John Tortorella is back, and he’s apologetic.
The Canucks coach returned from his unpaid suspension Monday and admitted shame over his behavior.
“It hasn’t been a great two weeks,” he told reporters in Detroit. “It’s been very embarrassing for my family, myself and more importantly everybody else around me that I’m supposed to represent.”
The former Rangers coach was hit with a 15-day suspension on Jan. 19 after he attempted to enter Calgary’s locker room between periods of his team’s game against the Flames the night before.
Calgary had started its fourth line for the opening faceoff, which prompted Tortorella to send out his fourth line. After a fight broke out, an irate Tortorella yelled at the Flames’ bench.
“I let a lot of people down,” he said Monday. “I have to make amends here by getting back at this. I’m going to be who I am. I just can’t go off the rails as I did.
“Off the rails? I was off the country.”
The Canucks went 2-4 during the six games he missed, and hold a one-point lead over the Coyotes for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.