Tortorella Tears into Outgoing Ownership

John Tortorella is an interesting cat.

Already known as one of the most outrageous and outspoken people in hockey, the Tampa Bay Lightning head coach gave an almost surreal interview to Toronto radio station The Fan 590 yesterday in which he ripped the outgoing ownership regime of Bill Davidson, the 83-year-old billionaire owner of the Detroit Pistons.

Now, it's not everyday you hear a coach opine on things this far above his pay grade, and especially not when the parties involved are still very much on board with the team (the sale has yet to even go to the board of governors for approval, and is in the very early stages). That said, Tortorella didn't mince words when talking about team CEO and governor Tom Wilson, who is also the long-time president and CEO of the Pistons (I'm going to quote the interview at length, but there are some gems here).

On the sale:

"I think it's a good thing for our organization; I think we're going to have local ownership, I think we're going to have a little bit of passion within our ownership. I think we were kind of the ugly stepsister of the Detroit Pistons with our prior ownership with Mr. Davidson. He's a great man, but they really weren't too excited about being around the hockey club."

On ownership's role in Tampa:

"Mr. Davidson's a good man, he is a good man. I've had a hell of a time with Tom Wilson, who is kind of the middle guy here. I think Tom has put up obstacles all through Jay Feaster and I's tenure as far as trying to compete in the NHL. But Mr. D is the owner, it's his money, he can do what he wants with it, but I think when Mr. D came into this, it was a pretty safe deal. He had two other partners with him, they [died] pretty quickly after this deal was done, and it's kind of weird what happened... the thing kind of fell apart as the property and development part. I think that's what they were in it for at the get-go.

"They've slowly begun to get involved with the hockey; when you win a Stanley Cup, you can't help but want to be involved with it a little bit. But it's been a battle."

On Wilson's role with the Lightning:

"The only problem I have with Tom is I just felt he was always... trying to steer Mr. D away from the hockey team, and wanting to sell the team, and really wanting no part with us at all. And honestly, it's pretty easy to be around a hockey team when they win a Stanley Cup. And it's really insulting to me to all of a sudden start seeing people pop out of the woodwork when they win a Stanley Cup.

"I'll put it to you in general terms: I don't really think Tom enjoyed the hockey, I don't think he thought it was a good business deal, and I think he really, really – and he was the middle man – [team president] Ron Campbell had to deal with Tom quite a bit. I appreciate Ron Campbell now more than I ever have because he's gone through a lot; he's the point man for us in dealing with Detroit and it was a dogfight trying to stay afloat as a hockey club."

As I said, it's caustic stuff, and may actually mark the first time in pro sports history that a coach has criticized his club's ownership this openly.

If Wilson is thin skinned about any of this, you wonder what recourse there may be to take action against Tortorella. The incoming ownership group has already given the thumbs up to keeping both he and GM Jay Feaster, but I can't see how this constitutes a wise career move.

Honesty can't be the best policy in this situation.