my opinion, and i could be wrong, is that torts main job was to get the team to be more professional. Compete hard every night, tighten up the locker room. And i think he did that, and i think it was needed. I wished DB traded some players and didnt aquire others so torts wouldnt even have a chance to put in certain lineups. But after years of the country club the locker room did need more professionalism. Now we need to work on talent. And looks like we may need to move on from torts. I dont think the GM and coach were on the same page which is an issue
- bradster

Did anyone see the comments by Dale Weiss where he stated that Coots should have been the Captain even when G was still on the team?

my opinion, and i could be wrong, is that torts main job was to get the team to be more professional. Compete hard every night, tighten up the locker room. And i think he did that, and i think it was needed. I wished DB traded some players and didnt aquire others so torts wouldnt even have a chance to put in certain lineups. But after years of the country club the locker room did need more professionalism. Now we need to work on talent. And looks like we may need to move on from torts. I dont think the GM and coach were on the same page which is an issue
- bradster

Isn't the last eight games the same thing? Seems to me that the lack of overall talent makes it seem like they are not trying. "Trying hard" for 3/4 of a season hasn't gotten them any further than the "country club" locker room.

Get real talent on the team and we will not be focused on the perceived lack of effort.

Did anyone see the comments by Dale Weiss where he stated that Coots should have been the Captain even when G was still on the team?
- MBFlyerfan

Good old Horseface had 8 points in 17-18 when G had 102 and Coots had 76.

Good old Horseface had 8 points in 17-18 when G had 102 and Coots had 76.
- Feanor

ok

Good old Horseface had 8 points in 17-18 when G had 102 and Coots had 76.
- Feanor

Dont forget that was a signing that was very much supported by AGMDB at the time.

https://theathletic.com/5...rs-coach-john-tortorella/

According to former #CBJ GM Doug MacLean, John Tortorella parted ways with #CBJ because he wanted to move into management in his last year, but Kekalainen wouldn’t allow it. Says he wouldn’t be surprised if torts moves into #LetsGoFlyers management as soon as after this year.

I do not think the org will force his decision. Only way he is not coach of the Flyers next season is if he chooses not to be.
- mickel25

yep

Call me crazy, but I think this guy could coach a better PP than Rocky 32.


- Feanor

he would fit right in with the rest of the losing bunch

Why am I not surprised you're the first one on here to respond with criticism of Tortorella? Taking a break from giving Saint Ronnie fellatio?


- aantny88

That is an unintelligent and flat out stupid reply.

Actually I can criticize them for it. Be a damn professional! How would these guys survive in the playoffs if they can't get through the regular season without falling off a cliff?


- aantny

You obviously missed the point. There is no other gear. They've been playing at their highest gear all season. Has nothing to do with being professional and everything to do with human limitation.

Also, I criticized Torts in my post in you bothered to read it and not simply pick what fit your narrative. Some things never change around here...

- aantny

Has nothing to do with a narrative. I commented on what I chose to. Which is my prerogative

That is an unintelligent and flat out stupid reply.



You obviously missed the point. There is no other gear. They've been playing at their highest gear all season. Has nothing to do with being professional and everything to do with human limitation.




Has nothing to do with a narrative. I commented on what I chose to. Which is my prerogative
- MJL

sniffing your own ass again i see

Good old Horseface had 8 points in 17-18 when G had 102 and Coots had 76.
- Feanor

Hey! Be nice to the lead actor for the movie Mask...please.

I had to stop watching in the 2nd. All I can say is WOW. Just WOW.

if tk has winning as a priority he will not re-sign. the only way the flyers can save themselves. doubtful as he learned under such a laid back core of players who could care less.

this same core the flyers want to build around. they owe it to laughton.

https://theathletic.com/5...rs-coach-john-tortorella/

According to former #CBJ GM Doug MacLean, John Tortorella parted ways with #CBJ because he wanted to move into management in his last year, but Kekalainen wouldn’t allow it. Says he wouldn’t be surprised if torts moves into #LetsGoFlyers management as soon as after this year.
- Flyers_01

he knows torts would sabotage him at every turn is my guess. also knows how he wants to likely build a team.

whatever hurts the flyers more is what I want to happen at this point.

Isn't the last eight games the same thing? Seems to me that the lack of overall talent makes it seem like they are not trying. "Trying hard" for 3/4 of a season hasn't gotten them any further than the "country club" locker room.

Get real talent on the team and we will not be focused on the perceived lack of effort.
- mickel25

I dont think so, I think for the most part the effort was there. with the exception of a game or two, the old crew it was months and seasons where it was country club

he knows torts would sabotage him at every turn is my guess. also knows how he wants to likely build a team.

whatever hurts the flyers more is what I want to happen at this point.
- hello it's me 2050

In hindsight the way Torts undercut and embarrassed Chuck at every turn was a clear sign that he was angling for increased influence and an expanded job description.

