Flyers Tortorella: Kindler and Gentler? Don’t count on that
By Mike Gambill
They say that hope springs eternal and let’s face it, Flyers fans have been waiting for what seems to be an eternity for this once-proud franchise to turn around its fortunes. The Flyers have essentially drifted from their historical “Broad Street Bullies” into little more than the “Broad Street Babies” and drastic changes are expected as the Flyers are ready for their first face-off to start 2022-23.
John Tortorella – a man on a mission
You can call this year’s Flyers anything you want, just don’t call them soft. With the hiring of new head coach John Tortorella, the Flyers brought in a new bench boss who’s the epitome of fire, passion, anger, and truth – sometimes in the same sentence. Throughout his hockey coaching career, John Tortorella has never been accused of mincing his words with players, officials, and the occasional front office staff as well. Even the media has not spared the Tortorella tirades over the years and the Flyers’ new head coach probably won’t spare anyone his wrath as the regular season opens up this week.
John Tortorella has made an entire career out of wearing his heart on a sleeve and reaching out to pull other peoples’ hearts out including fans along the way but his 673-541-37-132 record and a Stanley Cup win in Tampa Bay in 2004 speaks louder than his opt-misguided wordings and even physical confrontations. When all is said and done, Tortorella knows how to put together a winning team. Look at Tampa, the Rangers, and most recently Columbus where he guided the Blue Jackets to four straight playoff appearances.
The Flyers were a team attending their own funeral wake last season and finished up 25-46-11 with 61 points – 61 points total. That was good enough to pay rent in the Metropolitan Division cellar last season as the eighth and last-place team in this competitive division. For Flyers fans hoping and praying for a new lease on life this season, the bad news is that much of the same is expected this year.
This is the scene where John Tortorella comes in on a white horse and saves the day, right? Sorry, the NHL doesn’t make Hallmark movies (apologies to the Hallmark Channel for this analogy) and new boss Tortorella will have to carry the Flyers forward kicking and screaming.
Even Tortorella has admitted recently in soundbites with the media that his job isn’t that hard to do which sounds like a lot of bravado or just a man who’s trying to simplify the process of winning hockey games for his players and staff. The Flyers’ new head boss does get it right when he says that chemistry is one of the keys to both success and failure and when each night’s games are over, this year’s team needs to “maybe have a few beers together.”
Will Tortorella’s temper get the best of him or bring out the best in the Flyers?
In reality, if Tortorella can get past his own temper and lead his players to win some games, all the blustering and feather ruffling will be forgotten about a couple of months from now. John Tortorella must undoubtedly believe in the mantra that “we may not be the best team but we will be the best-conditioned team” and if you’ve taken a moment or two to watch some of the training camp videos, you’ll know that John Tortorella, for all of his brashness and bluntness does mean business this year and for the Philadelphia Flyers, they are in the business to do one thing: win hockey games.