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Report: Tortorella will be fired Thursday

Calgary Flames v Vancouver Canucks

Calgary Flames v Vancouver Canucks

Rich Lam

For the second time in as many years, John Tortorella will be shown the door, according to TSN’s Farhan Lalji.

The controversial coach was brought in to make the Vancouver Canucks a better postseason squad after back-to-back first round exits under former bench boss Alain Vigneault. Instead, Tortorella’s Canucks failed to make the playoffs entirely and will reportedly be fired tomorrow.

Vancouver averaged just 2.33 goals per game in 2013-14, which put them ahead of just the Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres in the NHL. A lot of that was due to the decline of the Sedin twins, who combined for just 27 goals and 97 points after Daniel Sedin alone topped that total in 2010-11 and Henrik Sedin did so in the previous campaign.

That’s not to suggest Tortorella was an innocent victim to Sedin’s decline though as his desire to have them focus more on blocking shots and killing penalties might have contributed to their offensive struggles.

Assuming the report is true, Tortorella’s firing would be another major step in the Canucks’ efforts to reinvent themselves. In the last two months, they’ve traded goaltender Roberto Luongo, fired GM Mike Gillis, and appointed Trevor Linden as the team’s new president.

Related:

Linden wants new Canucks GM by end of May

Tortorella somber after elimination, columnist calls team’s style ‘unwatchable’

Sedin backs Tortorella and staff: ‘We love playing for these coaches’

In two years, Gillis has gone from top dog to embattled GM

Is Tortorella’s system to blame for Canucks’ woes?

Linden thinks Torts misused the Sedins

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