Ofc the Flyers fell for it when even a hapless team like Columbus didn't.

With the Flyers losing 8 in a row and basically been losing for over a month. Is the locker room still tight?

he knows torts would sabotage him at every turn is my guess. also knows how he wants to likely build a team.

whatever hurts the flyers more is what I want to happen at this point.
- hello it's me 2050

I would hope Briere would be smart enough to realize this is your chance. Your the GM of a big market hockey team. Are you going to hitch your wagon to Torts for the future?

I can't get past the fact that he would not want to build this in his fashion simply ego alone, and then see how it goes. If it doesn't work well then at least you stayed true to your plan and it didn't work. But if you succeed in turning this franchise around you'll be loved forever.

Look at Hextall and how being the GM changed how people look at him, fair or not.;

In hindsight the way Torts undercut and embarrassed Chuck at every turn was a clear sign that he was angling for increased influence and an expanded job description.

Ofc the Flyers fell for it when even a hapless team like Columbus didn't.
- Tomahawk

Hilferty to paraphrase. Tortorella is the spiritual advisor of our team

Hilferty to paraphrase. Tortorella is the spiritual advisor of our
team
- MJL

Mr Hilferty,

The SPIRITS have faded and are gone.

Somewhere, Kate Smith is singing.

I dont think so, I think for the most part the effort was there. with the exception of a game or two, the old crew it was months and seasons where it was country club
- bradster

To me the result is the same regardless of perceived effort level. The only thing that is a constant is the lack of overall talent.

Mr Hilferty,

The SPIRITS have faded and are gone.
- J35Bacher

The milks gone bad.

https://theathletic.com/5...rs-coach-john-tortorella/

According to former #CBJ GM Doug MacLean, John Tortorella parted ways with #CBJ because he wanted to move into management in his last year, but Kekalainen wouldn’t allow it. Says he wouldn’t be surprised if torts moves into #LetsGoFlyers management as soon as after this year.
- Flyers_01

Paywall so I'll just post the article here for the folks who still believe that Torts is just the coach:

As Flyers continue to nosedive, John Tortorella moving to front office might be best for everyone



The ample speculation that Philadelphia Flyers coach John Tortorella could move into a front-office role at some point got ramped up again recently.

In an appearance on the “Real Kyper and Bourne” podcast on March 22, former Columbus Blue Jackets general manager turned media personality Doug MacLean suggested that in Tortorella’s final season in Columbus in 2020-21, he requested a transition into management rather than continuing to serve as the team’s coach. But then-general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen rejected the proposition, and Tortorella departed after the season.

“In his last (year) in Columbus, he wanted to move into management and actually move out of coaching,” MacLean said. “And Kekäläinen wanted nothing to do with that. He wanted him to coach, and at the end of the day, it was a mutual parting of the ways. … They both decided to move on.”

“It would not surprise me,” MacLean continued, “that after this season Tortorella will move into management with the Philadelphia Flyers.”

According to former #CBJ GM Doug MacLean, John Tortorella parted ways with #CBJ because he wanted to move into management in his last year, but Kekalainen wouldn’t allow it. Says he wouldn’t be surprised if torts moves into #LetsGoFlyers management as soon as after this year. pic.twitter.com/1f4fdzeho1

— John Puck (@johnpuck1992) March 24, 2024

Regardless of the veracity of MacLean’s claims — it’s worth noting he left Columbus in 2007, eight years before Tortorella became the coach there — the possibility is worth discussing for a few reasons. First and foremost is the Flyers getting demolished again by the Canadiens on Tuesday, 9-3, effectively ending any chance they had at making the playoffs. It was their eighth straight loss (0-6-2), and the latest evidence that all of the noise that’s surrounded the team — much of it coming from Tortorella himself — has adversely affected their performance.

There’s more to it, though. Over the last calendar year, there have been a few signs that Tortorella might prefer to be involved in some of the higher-level decisions that are typically above an NHL coach’s pay grade and job description.

It dates back to late last season when Tortorella removed himself from behind the Flyers’ bench to watch the game from various other locations, including the press box and on television in the dressing room.

One reason for that, he explained: “I think I have (a) responsibility to my coaching staff, (to) help them develop. I think we’re all trying to develop, just like the players are, in these type of situations.”

Assistant coach Brad Shaw, 59, was briefly an NHL head coach for the New York Islanders for 40 games in 2005-06. Tortorella has regularly and effusively praised his work with the Flyers’ defensemen. Fellow assistant Rocky Thompson, 46, has also been mentioned as a potential NHL head coach at some point down the line.

