John Tortorella: I’d bench a Colin Kaepernick copycat

John Tortorella, who will be the head coach of Team USA for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey, won’t be having any Colin Kaepernicks on his team.

When asked what his response would be if one of his players opted to sit or kneel in an act of protest during “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Tortorella had a blunt answer.

“If any of my players sit on the bench for the national anthem, they will sit there the rest of the game,” Tortorella told ESPN’s Linda Cohn.

Since Kaepernick has begun refusing to stand for the national anthem as an act of protest against racial injustice in America, much debate has circulated all around the sports world as to whether or not the San Francisco 49ers quarterback’s refusal is a sign of national disrespect. Some have supported Kaepernick, but some simply do not respect Kaepernick’s form of protest.

The question is even more pertinent for teams taking part in international competitions, where they are literally representing their countries but also have a chance to mimic Kaepernick’s method of expressing their beliefs.

But Tortorella is passionate about patriotism and feels strongly about those who serve.  His son Dominick is a member of the U.S. Army 75th Ranger Regiment, an elite special operations unit recognized as one of the most highly skilled units in the world.

Referred to as “Nick” by his father, the younger Tortorella spends the majority of his time overseas, and he rarely gets to see his family. The coach doesn’t receive much information regarding his son’s whereabouts at any given moment, and even phone calls are scarce. But he’s proud of his son, and proud of those who serve.

“They allow us our freedoms in such a crazy time in our world,” Tortorella told Columbus Blue Jackets’ writer Rob Mixer last November. “We’re blessed to have people that are willing to do that. We’re proud of the group that is doing these things to keep us safe.”

And just earlier this week, Tortorella said that he was treating this tournament as a way to represent his country. 

“I know these are hockey games … but I do look at it like it’s for my country,”Tortorella told The Columbus Dispatch’s Aaron Portzline. “What Nick is doing by far dwarfs what we do. We’re entertainers; we’re playing a sport.”

“But with my son over there — this might sound selfish — I want to team up with him and help my country,” Tortorella continued. “I get pretty caught up in representing my country. There’s nothing like it.”

The U.S. team plays its first game in Washington on Sept. 13 against Finland in a “friendly” match to help prepare for the upcoming tournament.

But with two teams, Team Europe (representing countries not directly represented in the World Cup) and Team North America (an Under-23 team featuring players from Canada and the U.S.), lacking an anthem, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly already addressed questions relating to anthems well before Kaepernick’s protest.

With two teams not having an anthem, what would be played prior to games? Daly said anthems would only be played after games where “something is won from a tournament perspective.” That means Tortorella’s threatened punishment could potentially never be carried out.

But Tortorella also coaches the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, who will have the U.S. anthem played before all 82 games they play, giving the threat some potential teeth when the NHL season gets under way.