TSN Reporter Farhan Lalji is reporting the Vancouver Canucks are set to fire Head Coach John Tortorella after just one season, a season in which the Canucks failed to make the playoffs for the first time in the past six years. The Canucks hired Torts after he was relieved of his duties by the New York Rangers just a few months prior. Tortorella signed a 5 year $10 million deal with the Canucks, so this is a big pill to swallow for the Canuck organization.

John Tortorella has been a coach in the NHL for 14 years with the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks. Over those years he has gone 446-375-37-78(OTL) and won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in the 2003-04 season as well as winning the Jack Adams Trophy for Best Coach in the NHL. In recent years Torts has developed a reputation of contention with the media, something he was working to improve upon this season. Torts will get another job, he has the pedigree of a winning coach due to the Stanley Cup Championship, and it’s just a matter of when and in what environment. The right path for Tortorella may be to take a step back and collect a paycheque for a while so that he can re-evaluate his coaching style, which is heavy on demanding physicality and shot blocking from his players (often demanding this too much from star players), and look for a soft-landing spot where the Coachs' media responsibilities are less intense.

For Vancouver, there are many options available that may be intriguing. Barry Trotz will be in high demand but it's hard not to see them making one of the more intriguing pushes for Trotz, Todd McLellan in San Jose would be an interesting name as well should the Sharks decide their most recent playoff failure rests on his shoulders (they shouldn't). The fact of the matter is, this past season in Vancouver was disappointing all around. The goaltending fiasco, Torts' blow-ups (including a suspension for going at the Calgary Flames dressing room in a Jan.18 game), missing the playoffs, aging stars and trade demands. It was a boiling pot and it seems to have finally blown over. Trevor Linden has a lot of work to do this off season as he tries to bring some respect and success back to Vancouver in a hurry. Up first for Linden should be finding the right GM for the Canucks moving forward, though with Trotz in high demand, Linden may look at a coaching replacement as his first move.