John Tortorella Calls Joe Thornton’s Comments ‘Classless,’ Says Sharks Center Should ‘Just Shut Up’

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Nov 1, 2011

It was a bit surprising to hear of John Tortorella's reaction to Joe Thorton's assessment that the New York Rangers were soft following Monday's game.

The Rangers coach responded to Thornton, who said that the Rangers were soft and that the Sharks should have beaten them following a 5-2 loss, by saying that Thornton's comments were "wonderful."

Yahoo's Puck Daddy blog points out that the outspoken Tortorella responded at Rangers practice on Tuesday, and he came down much harder on Thornton than he did on Monday night. Apparently, Tortorella just needed a night to gather his thoughts. 

"Yeah, it caught me off-guard when it was brought up after the game," Tortorella said at practice on Tuesday. "It surprised me, and I've never heard a player say that."

And of course, from there, Tortorella went after the fact that Thornton has never won anything.

"Joe's a heck of a player, but here's a player popping off about our team, and Joe hasn't won a g–damn thing in this league. He could go down as a player, being one of the better players in our league never to win anything.

"So what he should do is just shut up. It was uncalled for, it was classless, and I've never had it happen like that before."

Well then. Unfortunately for everyone, the Rangers and Sharks don't meet again this season — unless of course they get together in the Stanley Cup Final.

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