The Philadelphia Flyers are 2-5-3 in their last 10 games as their hold on the Metropolitan Division’s third and final guaranteed playoff spot has become tenuous. The Washington Capitals are nipping at the heels of the Flyers with a 9-5-1 record in March that leapfrogged them temporarily over Philadelphia for a day or two. The Capitals (82 standings points) currently sit one point behind the Flyers (83) with two games in hand.
Flyers’ head coach John Tortorella has borne the brunt of that collapse in the most entertaining way possible for fans: testy press conferences and fiery behavior.
Many of the Flyers’ controversies and distractions have been created by Torts himself as he’s struggled to handle situations — like obvious questions from the media or difficult situations on the ice — calmly. It’s arguably been a problem that’s dogged him throughout his career.
One must ask: How can a coach expect his young team to thrive in stressful situations if its leader can’t?
March 9 – The “I’m not leaving” game
The Flyers have lost nine of 12 games since Tortorella lost his cool with officials during a 7-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Early in the first period and with his team down 4-0, Tortorella was given a two-minute bench minor and then ejected for arguing with officials. He refused to leave the bench.
“I’m not f—ing going, tell him to go” Tortorella appears to say if my lip-reading is correct. “I’m not going. I’m staying right f—ing (here).”
Eventually, he would walk down the tunnel and to the locker room, but the NHL was not amused with how long it took. Torts was fined and suspended for two games.
Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella has been suspended for two games and fined $50,000 for unprofessional conduct directed at the officials by refusing to leave the bench area after being assessed a game misconduct at 10:49 of the first period of NHL Game No. 1,016 on Saturday, March 9, NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell announced today.
March 19 – Scratching the team captain
Shortly after Tortorella returned from suspension, he made a bold move. He healthy-scratched Sean Couturier for two games, creating another distraction for the team.
Compounding matters, Tortorella avoided addressing the decision in the media leaving it up to his players and assistant coaches to respond. Torts delegated media duties to assistant coach Rocky Thompson during the morning skate and then refused to address it after the game as seen in the video above.
“Not answering your question. Next question,” Tortorella said. “I’m not talking on Sean. I’m not debating with you. I’m not conversing with it. It’s between Sean and I… I’m putting the players out to win a particular game and these were the 20 we decided to go with.”
“I control what I can control,” Couturier said about being scratched. “It is what it is and we move on.”
The Flyers went 2-0-1 during the week, but have lost five straight since.7
March 24 – Humiliating your own goalie
Next, Tortorella humiliated Felix Sandstrom when asked about the goaltender’s performance in his team’s 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers. Sandstrom gave up three goals on 17 shots.
“Felix Sandstom wasn’t too happy with his performance,” the reporter said. “He just felt like he missed a couple there. Did you feel like he could have given you some more saves?”
Tortorella, exasperated, put his hands in the air multiple times and slammed them against the podium before walking out of the press conference.
Two days later, Tortorella expressed remorse for his behavior.
“I made a terrible mistake with you guys the other night… My body language was wrong,” Tortorella said. “What I should have said to you was he’s trying. Sanny’s trying.
“Things happened this year that put our goaltending situation into a state of flux. Sanny did not deserve that from me. You had the perfect right to ask that question. He did not deserve that from me. It was wrong.”
April 1 – Not “enough balls to play in these games”
A week later, Tortorella was not happy with how his team played in the second period of a 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Islanders.
The Islanders outshot the Flyers 17 to 3 in the second period, but the Flyers responded in the third, outshooting New York 20 to 3 to force overtime and nab a standings point.
After the game, Tortorella had an “ALL-TIME indictment of the team’s 2nd period performance” per Bleacher Report.
“Soft. One guy played: the goalie,” Tortorella said. “He’s the only guy that played.
“You’re finding things out here, okay? When these games are at a whole different plane, okay? It’s still the regular season but it’s a whole different plane. So we’re finding things out.
“There are certain people who don’t have a clue how to play or just don’t have it in them to play in these types of situations and this is why I’m glad we’re playing them. We have to figure things out about what we’re going to become as a team here. That was embarrassing the second period for the Philadelphia Flyer uniform, the way we play, embarrassing. High marks on how we came back in the third… some guys.”
When asked about the schedule, Tortorella ended his press conference with this remark.
“If you don’t have enough balls to play in these games, rest doesn’t do us any good.”
April 3 – “You’ve got the wrong damn coach”
Wednesday, Tortorella opened up to the media and explained his recent outlandish behavior: it’s out of love.
“If a player is going to quit on me or players are going to quit on me because I’m trying to make them better people and better athletes, you’ve got the wrong damn coach here and you’ve got the wrong damn people here,” Tortorella said.
“My job is: I’m going to push athletes. I try to stay away from — I have other things on my mind that I don’t give you. I was in control the other night. What I said I meant. And quite honest when I watch the tape now, I’m more concerned than just the second period because of I’m so proud of the team getting here.
“And I guess the narrative out there now is that they’re young they’re not supposed to be here. Bullshit. We’re here. We’re here. Face it. And let’s be better. I don’t think we’re ready to be better and that’s my problem with us right now. And it is my job. I have not done a good enough job to get them over the hump. I haven’t done a good enough job making them realize we have to be different now at a different level. That’s my frustration with me and that’s my frustration with the team. And if people can’t handle it, so be it.”
The Flyers have six games remaining in their season. If they can re-find their groove, they could make the playoffs for the first time since 2020. What’s clear though is: not only will they have to overcome the opposition, they’ll also have to overcome whatever distraction their Stanley Cup-winning coach creates, too.
