Despite the hard exterior and aggressive coaching style, John Tortorella brought success to Philadelphia, so it came as a shock to many when he was relieved of his position. Tortorella -Torts for short- has a reputation for being rough around the edges, but that coaching style seemed to be the start of a rebuild for the Philadelphia Flyers. 

Tortorella was hired under former GM Chuck Fletcher who was relieved of his position in 2022 and replaced by the well-loved Daniel Briere. Under Briere, Torts had room on the leash to learn the players and how to coach them. From a bottom-10 team to a playoff contender, Tortorella brought success that Philadelphia fans did not think they would see for a number of years.

Despite never actually seeing the playoffs, we saw a playoff-caliber team. The effort that was noticed in every single game wasn’t a fluke or a random change in behavior; it was because of John Tortorella. He is the type of coach that recognized hard work, not talent. This is what caused the Flyers to see the success that they have even if it didn’t result in a playoff appearance. 

One of the problems that arose under Tort’s was the Russian prospect, Matvei Michkov. Michkov was benched an abnormal amount of times during the season for reasons that were not thoroughly explained by Tortorella. This sparked lots of controversy and confusion over the young player since his talent was so highly spoken about. Fans who were fond of Michkov started to turn sour on Tortorella when it seemed like he was preventing Michkov from showcasing his true talent on the ice. 

Still, the abrupt change in leadership came as a shock to me, since it seemed to be very haste. On top  of that, a comment made by Tortorella was painted to be the catalyst to the firing.

“I’m not really interested in learning how to coach this type of team, in this type of season,’ Tortorella explained after last Thursday’s loss. However, I think that this quote was taken out of context. In my opinion, Tortorella was trying to take accountability for not preparing the team for the type of season that the team had.

Nevertheless, the team moved on from the head coach and had Brad Shaw take the interim role. So far, the flyers have had success under him, but that is entirely the freshness of having a new coach and being able to experiment with the team. While I can’t entirely get behind the quick coaching change, I could see the future with another face behind the bench.