We know plenty about John Tortorella the hockey coach.
Apparently, John Tortorella the hockey player had quite a colorful (albeit brief) career.
Tortorella is from Massachusetts and played college hockey at the University of Maine, which had long been a NCAA powerhouse. He couldn't make it to the AHL or NHL right out of college, so he decided to give it a go overseas and ended up in Sweden.
Speaking with SVT Sport from Sweden, Tortorella talked about the time he was left in Germany by his club team "with no clothes." After his first season in Sweden with Kristianstad, Tortorella returned for another go-round and it went south quickly.
Here's the quote, translated via Expressen:
"Next year I was back, and to make a long story short, my visa papers were completely" fucked up." So I was stopped at passport control.
"We had to go to Germany to fix the papers, but my passport was not okay either. So general manager, I do not say who or what team dumped me in Germany without money and clothes."
Basically, Tortorella's second season with his Swedish team was a nightmare. The coaching thing has worked out just fine for him.
Stick tap: /r/bluejackets
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