Mitch Marner received strong support from John Tortorella, and the way the coach expressed himself might become a bigger topic.
Tortorella didn’t just defend Marner against the old playoff criticism.
He directly challenged Toronto critics and called their opinions “a bunch of nonsense” during a press event that quickly got attention.
That kind of statement always makes a big impact during the playoffs. It also puts a coach in a situation where the league starts paying unwanted attention during a series.
Marner’s performance gave Tortorella every reason to step up for him.
In 9 playoff games, Marner scored 6 goals and had 7 assists, totaling 13 points, which is why the coach clearly thought the criticism was going too far.
Now, the main issue is how it was said. Coaches can defend their players as much as they want, but when the words become a major headline, the league starts to get involved in the discussion.
That’s what happened in this case.
Tortorella wanted to dismiss the talk from Toronto about Marner’s playoff reputation, but his choice of words could lead to problems if the NHL thinks they went too far.
“You guys don’t recognize what he does,” said Tortorella. “All the people here, all the folks in Toronto, all the people who talk about him, don’t see what he contributes to a game even when he doesn’t score. I’ve realized that from coaching against him.”
Tortorella made it about Marner, but he ended up making himself the center of attention.
There was an important hockey point in his comments, and it was a valid one.
Tortorella mentioned that people focus only on goals and overlook the finer points. Marner contributes even on nights when he doesn’t score.
That matches how Marner has always been evaluated.
“That story is totally ridiculous,” Torella stated. “As I mentioned last night, Mitch isn’t interested. Mitch is a professional; he’s an amazing player and one of the best in the league, and he plays for our team. ”
In Toronto, every calm night turned into a big discussion. With this current situation, every game is being viewed in a new way because the results are obvious.
Tortorella gets that. He also understands that the quickest way to protect a star player is to take the heat himself.
That might be what happened here.
Rather than more talks about Marner, the attention switched to whether Tortorella crossed the line during his speech.
In a playoff atmosphere, that can be helpful.
It’s not unusual for a coach to take on the criticism for his star player.
However, the NHL isn’t fond of swearing becoming a regular part of the news.
Tortorella supported his player, but he might have done it in a way that could lead him to face a fine before the game starts.
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