John Tortorella gets thrown under the bus days after landing new job!

On Wednesday, USA Hockey announced the assistant coaches and support staff for the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team set to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, and former NHL head coach John Tortorella made the team.

It had to be great news for Torts, who is back behind the bench of a professional team, months after losing his head coaching job in Philadelphia. Back in March, following a verbal altercation with young defenseman Cam York in the Flyers dressing room during a game, Tortorella was fired by GM Daniel Briere with a few games left in the season.

The Flyers have since hired Rick Tocchet, formely bench boss of the Vancouver Canucks, to take over, and while captain Sean Couturier spoke to media on Thursday about the new challenges for the 2025-26 season, the star forward took an unfortunate shot at Tortorella. When asked about his relationship with his new head coach, Couturier threw Torts under the bus:

“Already had some really good conversations with him, probably more over the last three months (with Tocchet) than over two years with Torts. It’s fun to just go back & forth and get to know each other.”

While I’m sure Tortorella remains happy and proud to have made Team USA to serve under head coach Mike Sullivan, along with New York Rangers assistant coach David Quinn and Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes, this is a tough blow coming from one of his leaders in Philly.

With training camps opening around the league earlier this week, Torts did not find a job in the NHL despite his resume and you have to wonder if Couturier’s comments were a blunt reminder that he is not well-liked by players around the league.

Talks had previously linked him to his friend Sullivan, who was named the new Rangers head coach earlier this summer. However, for now, Tortorella will only join Sullivan behind the bench of the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team for the upcoming Winter Games, and until then, try and forget about the blow given by his former captain.