John Tortorella delivers emotional tribute to Post ‘icon’ Larry Brooks
Former Rangers head coach John Tortorella described Larry Brooks as an “icon” and called his passing a “big loss” as he paid tribute to the longtime Post hockey writer and Hockey Hall of Famer.
Brooks died Thursday morning at the age of 75 after a brief battle with cancer.
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Tortorella and Brooks were most closely associated for their passionate exchanges during the former’s five seasons as Rangers head coach. But Tortorella’s memories of the columnist go right to the respect he’s always had for Brooks.
“He’s an icon,” Tortorella said on Thursday evening during ESPN’s “The Point.”
“We had our disagreements along the way, but the thing I always respected about Larry is no matter what the day brought — we had a lot of disagreements, but we’d disagree and we’d go at it, but he’d be there the next day. Ready to ask another question, he’d be there face-to-face.
“I had so much respect for how hard he worked at his job. We’re both trying to do our business. I need to protect my hockey team sometimes, he has information — and he has information, that’s one thing, he worked at it, to get information.”
The longtime NHL coach said the back-and-forth moments he had with Brooks were never personal. He referred to Brooks as a “colleague.”
Tortorella said he had heard a few days ago about Brooks’ health and reached out to him. He spoke Brooks’ son, Jordon.
Jordon said the call had meant the world to his father.
“That’s what we have to remember here — not the crap that you see and gets sensationalized. It’s the man. He deserves that respect,” Tortorella said.
“Back and forth him and I went, but it’s a relationship that bonded because of that I think,” he added. “He’s a [hockey] lifer. Look what he did to grind to get where he was. … He wasn’t afraid of anything. He voiced his thoughts. How can’t you respect that?”
ESPN host Steve Levy also described Brooks in high regard, saying the tributes pouring in are “normally reserved for superstar athletes, not someone who carried a pen and a pad, merely covering those superstar athletes.”
Tributes to Brooks came in all day on Thursday, ranging from longtime readers to the players he covered to the highest offices at the NHL.
“He was an icon before it was cool to be a media icon,” Levy said.
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