John Tortorella apologizes for disrespectful comments.

Wow!

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 7 years ago
John Tortorella apologizes for disrespectful comments.
Keystone Press

It's the 5th of November, the Blue Jackets just lost a fiercely contested game in overtime. John Tortorella is answering question with his natural attitude. Comes the subject of Ryan Reaves who just dropped the gloves with Nick Foligno in an intense fight which Reaves won hands down.

Tortorella said that Reaves was "an animal". Reaves being an african-american, journalists in the room took it as a racial slur toward a black player and reported Tort's comment to the Saint-Louis Blues player who didn't had much to say about it.

John Tortorella admitted today that he reached out to Reaves to apologize for his comments and said he used the word "animal" to describe the level of energy he puts on the ice, no racial comments were intended. The Blue Jackets coach wished Reaves good luck for the rest of the season, except when he'll be facing the Jackets.

Tortorella explanation on comments reported by Portzline:

"That comment is respect for that player, what he has to do. It's one of the hardest jobs in our league every night, and so I have total respect for him. That's the part of the comment that people have run with, but it was really meant as a compliment to that young man in St. Louis." 


Source: TheScore