When Mike Sullivan put together the United States coaching staff for the 4 Nations Face-Off, he reached out to one of his mentors, John Tortorella.
He had spent years as an assistant under Tortorella and wanted him to bring his unique perspective. He wanted him to display another side of his personality too.
“I said to him, ‘I would like you to take on a different role than you are as a head coach,’” Sullivan said. “‘I don’t want you to be the hammer. I’ll be the hammer. I want you to be the old wise man.’
“‘I want you to reveal yourself to the players and the other coaches. I want you to show the John Tortorella that I know, that my wife knows, that my kids know, that your kids know, that you don’t show the world very often.’
“And I said, ‘If you can bring that to this staff and our team, I think you’re going to be a tremendous value.’
“And that’s what he did.”
Tortorella took exception to the word “old.” At 67, he has only 10 years on Sullivan.
“Tell ‘Sully’ to [bleep] off,” Tortorella said with a laugh.
Tortorella would rather call himself “experienced.”
Although it was an adjustment for him to serve as an assistant at 4 Nations, Tortorella contributed his wisdom, including helping Sullivan decide when to put brothers Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk on the same line.
The United States came close to winning the tournament, losing to Canada 3-2 in overtime at TD Garden in Boston on Feb. 20.
Now Tortorella will return to Sullivan’s staff for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 and play a key role as the United States tries to win Olympic gold in men’s hockey for the first time since 1980.
Tortorella wants to coach in the NHL again. But for now, he isn’t leading an NHL team, so he can focus on the Olympics, scouting players on video and in person to help the United States build its roster.
“We have such a big base of skill and toughness and will in the U.S. program right now competing for these jobs on this Olympic team,” Tortorella said. “For me to be able to go out and watch this type of stuff, I mean, it’s fantastic. I won’t be making decisions. I’ll have my input, obviously. …
“I’m going to tell you how I think. I’m going to tell you what I think of the player. No matter if it’s good or bad, I’m going to be honest with you. I think that’s what I need to do and not get caught up in the name but just get caught up in how they’re playing.
“Yeah, so kind of a different role, but a really exciting role for me.”
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Sullivan stressed the importance of chemistry in best-on-best tournaments, not just for the players, but for the coaches too.
The team must come together quickly. There is little practice time and lots of pressure in high-stakes games. You must plan for each contingency and then make decisions in the moment.
You need people you can trust.
Sullivan respects Tortorella’s resume and has a tight relationship with him.
Tortorella won the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004 and the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year with the Lightning in 2004 and the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2017.
He has coached 1,620 NHL regular-season games, first among coaches born in the United States, and has 770 NHL regular-season wins, second among coaches born in the United States behind Peter Laviolette (846).
Sullivan served as an assistant under Tortorella with the Lightning (2007-08), New York Rangers (2009-13) and Vancouver Canucks (2013-14), plus the United States for the World Cup of Hockey 2016 in Toronto.
“He helped me become the coach that I am today, and now the roles are reversed,” said Sullivan, who led the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017 and now coaches the Rangers. “In a lot of ways, I think he takes a lot of pride in it. I think.”
Tortorella does.
“I’m so proud of him, of where he’s gone to as a coach,” Tortorella said. “I think he’s one of the top coaches, if not the top coach, in the National Hockey League.”
Sullivan said he and the other U.S. coaches for 4 Nations and the Olympics — assistants John Hynes and David Quinn — are “video junkies,” breaking down clips and studying the little picture. With his experience, Tortorella looks at the big picture. He has a sense on the bench.
“I thought it was one of his strengths when I worked with him and observed,” Sullivan said. “He’s got a unique ability to kind of tweak personnel when things aren’t going the right way or whatever. It’s the art of coaching, I guess, as opposed to the science.”
It paid off during 4 Nations.
The coaches spent hours sketching lines and defense pairs ahead of the tournament. On paper, the line of Matthew Tkachuk, Jack Eichel and Kyle Connor looked good because of the forwards’ complementary skill sets. Tkachuk would go to the net. Connor would bring speed. Eichel would be the linchpin.
But on the ice in the opener against Finland on Feb. 13, the line didn’t look good. The score was 1-1 early in the second period when Sullivan asked Tortorella about Plan B: the Tkachuk brothers with Eichel.
“I said, ‘What do you think?’” Sullivan said. “And he goes, ‘Give it a couple shifts. We’ll see what happens.’”
Sullivan waited a couple shifts. Not much happened.
“I kind of looked down at him, and he goes, ‘Now’s the time,’” Sullivan said. “… My gut feeling is, ‘OK, I’m going do this,’ and then when he kind of says to me, ‘I agree,’ that for me is the affirmation.”
The change helped ignite the United States, which went on to win 6-1.
“You don’t have the luxury of letting lines or defense pairs play their way through things,” Sullivan said. “It’s not like you’ve got [an 82-game schedule and] 60 games in front of you. The tournament’s over before it starts. You’ve got to have a short leash. You just do, I think. That’s part of that experience, right?
“And that was something that ‘Torts’ brought to our staff, brings to me in particular. And sometimes I would have a coffee with him, just him and I, he has a good feel for me too. Not just players and the team. He knows me, so he has a good feel for me, and he in a lot of ways was …
“He’s kind of like, you know, he’s the consigliere, you know? He has a good feel.”