John Tortorella refuses to back down from his anthem comments.

Yesterday head coach John Tortorella ruffled some feathers when he made some very poignant comments regarding his stance on players refusing to stand for the American national anthem, specially players on his teams.

Today Tortorella got the chance to elaborate on those comments, and while you might think that given the level of controversy that follow his statement he might dial things back, Torotrella doubled down on his comments.

"I'm not backing off," Tortorella said as per ESPN's Scott Burnside.

[pub]

For Torotrella it's not even debatable, while he respects an individuals right to protest and express his opinion however right or wrong they may be, he draws the line at disrespecting the symbol of America.

"It is probably the most disrespectful thing you can do as a U.S. citizen is to bring that in. Because that's our symbol. All for [expressing] yourself. That's what's so great. Everybody does. But no chance when it comes to the flag and the anthem. No chance."

Tortorella has a son who is a member of the United States military, so it's even more unlikely than usual that Tortorella will be changing his position anytime soon.