Say What?: Emotional Tributes And Brutal Honesty Headline The NHL’s Quotes Of The Week

The NHL is filled with amazing quotes. Some are emotional, while others bring humor to the table. Whether itâ€s players, coaches, front office staff or even pundits, the NHL has no shortage of noteworthy soundbites.

This season alone, weâ€ve seen Ryan Oâ€Reilly become his harshest critic, Jakub Dobes spill his emotions over a loss, and several others demonstrate anger or playfulness.

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Here are some of the best quotes in the NHL of the past week.

John Tortorella Speaks About The Passing Of New York Post Columnist Larry Brooks

If there is one hockey personality who is famous for having the most outrageous quotes, itâ€s long-time NHL coach John Tortorella. “Torts†received his first NHL head coaching job in 2001 when he replaced Steve Ludzik on Jan. 7 on the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Tortorella won a Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2003-04 and then went on to spend seasons as the New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers head coach.

In his time with New York, he had several discussions with the late Larry Brooks, who worked as a New York Post columnist. Brooks recently passed away due to cancer at the age of 75, and Tortorella had plenty of great things to say about him.

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“Heâ€s an icon,†Tortorella said on Thursday evening during ESPNâ€s The Point. “We had our disagreements along the way, but the thing I always respected about Larry is no matter what the day brought — we had a lot of disagreements, but weâ€d disagree and weâ€d go at it, but heâ€d be there the next day. Ready to ask another question, heâ€d be there face-to-face.

“I had so much respect for how hard he worked at his job. Weâ€re both trying to do our business. I need to protect my hockey team sometimes, he has information — and he has information, thatâ€s one thing, he worked at it, to get information.â€

The Hockey World Lost A Titan With The Death Of Larry Brooks

The Hockey World Lost A Titan With The Death Of Larry Brooks Larry Brooks, who died at the age of 75, was a legend and a Hall of Famer in hockey. And he always was in the middle of the story.

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Jon Cooper Explains Use Of Timeout

In a battle between two of Tortorellaâ€s two former teams, the Lightning were having an awful time against the Rangers. The result of the contest was very one-sided as the Rangers went on to defeat the Lightning 7-3.

ESPNâ€s Jackie Redmond conducted a bench interview with Lightning coach Jon Cooper and asked about his early use of a timeout. Cooper had a hilarious response, in short, calling his team immature.

“Reckless play, bad penalty, tough structure, bad turnover, in the net, in the net, and so, if weâ€re going to play like that, thatâ€s not winning hockey. Next 57 minutes we need to change our act, or itâ€s going to get way worse than this. We got better in us. ​​I think there’s a little bit of thumb-sucking going on right now.â€

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The Lightning did up the pressure, finishing with 36 shots on net, but they continued to have issues keeping the Rangers from converting their high-danger chances.

Leon Draisaitl (Jerome Miron-Imagn Images)

Leon Draisaitl And The Oilers Needed A Slap In The Face

Just a week ago, in a highly anticipated Saturday night matchup between the Edmonton Oilers and the Colorado Avalanche, we witnessed the Avalanche lay a beating on what looked like a lifeless Oilers squad.

The game finished with an astonishing 9-1 scoreline, with plenty of blame to be dished around on the Oilers’ end. Leon Draisaitl, who tends to be very open with his responses, not fearing what some may think of what he says, was once again blunt in his description of the game.

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“Sometimes a slap in the face is just what you need.â€

Draisaitl may have been right in his analysis. In the two games following the embarrassing loss, the Oilers defeated the Blue Jackets and the Flyers in overtime. There is still plenty to do for the Oilers to turn things around, but Draisaitl is correct in saying that they needed a wake-up call to get going once again.

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