Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella called out a reporter during a postgame press conference on Wednesday evening.
The reporter in question, was accused of spreading false information regarding the Cutter Gauthier trade that took place on Monday afternoon.
Gauthier told Flyers General Manager Danny Briere that he didn't want to play in Philadelphia. Unable to sign Gauthier, the Flyers traded the 19-year-old to Anaheim for defenseman Jamie Drysdale in a Monday afternoon Blockbuster trade.
On Monday, following the trade, a reporter with a podcast affiliated with the team said, citing an organizational source, that former Flyers forward Kevin Hayes’ “fingerprints are all over this.” Hayes, a former Boston College player, now plays for the St. Louis Blues.
Tortorella addressed the rumors brought to light by this reporter following his teams 3-2 victory over Montreal on Wednesday night.
You can watch the video below:
“Is the guy here that caused Kevin Hayes a problem?” Tortorella asked.
“Yes,” he answered.
“Are you kidding me? You think Kevin Hayes is going to do something like that? ...,” Tortorella said. “It just pisses me off that you guys throw that around and affect someone’s life. Kevin Hayes and I had a problem and we couldn’t come to an agreement 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. You’re going to sit there and say you have the right sources. ..."
Tortorella then called it a “silly podcast.”
Hayes spoke out about the report on Tuesday, denying any involvement in how the situation played out.
“It’s 100 percent false,” Hayes told The Athletic. “I don’t know where (SanFilippo) got his information from. At first, it didn’t really seem like a big deal. But just the s*** 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.”
Following the allegations, Gauthier came forward and spoke for the first time since the trade.
“I’ve kind of seen all the rumors going around about Kevin Hayes having his fingerprints on this,” Gauthier said. “I want to clarify that he has nothing to do with this whatsoever. He has absolutely nothing (to do with it). Some of the people who are kind of saying this stuff about his family and stuff like that, (it) is pretty gutless. He has zero fingerprints on this whatsoever."
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