John Tortorella walks out on reporters after refusing to answer question

It hasn't been an easy last few weeks for John Tortorella as he was fined $50,000 and suspended for 2 games when he refused to leave the bench after being ejected in the first period of a homecoming in Tampa Bay. Then he faced criticism after he scratched his captain for 2 games before walking out of his most recent press conference after a disappointing loss in the thick of a heated playoff race.

The Philadelphia Flyers have held onto the third and final spot in the Metropolitan Division for months on end but their grasp is loosening and their recent 4-1 defeat to the Florida Panthers wouldn't have been so disheartening if they hadn't dominated all game and if their backup goaltender didn't have a mortifyingly off night, struggling to keep the puck out of the net.

Tortorella has been rather short on backup goalie Felix Sandstrom dating back to last season, but after yesterday's game, he refused to answer a question thrown his way about assessing his performance.

The reporter asked the following question to which Tortorella thumped the podium twice as if to say "what do you think?" before pausing for two seconds and then walking away:


"Felix Sandstrom wasn't too happy with his performance, he felt like he missed a couple there, do you feel he could have made a few more stops?"


It's not the first time that Tortorella has left a reporter in the dust either. A couple months ago he took issue with a Flyers reporter "making up" claims about Kevin Hayes potentially having some ties on Cutter Gauthier wanting out of Philadelphia. He continues to reject and refuse the reporter's questions, while letting him know every single time.

What makes matters worse for Tortorella is that Washington claimed a huge victory over Winnipeg earlier in the day, cutting the deficit to 2 points while having 2 games in hand on Philadelphia. Both teams face off against one another on the final day of the season in what could be a very important game.