When firing a coach in any college or professional sport, it’s always standard to use something along the lines of “we would like to thank Coach Name for their time, effort, and commitment, but we felt we need to move on.”
And when he made his decision to move on from John Tortorella, Daniel Briere said something similar. Okay, great, it’s no different from what we’d expect anywhere else, even if an executive is saying something other than what he’s thinking.
They sound so robotic at times that I often don’t even bother listening to or reading presser transcripts as opposed to giving them a passing glance. Why would I, if the entire “thank you” line is standard? Often, I, just like many of you, know what they’re going to say, so I’d rather spend the next 30-60 minutes researching other NHL news and opinions.
That said, since Tortorella’s firing was rather peculiar from a timing standpoint, the announcement caught my attention. So instead of simply talking about why the timing was so interesting, I thought maybe Briere would give us even the slightest hint of why he fired Tortorella now.
Daniel Briere’s comments regarding Tortorella are strange and contradicting
So, what exactly did Briere say? Here’s the snippet that caught my attention. “Today I made the very difficult decision to move on from John as our head coach. John played a vital role in our rebuild. He set a standard of play and reestablished what it means to be a Philadelphia Flyer. John's passion on the bench was only equaled by his charitable work in our community."
Okay, so if an experienced head coach like John Tortorella “played a vital role in our rebuild,” why would you let him go with nine games left? “He set a standard of play and reestablished what it means to be a Philadelphia Flyer,” was another quip that jumped out.
If he was playing that important of a role in your rebuild for a team that is still rebuilding, what would make you want to get rid of him? If I had a coach who was (supposedly) giving my team positive returns in its rebuild and, from what Briere’s implying, changing the culture, I would want to keep him, not let him go.
If you take out those two key messages I highlighted, then these statements deserve nothing more than a passing glance. But with the way Briere worded things here, it doesn’t add up unless there was some kind of falling out or disagreement that would cause both parties to mutually part ways. Or maybe it was his postgame comments from Tuesday?
Daniel Briere needs to get it right for his next head coach
Regardless of what’s going on here, the only real certainty is that Briere needs to get his next hire right, and one who can pick up on where Tortorella left off. If he does that, then one year from today, there’s no harm done. If not, then there could be some finger-pointing going on, especially if Tortorella ends up behind another bench next season and wins games.
It’s beyond clear that Tortorella was effective in helping to change the culture, even if that had yet to translate into consistent wins. And if he had such a key role from a developmental standpoint, why make such an abrupt change?
Maybe this move will make more sense in the offseason should the Flyers snag a coach who’s either accomplished a few things or has a high ceiling. But if they’re going to pick up where Tortorella left off, they need to keep the energy high and start winning more games.