Further, Tortorella was intimately involved in the acquisition of defenseman Jamie Drysdale. He said he watched tape of Drysdale — and, presumably, other potential targets — and offered his input to general manager Daniel Briere before the deal with the Anaheim Ducks for prospect Cutter Gauthier was consummated in January.

That’s not unique, but the extent to which Tortorella was involved was significant, judging from how he explained it.

“It was basically Danny, myself (and Flyers president of hockey operations Keith Jones) had conversations,” Tortorella explained Jan. 9. “I brought Brad Shaw into it, had Brad look at tape. We all looked at tape. … This has been going on for quite a while, and there has been constant conversation about where we go with this situation for well over five or six months.”

There were also other indications leading up to the March 8 trade deadline that Tortorella had a significant say in the moves that were made. Many NHL coaches, when pressed for more information about how their team might approach the deadline, will simply reply that it’s out of their control. Not Tortorella, who, like Briere and Jones have been, was very transparent and open about the kinds of discussions that were going on behind closed doors among the brain trust and with the players.

It’s evident that those above Tortorella trust him when it comes to establishing the correct culture in the dressing room. Players who were not on the same wavelength as the coach from a hockey standpoint, like Kevin Hayes and Tony DeAngelo, were shipped out last summer. Others, like Scott Laughton — who could have been traded twice by now but is valued for what he brings to the dressing room — and Nick Seeler, were retained. Briere reiterated shortly after the deadline that he views the Flyers’ culture as the foundation of their ongoing rebuild and therefore trusts Tortorella to help determine who should be a part of the organization.

In many ways, even with their late collapse, it’s already been a success from that standpoint. No one in the club is pointing to the culture as a reason for its recent struggles. Just the opposite, in fact.

“I think that’s one of the biggest things you see on other teams: When things don’t go your way, guys can turn on each other. There hasn’t been one little bit of that,” Owen Tippett said Monday. “We’ve all stuck together. The only way we get out of it is if we all stick together as a team and work as one. There hasn’t been one little bit of guys turning on each other. We’re all doing the best we can to stick together through this and get out of it on top.”

Said Travis Konecny: “Group’s been great all year. It’s light when we need it to be and serious when we need it to be. Group’s been amazing. The room’s awesome.”

That bodes well for the future, even if the vibes are presently awful. A strong culture allows the team to make moves to acquire players who perhaps need a bit more structure in their professional lives. If the Flyers are indeed interested in someone like, say, Trevor Zegras, whose attitude has been called into question a bit lately, they can put their faith in that dressing room culture to get that player on the correct path.

If Briere and Jones are confident the culture has been fully restored, the next step is finding more talent. Moving the 65-year-old Tortorella to the front office to free him up to help find more players who would ultimately improve that talent level could make sense. The current losing streak has loudly reinforced that the Flyers just don’t have enough of it at the moment.

I asked Jones in December during an interview in Vancouver whether Tortorella, who has two years left on his contract, has more of a role in the decision-making process regarding team personnel than coaches typically have.

“I don’t think so. I think there’s balance to that,” Jones said. “He’s coaching. That’s his No. 1 priority. He’s coaching the players that are playing for him.”

And Tortorella, who became just the eighth coach to reach 1,500 games on that same trip, reiterated how much he still enjoys the day-to-day of being a coach when listing his favorite aspects of the job.

“Teaching. The controversy, the conflicts. The good stuff. The winning, the losing. How to figure (it out),” he said. “I like being with the athletes. I like being in that locker room.”

Still, if the Flyers indeed end up on the outside of the playoff picture, that’s going to leave some sour tastes in people’s mouths. And some of Tortorella’s decisions and actions — like getting kicked out of a road game against the Tampa Bay Lightning and suspended for two games, harshly criticizing the team after a loss to the New York Islanders on April 1, scratching captain Sean Couturier for two games, and overplaying goalie Samuel Ersson — are going to be fairly scrutinized.

Perhaps Shaw or Thompson — or Craig Berube, who remains tight with Jones and has been attending Flyers games regularly since he was fired by the St. Louis Blues in December — will take the reins, with Tortorella watching from above and working in a different capacity to build upon a foundation he has already helped to restore.

It might be best for him, and it might be best for the team, considering the way they’ve all come crashing down over the past two weeks.

Darren Dreger
@DarrenDreger
·
2m
We can all appreciate the speculation. And when it comes to John Tortorella and the stories that follow, there’s always speculation. As for his future as head coach…a Flyers management source says “Torts is not leaving the bench”. He still has the fire…no question about that.