John Tortorella Jonathan " John " Tortorella ( born June 24 , 1958 ) is an American professional ice hockey coach and is now the head coach of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . He is perhaps best known for his tenure as head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning when he led the team to the 2004 Stanley Cup championship . Tortorella became head coach of the Lightning on June 6 , 2001 and stayed on until his firing on June 3 , 2008 after six and a half seasons , having compiled a 239 – 222 – 36 – 38 record . The firing took place four years after the team ' s Stanley Cup victory . Tortorella has been credited by East Coast Hockey League founders Henry Brabham and Bill Coffey with coming up with the name for the league during a league meeting at a Ramada Inn in Winston - Salem , North Carolina . At the time Tortorella was the head coach of Brabham ' s Virginia Lancers , but left the Lancers to become the assistant coach of the American Hockey League ' s New Haven Nighthawks before the ECHL ' s inaugural season in 1988 . Early life . Tortorella attended Concord Carlise High School and is on the athletic Hall Of Fame Wall ( 1976 ) . John ' s brother Jim Tortorella is also listed on the wall . Tortorella , " The Paper Italian " , played right wing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) at the University of Maine for three years ( 1978 – 81 ) . He played along with his brother , goaltender Jim , who now serves as assistant men ' s coach for the University of New Hampshire Wildcats . After college Tortorella played four years of minor pro hockey ( 1982 – 86 ) in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League . During these years he skated with the Hampton Roads Gulls , Erie Golden Blades , Nashville South Stars and the Virginia Lancers . During his days in the ACHL , Tortorella briefly played with Oren Koules while with the Hampton Roads Gulls . The two later reunited in Tampa Bay , as Tortorella was the coach and Koules was one of the new owners of the Lightning . Coaching career . Tortorella ' s coaching career began with the American Hockey League ( AHL ) ' s Rochester Americans and the ECHL ' s Virginia Lancers . He was also an assistant coach for the AHL ' s New Haven Nighthawks and Rochester Americans , and the NHL ' s Buffalo Sabres , Phoenix Coyotes and New York Rangers . He won the Calder Cup with the 1996 Rochester Americans . Tortorella is known for his outspoken nature — which has included criticizing his own players — and for his unusual system of regularly rotating goaltending duties . This method was used when the Lightning won their first Stanley Cup . Tampa Bay Lightning . Tortorella took over the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2000 – 01 as a mid - season replacement . The team won only 28 % ( 12 of 43 ) of its games to end the season , finishing last in the division . The following season , the team finished third in the division but had a losing record and did not qualify for the playoffs . The 2002 – 03 season marked Tortorella ' s first winning season as an NHL head coach , as the Lightning won the Southeast Division , losing to the New Jersey Devils four games to one in the second round of the 2003 playoffs . At the end of the season he was also recognized as a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year , losing out to Minnesota ' s Jacques Lemaire . In 2003 – 04 , Tortorella ' s fourth season with the team , the Lightning won their second consecutive Southeastern Division title . The Lightning were the top seed in the Eastern Conference , and defeated the sixth - seeded Calgary Flames four games to three , winning the first Stanley Cup in franchise history . The team was in its eleventh year of existence . It was the last Stanley Cup won before the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout . A few days after winning the Stanley Cup , Tortorella would go on to win the 2004 Jack Adams Award as coach of the year . Before the start of the 2005 – 06 season – the NHL ' s first post - lockout campaign – Tampa Bay ' s starting goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin left the team due to the newly implemented salary cap restrictions . Tortorella was hard on Lightning goaltender John Grahame for much of the 2005 – 06 . Grahame subsequently signed with the Carolina Hurricanes before the start of the 2006 – 07 season . Despite the Lightning winning a 2nd - team best 44 games in 2006 – 07 , the Lightning did not win the Southeast Division . He was involved in controversy yet again after game five of Lightning ' s series against the New Jersey Devils during the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs . During a press conference in which Tortorella was visibly irate and disappointed , he told " New York Post " reporter Larry Brooks to " get the fuck out of here " live on CBC television , in response to Brooks ' heckling . Tortorella was fined $ 10 , 000 by the NHL for negative comments he made about the on - ice officials after a 4 – 3 overtime loss at the Atlanta Thrashers on November 19 , 2007 . On March 11 , 2008 with the Lightning defeat of the New York Islanders , Tortorella passed Bob Johnson as the winningest American born NHL coach with 235 victories . Peter Laviolette would later pass him in on November 7 , 2008 . After his dismissal from the Lightning , Tortorella was an in - studio panelist on the " NHL on TSN " . New York Rangers . Tortorella was named head coach of the New York Rangers on February 23 , 2009 , replacing Tom Renney , who was fired earlier that day . On March 17 , he again became the American - born coach with the most wins in NHL history , this time surpassing Laviolette . Tortorella was suspended 1 game by the NHL for an altercation with several Capitals fans behind the bench in the third period of Game 5 in the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs . Replays show the fan clearly heckling Tortorella through verbal jeering , before Tortorella responded by throwing a water bottle at a fan before grabbing a stick from Aaron Voros and trying to spear the fan through a space between 2 panes of glass . He did not receive a penalty on the play despite the fact that NHL rules state any physical altercations with fans result in ejection from a game ; however , the next day the NHL suspended him . When Laviolette became coach of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2009 , the rivalry between the two teams became further heated with Tortorella and Laviolette being the American - born coaches with the most wins in NHL history . United States national men ' s hockey team . John is also the current assistant coach of the U . S . National Men ' s hockey team , replacing Peter Laviolette , which included leading the squad at the 2008 IIHF World Championship , where they finished sixth . NHL coaching record . " Statistics up to date as of April 9 , 2011 "