Music: {allcanada} Report: Tortorella offered Canucks coaching position

Friday, June 21, 2013

{allcanada} Report: Tortorella offered Canucks coaching position

Former New York Rangers coach John Tortorella has been offered the coaching vacancy with the Vancouver Canucks, according to a report by Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press.

Tortorella was fired by the New York Rangers on May 29, just after the Rangers lost a second-round series to the Boston Bruins. He had five winning seasons in New York but was unable to take them any further than the Eastern Conference Final, which they reached in the spring of 2012. He won the 2004 Stanley Cup when he was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Tortorella replaces Alain Vigneault, who had a solid run with the Canucks -- including an appearance in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final -- but was fired this spring after a first-round Loss in the playoffs.

Ironically, Vigneault was introduced as the new coach of the New York rangers during a Friday morning press conference at Radio City Music Hall.