Communication Matters

There have been a number of times in John Tortorella's career where he's been angry on the bench. That look on his face to the left is one of seething anger, and it was seen today as the Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning met in Florida after he was tossed from the game midway through the first period by referee Wes McCauley. For as much as John Tortorella has shown that he's less inclined to blowing up over specific situations that may have set off the old Tortorella in the past, his interaction - or lack thereof - with McCauley tonight seemed to anger him like we haven't seen in some time. And it's likely going to set him back a few bucks as well.

I'm not here to defend either side in this conflict as Wes McCauley likely can justify assessing a game misconduct to John Tortorella while Tortorella was understandably was upset from how his team started the game combined with not getting an explanation on a penalty with which he didn't agree. As we see with most breakdowns in communication, bad things usually come of that, and we certainly had a situation tonight that would have had a better resolution with some communication between McCauley and Tortorella.

Things didn't start well for the Flyers, so you knew Tortorella wasn't going to be in a pleasant mood. However, Tortorella became irate after a tripping call against Tampa Bay's Michael Eyssimont was changed to a tripping call against Philadelphia's Ronnie Attard, but referees McCauley and Brandon Schrader were having none of Tortorella's protest. Consider the powderkeg lit at this point.

Shortly thereafter, Garnet Hathaway was given a ten-minute misconduct penalty for bumping Anthony Cirelli during a line change following a timeout, and the Lightning would use those advantages to score their fourth goal which set Tortorella off on a tirade for what he perceived was one-sided officiating. And while I'm not defending Tortorella's outburst in any way, his anger towards McCauley and Schrader clearly came from what he perceived as having all the calls go against the Flyers, and he let them know about it.

As far as I can tell, there were no cameras that picked up what Tortorella did or said that caused McCauley to respond as he did, but moments after the Brayden Point goal to make it 4-0, John Tortorella was ejected from the game which set him off again. This time, though, he made it clear he wasn't going anywhere without an explanation as to what the officials were thinking. Check it out.
As you can see in the video, Tortorella wanted an opportunity to speak with McCauley over what had been called, and he wasn't going anywhere until McCauley came to the bench for "a discussion". McCauley refused that invitation and, instead, enforced the game misconduct penalty he had given Tortorella as it seems he had heard enough from the Flyers' bench boss on this night.

It's hard to blame Tortorella for wanting an explanation when he believed his team was getting a power-play only to have that call reversed, but to lose Hathaway for ten minutes following a timeout would probably need some sort of explanation. I'm not saying that Hathaway didn't deserve the misconduct, but things were already going poorly for the Flyers by that point so it was upm to McCauley, as the guy who is paid to keep order, from allowing this situation to break down even further. Which it did after Tampa Bay scored again.

I'll also point out that I'm sure McCauley had heard enough from Tortorella up to the point where the fourth goal was scored, and I assume that McCauley had simply had enough when it came to Tortorella through the first ten minutes of this game. Normally, a bench minor penalty would send a message that McCauley was done with Tortorella, but McCauley apparently didn't want to see Tortorella on the bench for the remainder of this game. As an official, he has that right, but there should also be ample explanation that this could be the ultimate result of Tortorella's hounding of the officials.

"I've never seen that," Flyers centre Sean Couturier said postgame about Tortorella's ejection. "Did he really deserve to get kicked out honestly after what he said? He didn't say much."

Let me clear: neither side did right in this situation. Tortorella wanted an explanation so he could understand how every penalty called went against his team in the opening ten minutes, and Wes McCauley had seemingly heard enough from Tortorella over those ten minutes. McCauley likely should have managed the situation with Tortorella better in order to have avoided the outcome we got, and Tortorella likely should have laid off the officials through the first ten minutes. Sometimes, though, emotions get the better of people.

"I think he was just trying to make a point that we felt like we might not have been getting our fair shake," Flyers associate coach Brad Shaw said postgame. "It's an emotional game at times and we all get elevated blood pressure."

Shaw's correct in that the game can take you on a roller coaster of emotions, and this game unfortunately led to anger, confusion, and frustration for one side. As an official, I've been told that managing these types of games can be difficult, and I know that both McCauley and Schrader are professionals when it comes to officiating in the NHL so this likely can and should have been managed differently. However, McCauley appeared to be done with Tortorella's voice on this day, and he excused him from the game so that he could manage the game better. Sometimes, that's how the puck bounces.

I'm sure Tortorella and McCauley will cross paths again in the NHL, and there will likely be a joke or two made about what happened here tonight. As we know, a lot of jokes are based on truths, but I suspect these two long-time personalities in the NHL will be able to laugh this one off after the season is done.

It just goes to show how vital communication is in the game of hockey. Whether it's two teammates working together, a coach explaining a system, or an official explaining a call, communication can prevent things from bubbling over like they did in Tampa tonight. Both McCauley and Tortorella are normally good communicators, but it seems communication broke down on this night.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!