John Tortorella Wins Huge Game, Loses Big Job

New York Rangers head coach John Tortorella had a huge win over the Montreal Canadiens last night to get his team in the playoffs, but lost the Team USA coaching job to Ron Wilson of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Wilson officially took over the hockey team on Monday when USA Hockey announced he would take the reins of the U.S. men's hockey team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

USA Hockey also announced that Wilson will coach America's team at the 2009 World Championships, which begin later this month in Switzerland.

Burke is the general manager for the U.S. team at the 2010 games. He is also the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Burke said the other two finalists for the coaching job were Tortorella and former Carolina Hurricanes head coach Peter Laviolette.

Tortorella has more victories than any American-born coach after passing Peter Laviolette (245) last month. Under Tortorella, the Rangers are 10-7.

A 50-year-old Boston native, Tortorella is know as "The Torch." He guided the Tampa Bay Lightning to the 2004 Stanley Cup Championships.

The Toronto Maple Leafs (33-34-13) are out of the playoff picture, in last place in their division, second last in the Eastern Conference, and 24th place overall under Wilson. The New York Rangers (41-30-9) are in the playoff picture, in eighth place in the East, and 13th place overall under Tortorella.

Tortorella's Rangers beat Montreal last night and are now one win away from clinching a playoff berth. The team has turned around since he replaced Tom Renney as coach.

Tortorella made his presence felt fast with the Rangers, who were in a serious slump. The team started the season with a 10-2 record, but their longest slump in decades dropped them out of the playoff picture.  

The Rangers fired Renney after losing a game to the Leafs in Toronto and replaced him with Tortorella just before the NHL Trade Deadline. The Rangers traded for Nik Antropov, of the Leafs, and Toronto native Sean Avery re-joined the New York team.

Antropov had 21 goals in 63 games for the Leafs under Wilson this year and has seven goals in 14 games with the Rangers under Tortorella. Avery went from the role of third wing agitator to first line scorer with Tortorella as coach.

Many predicted Tortorella and Avery would not get along, but no conflicts have been reported. Avery scored a goal a game and two goals in one game when Tortorella moved him to the Rangers' first line.

Wilson and Burke have been friends and teammates going back more than 30 years, but Burke denied hiring Wilson just because they are longtime friends.

Wilson led the U.S. team to a sixth-place finish at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. He led the Americans to a gold medal in the inaugural World Cup of Hockey in 1996 and also coached the U.S. entry into the 1994 and 1996 IIHF World Championships as well as the World Cup of Hockey in 2004.