Warsofsky Talks Tortorella: ‘Cares more about you as a person than…as a hockey player’

“He is the finest human being you’ll ever be around.”

That’s high praise from San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky about John Tortorella.

“He’s just very genuine. I think that’s a great word for him,” Warsofsky said. “He cares more about you as a person than he does you as a hockey player.”

Tortorella was fired by the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, near the end of his third season behind the bench for the team. The Flyers have lost 11 of their last 12, and currently sit last in the Metropolitan Division and second to last in the Eastern Conference.

Tortorella and Warsofsky have been friends since right before Warsofsky was hired by the San Jose Sharks in 2022. It was Warsofsky family friend Mike Sullivan who had put them in touch.

“We’ll text here a little bit, next couple days, just to go [through] what he’s gone through,” Warsofsky said. “But I know he’s out hanging with his horses right now.”

The pair sat down for a four-hour conversation at the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal, where they discussed all things life, as well as career – just a few weeks before Warsofsky was hired by the San Jose Sharks as an assistant coach. It sounds like Tortorella and Warsofsky discussed the-then vacant Flyers assistant coach position too.

“That’s where I really got to know him a lot. I think that’s when I realized how great of a person he is. He cares about everyone in his organization. He wants the best for them,” Warsofsky said. “Honestly, it was one of the best highlights of my coaching career is being able to have that conversation with him.”

Tortorella’s comments from after the Flyers’ 7-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday had been making the rounds even before he was let go.

“When you’re in this type of situation and you’re losing all the time and there’s nothing at the end of the tunnel for you, there’s certainly going to be some frustration, but this falls on me,” Tortorella told Philadelphia Flyers media. “I’m not really interested in learning how to coach in this type of season where we’re at right now, but I have to do a better job, so this falls on me.”

While Warsofsky declined to comment on those words from Tortorella specifically, he noted the difficult nature of an NHL head coaching job.

“It’s a hard position to be in. We’re living it right now everyday, of going through some struggles, and it’s hard, it weighs on you as a human being,” Warsofsky said. “I don’t think people understand that you get in your car, you go home, it affects your life.”

And the San Jose Sharks’ season has been even tougher than the Flyers’ in a lot of ways, with 18 fewer points.

Warsofsky said he aligns his own coaching philosophy with what he’s seen in Tortorella – as someone who genuinely cares about the player as a person, despite the bombastic reputation that the veteran coach and 2004 Stanley Cup winner may have.

“Our beliefs kind of aligned. So it was reassuring for me in a sense. He’s extremely hard and demanding, and I think what gets lost is he wants what’s best for the player,” Warsofsky said. “This day and age, let’s be honest, it’s a sensitive world out there. If you don’t have some thick skin, it’s going to be tough to get better as a hockey player, and I think that’s how he approached it, and that’s how he’s always been. He never changed.”

No matter what happens to Tortorella next, Warsofsky feels for him.

“It’s a great game, it’s a shitty business.”