"Disaster from Day 1" - Ex-NHLer Dale Weise take brutal dig at John Tortorella's coaching stint

Former NHL forward Dale Weise shared his views on John Tortorella’s coaching style. Weise played 10 games under Tortorella with the New York Rangers as a rookie and spent some time under him in Vancouver.

Weise recalled his past experiences and said that Tortorella focused too much on toughness instead of skill. Weise explained he was cut despite good preseason scoring numbers. The reason, according to Tortorella, was that he “didn’t fight.”

He also discussed the coach's time in Vancouver from 2013 to 2014. Weise, who signed with the Canucks in 2011, said the hiring never made sense for that roster.

"There's John Tortorella, you know, rumored to be getting the job in Vancouver, and I literally said it was stupid," Weise said on Aug. 24 (16:01), via the "Slangin’ the Bizkit Podcast." "I was young, 22-23 years old, I said, 'No way', I said, 'he's not a fit for this team.'"

Weise also talked about Tortorella's hiring in Vancouver by Mike Gillis. He wished the general manager asked him about it since Weise had experience of playing under him in New York.

"I wish the GM (Mike Gillis) would have asked me, like, I would have saved his job," Weise said. "But no, brought him in absolute disasters, playing the Sedins and Kesler, like, 27 minutes a night, Sedins are on the penalty kill, blocking shots. Like, it was just a disaster from day one, and I called it.

"Didn't work, buried the team. I don't think he made it out of a year in Vancouver, and it just keeps getting recycled. And wherever he went to Columbus, whatever, that a little bit of success.

Weise explained he was shocked Philadelphia hired Tortorella in 2022.

And then they gotta bring him into Philly," Weise said. "They gotta get someone harder. It was like, I was so blown away that they brought him into Philly."

Weise also recalled playing with Daniel Briere, who was the special assistant to the Flyers' GM in 2022, and became Flyers GM in 2023. The were teammates under former Habs coach Michel Therrien. Weise said Therrien was demanding and hard-nosed. Briere disliked him as a coach when they played under him in 2013-14.

Weise questioned management’s decision, including Briere, to bring in another tough coach like Tortorella.

"Briere hated him as a player, and that was, you know, as management, you're bringing in a coach, that's tough to your players," Weise said. "It didn't make sense to me."

Weise was not shocked when Philadelphia removed Tortorella in March. He felt the move was expected given past results.

"I'm not shocked that he's he's out the door," Weise said. " I think John Tortorella, I really enjoy him as a guy, like, away from the rink. I think he's a great person, I'd love to have Beers, and like I totally respect him, but it just doesn't work. It doesn't work and he can't be somewhere, longer than a year or two."

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Daniel Briere's comments after firing John Tortorella

Philadelphia fired John Tortorella in March after three seasons. Flyers general ganager Daniel Briere said the decision was difficult but necessary for the rebuild. Briere thanked Tortorella for setting standards and representing the team’s identity.

"As we move into the next chapter of this rebuild, I felt this was the best for our team to move forward," Briere said in March, via NHL.com. "I'd like to thank John for his tireless work and commitment to the Flyers."

The franchise hired former Canucks coach Rick Tocchet in May. Tocchet has previous experience with Philadelphia as he was played for the team from 1984-1992.