John Tortorella lashes out at local reporter about Kevin Hayes-Cutter Gauthier report
Tortorella did not hold back on a reporter for Crossing Broad: ”Are you kidding me? Do you think Kevin Hayes is going to do something like that? It’s [expletive]."
John Tortorella unleashed on a local reporter during his postgame press conference on Wednesday night.
Amid answering questions about the Flyers’ 3-2 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens, he stopped to ask: “Is the guy here that caused Kevin Hayes a problem?“
”Yes,” responded Anthony SanFilippo, a reporter for Crossing Broad who also cohosts the Snow The Goalie podcast.
”Are you kidding me? Do you think Kevin Hayes is going to do something like that? It’s [expletive],” Tortorella said.
» READ MORE: Cutter Gauthier trade: Why the Flyers did it, who they got back, and what it means
”It [ticks] me off that you guys throw that [expletive] around and it affects someone’s life. Kevin Hayes and I had a problem, we couldn’t come to an agreement on how to play. That’s a good man. That’s a good man and what you said is going to stay with him. That’s what you guys don’t understand. And you’re going to sit there and say you have the right sources? I call [expletive].”
The tirade by Tortorella was in response to a report from SanFilippo on his podcast Monday night. After Cutter Gauthier was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-round pick, SanFilippo said he “talked to someone in the organization [and] Kevin Hayes’ fingerprints are all over this,” in regards to Gauthier’s decision to not want to play for the Flyers. Cohost and former Flyers defenseman Chris Therien could be heard saying, “Absolutely.”
Hayes categorically denied the report and told The Athletic: “It’s 100 percent false. I don’t know where he got his information from. At first, it didn’t really seem like a big deal. But just the [expletive] that’s come from the aftermath, people with death threats, people want my family dead, people happy my brother’s dead, it’s just crazy stuff coming out. … Not a single aspect of what I’ve done had any implications on this kid’s decision.”
Gauthier’s advisers confirmed to The Inquirer on Wednesday that Hayes had “absolutely” no involvement in the 2022 first-round pick’s decision to not be a Flyer. Gauthier later appeared on the Ducks’ “Light the Lamp” podcast and denied any involvement from Hayes. The pair played golf once last year and both played college hockey at Boston College.
Hayes was traded to the St. Louis Blues over the summer. The Flyers play the Blues in St. Louis on Monday night.
» READ MORE: Trade grades: Evaluating the Cutter Gauthier-Jamie Drysdale deal