John Tortorella, the head coach of the New York Rangers hockey team, has been fired. Tortorella was informed by Rangers general manager, Glen Sather on Wednesday afternoon.

Sather said in a conference call today that Tortorella seemed "a little bit shocked" by his dismissal. Rumors have been spreading that "multiple players," including some "top guys," wanted the fiery 53-year-old gone for good, according to a report on ESPN.

 It is unknown specifically which Rangers voiced their displeasure, but the frustration mounted high enough that Sather pulled the trigger after four-plus seasons.

Tortorella lost his job only two days after team MVP goaltender Henrik Lundqvist avoided committing to a long-term contract extension and four days after he benched Brad Richards, his strongest connection to the New York locker room, for the second straight playoff game. Sather said the Richards benching was an "organizational decision made in conjunction with the rest of us," but Tortorella ultimately still makes the lineup call.

Tortorella did not return a phone call or email. Lundqvist and Richards were unavailable for comment. But Wednesday's developments mark a drastic shift in support from late March, when captain Ryan Callahan and the team shot down ex-Ranger Sean Avery's "Fire this CLOWN!" tweet with a message of solidarity:

"Sean Avery's comments solely represent his own thoughts and opinions," the players' statement read. "He did not speak for us as a team when he was here and certainly does not now."

Sather said he hopes to fill his coaching vacancy by the June 30 NHL draft, and though he wouldn't name anyone, leading candidates include former Ranger forward and ex-Sabres coach Lindy Ruff and ex-Canucks coach Alain Vigneault, according to the NY Daily News.

"I'm very appreciative of what Torts has done here, spending four years with the New York Rangers," Sather said. "We have an evaluation at the end of the year like we always do, and we sit and talk about the future and where we plan on going, and how we're going to get there, and our goal is to win the Stanley Cup. And I felt that this is a decision that had to be made to move forward, and we made the decision.

Tortorella, 54, the winningest American-born NHL head coach with 410 career victories, took over for Tom Renney as the franchise's 34th head coach on Feb. 23, 2009 and in four-plus seasons took the Rangers as far as last year's Eastern Conference finals, bowing out in six games to the New Jersey Devils.

Sather and the front office had bought in fully to Tortorella's program focused on discipline, details, player development, "the process," everything he preached. But player unrest built, and a combination of factors resulted in the decision to part ways with the fiery skipper out of Concord, Mass., who coached the Tampa Bay Lightning to the 2004 Stanley Cup.