The Philadelphia Flyers fired head coach John Tortorella on Thursday amid a season in which they are languishing near the bottom of the NHL’s Eastern Conference. While the on-ice results certainly played a factor, some wondered if Tortorella’s comments after losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-2 had anything to do with his dismissal.
With the loss to the Leafs, Philadelphia sank to 28-36-9 and remained at the rear of the Metropolitan Division and just one point ahead of the last-place Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference.
Following the defeat, Tortorella made a comment that was construed by some as though he did not want to continue to coach the Flyers.
“When you’re in this type of situation and you’re losing all the time, and there’s nothing at the end of the tunnel for you, there’s certainly going to be some frustration,” Tortorella said. “But this falls on me. I’m not really interested in learning how to coach in this type of season, where we’re at right now. But I have to do a better job. So this falls on me, getting the team prepared to play the proper way until we get to the end.”
Veteran NHL insider Elliotte Friedman said he did not immediately interpret Torotrella’s statement like that, but apparently, some within the Flyers organization did.
“I just think it was getting harder and harder, and they get pummeled in Toronto,” Friedman said on Sportsnet’s ’32 Thoughts’ podcast. “Now, I wasn’t there in Toronto, I was in Edmonton going to Winnipeg, but initially, when I heard those quotes, that was Tortorella trying to deflect from the players. Like, he was like, ‘Oh this stunk, it’s the biggest stage in the league, I don’t want my players to wear it all.’ So I thought it was kind of him trying to put the spotlight on himself, so the players didn’t have to eat it all. That was my first reaction. I started to hear some rumors on Wednesday that those comments weren’t being well received in the dressing room and in the front office.”
Tortorella and Cam York reportedly had a “heated” verbal altercation, after which the then-coach attempted to healthy scratch York for Thursday’s game vs. the Montreal Canadiens. However, Tortorella would not make it that far.
On Thursday morning, Flyers general manager Daniel Briere announced Tortorella’s firing, which he called a “difficult decision” in the team’s statement.
Friedman seemed to confirm that it was not particularly easy for Philadelphia to move on from Tortorella, who was hired in 2022.
“I think there were some pretty tough conversations, and ultimately, the decision was made on Thursday morning to make the change,” Friedman said. “Briere made a point of saying that wasn’t the reason, but I do think it was the whipped cream on the sundae.”
Associate head coach Brad Shaw has been named interim head coach of the Flyers and was victorious in his first game in the role Thursday.
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