John Tortorella hires assistant coach who ''took off shirt and tried to fight Evander Kane''

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Josh tupper
July 14, 2022 (8:59 PM)

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The Philadelphia Flyers announced that John Tortorella has officially hired the first member of his coaching staff. Tortorella hired Rocky Thompson to be a member of his staff. Thompson's last NHL role was with the San Jose Sharks in 2020.

Thompson didn't have his contract renewed by the Sharks after he elected to not be vaccinated. Due to the NHL's rules, this made Thompson ineligible to be around the players.

Thompson is most known for a locker room altercation with Evander Kane after a powerplay meeting. Kane gave the following statement on the altercation.

We were just giving our opinions on what we can do better, and I gave my opinion at one point in time, and I think our assistant coach, he maybe didn't agree with it. Anyway, the meeting was over, we're all kind of getting ready, chatting afterward, and he comes back into the locker room with his shirt off, flexing and kind of being all hype and whatnot, and challenging me to a fight.

Other accounts of the event claim that Kane was arguing with Thompson trying to undermine him during the meeting. If nothing else this hire definitely seems like the perfect fit for John Tortorella.