified.
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