John Tortorella torches journalist over Kevin Hayes-Cutter Gauthier report: ‘I call bulls–t’
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Flyers head coach John Tortorella wasn’t happy about a report that Kevin Hayes had a hand in the rift between Cutter Gauthier and the team, and he let the media member behind the claim know it on Wednesday night, going as far as to call the whole thing “bulls–t.”
Gauthier, the fifth overall pick in 2022, was traded to the Ducks earlier this week after the prospect informed the Flyers he had no intention of signing with the organization.
In an episode of Flyers podcast “Snow the Goalie,” co-host Anthony SanFilippo said a source in the Flyers’ organization suggested that the situation had Kevin Hayes’ fingerprints are all over this” and that he played a part in the issues between Philadelphia and Gauthier.
He later wrote for the blog Crossing Broad that Hayes — who was traded to the Blues this summer after four seasons with the Flyers — was “very influential” with Gauthier.
That report, which Hayes denied and called “100 percent false” to The Athletic, created issues, including the now-Blues forward receiving death threats, which led to Tortorella calling out SanFilippo on Wednesday after the Flyers beat the Canadiens, 3-2.
“Is the guy here that caused Kevin Hayes a problem?” Torts asked at first.
When SanFilippo acknowledged he was in fact present, Tortorella went off.
“Are you kidding me? You think Kevin Hayes is going to do something like that?” Tortorella said. “It’s bulls–t. It pisses me off that you guys throw that s–t around and it affects someone’s life. Kevin 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 bulls–t.”
SanFilippo addressed the postgame press conference tongue-lashing on X shortly after it occurred.
“Well, Torts just lit me up in his press conference about Kevin Hayes. Completely unprompted. That ought to be a joy for everyone for the next couple days,” he wrote.
After the trade, Hayes commented on Instagram that SanFilippo “is a f–king clown and making s–t up.”
In later interviews, Hayes revealed that he was also receiving death threats from upset fans based off of SanFilippo’s reporting.
“At first, it didn’t really seem like a big deal,” Hayes told The Athletic. “But just the s–t 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.”
Hayes’ brother, Jimmy, died at 31 years old in 2021.
Angry fans have also been harassing Gauthier following the trade, sending him threatening messages on social media, he revealed in a conference call with reporters Wednesday.
“A 19-year-old kid getting a lot of death threats and a bunch of thousands and thousands of people reaching out and just saying some pretty poor things that I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy, it’s pretty tough to see, obviously,” Gauthier said, per The Athletic.
Gauthier has been a standout for Boston College this season, scoring 23 points in 17 games in his sophomore year.
He also helped lead the United States to gold at this year’s IIHF World Junior Championship, notching two goals and 10 assists in seven games.
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