Oh, the great mystery persists. What caused Flyers general manager Daniel Briere to dismiss John Tortorella with so few games left in the season? Especially when it seemed like Tortorella played a rather instrumental role in the team’s ongoing culture change.
Yeah, that was probably more puzzling than the overall timing of the entire thing. Something like this doesn’t happen until after the season if you’ve already played over 70 games. It probably led to at least a strong contingent of Flyers fans saying “there’s got to be more to this.”
Well, maybe there is, if Kevin Kurz of The Athletic’s quip goes anywhere. On X, Kurz said, “Told from a team source that "it's fair to say" something happened between Cam York and John Tortorella in Toronto, that contributed to the coach's dismissal on Thursday morning. Was put to me that "they probably both crossed the line."”
If both player and coach are guilty here, expect even more of this fallout
So, where does that leave Cam York if Tortorella was the first domino to fall? Evidence pointing to this being the case is obvious, as Tortorella was gone despite seeing some success with what was a rebuilding Flyers team. While his recent post-game comments also give us a clue, a fallout with York is clearly another avenue here.
But the key phrase in the quote above was that part of they both “crossed the line,” and if that’s the case, then York could be on his way out, too. This would bring the fallout well into the offseason and would be the likeliest case if York isn’t wearing a Flyers uniform come training camp in September.
Another clue? We also know that York rode the bench in Thursday’s win over the Montreal Canadiens. Yeah, so if you’re a Flyers fan, expect more drama regarding this entire mess to carry on. And since interim head coach Brad Shaw remained tight-lipped about going into detail, we’re again left to speculate, but again, considering Kurz’s X post, we can also concoct a hypothesis.
The next step in the Flyers rebuild should be…
Go find people who won’t be distractions, and maybe things will get better with this ailing organization. It’s one thing to be a bad hockey team with a bright future ahead, but if someone’s going to cause trouble, they need to go.
Yeah, it would be disheartening to see York go, as he’s in his age-24 season and was supposed to be part of the Flyers core here. But again, distractions will hold the team back, and logging a grand total of 3:50 of ice time between the Toronto and Montreal games is telling.
Hey, York’s a good player who can get in front of shots and land the occasional body check. He can deny plays and force opponents to adjust when the Flyers don’t have the puck. But if the Flyers want to get better, they also need patient players who are on board fully, without causing issues.
While this may not be the case at all since nobody can confirm anything at the moment, all the signs point in that direction. So, Tortorella is gone but, with the trade deadline in the rearview, York remains a Flyer for now.