April 10, 2019. Tampa, Florida. Minutes before the start of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Columbus Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella gives his team a rousing motivational speech for the ages:
🔊 Who’s ready to run through a brick wall for Torts!? #CBJ pic.twitter.com/vec8lK3vDh
— FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) April 11, 2019
“Forget about skills. Forget about X’s and O’s. It’s a [expletive] mindset of [expletive] believing,” Tortorella said. “It’s amazing what can [expletive] happen. So you stand in there, and you don’t take a [expletive] backward step, not for a [expletive] second.
”Stand face to face with them and take it right [expletive] to them. There is no one taking a [expletive] backward step here.”
We all know what happened next:
the team got run off the ice 3-0 in the first period.
But AFTER that, the Jackets rallied to shock the world by scoring four unanswered goals against the President’s Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning.
In partnership with our friends at Breaking T, we are proud to offer a t-shirt for sale with an excerpt from the speech.
Click here to buy yours today.
All proceeds The Cannon receives from this sale will be donated to the John and Christine Tortorella Family Foundation to support pet rescue efforts in Central Ohio.