John Tortorella and chaos are often synonymous. Where one is, the other typically follows. It's been with him for the majority of his coaching career, and his stint in Philadelphia was no different. The moments leading up to his firing with nine games remaining were the culmination of a few things.
There was a reported disagreement with Cam York, leading to the player being benched in the game after Tortorella's dismissal. His relationship with captain Sean Couturier was rocky, to say the least. Tortorella still had some surprise when the hammer was laid down late in the season. The Flyers were one point ahead of the Sabres for last in the East.
"It was kind of weird for me, getting fired with nine games left,” Tortorella said in an interview with the NHL website. “It really surprised me. [Flyers GM Danny Briere] and I did have some disagreements on discipline of a player, had some disagreements the last few weeks of that season.”
Briere said the same after Tortorella's firing, mentioning that the two hadn't been on the same page in the weeks leading up. It's unclear exactly what those disagreements may have been about. The team was easily worse after trading away Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, and Scott Laughton. But that was obvious and something Tortorella was on board with.
"It was the right thing to do by Danny [to sell at the deadline]. They’re doing it the right way, and I was on board with that. But it’s hard."
So when Tortorella dropped his infamous quote after a 7-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the end of March, things blew up almost immediately. Most believed it was Tortorella admitting he didn't want to coach the Flyers anymore, and that was him giving up on them.
It wasn't just reporters and fans who thought that either. While he will join Mike Sullivan on the coaching staff for the United States at the Olympics, Tortorella wants to jump back into the NHL. Even if there's a belief from others in the league that he did quit on his team.
“Do I want to coach again? Yeah,” he said. “I heard a couple NHL coaches accuse me [of quitting on the team]. Did I quit on the team after those comments I made in Toronto? I haven’t quit on a [bleeping] thing in my life. Those comments were totally taken out of [context].
Regarding those comments that he made, he added some clarification as to what he meant when he said it. It wasn't that he was tired of coaching the Flyers specifically. He loved being with the team. It was having to play out the end of another season without playoffs.
And who could blame him? It was his third straight season without a postseason berth and the team's fifth consecutive.
“That’s what I was saying. I don’t want to learn how to coach that way. I don’t know how to coach that way, and I don’t want to learn. If you can keep yourself out of those spots of playing to the end, you won’t be good at that. I’ve seen teams be really good playing out a season when it means nothing. You’re relaxed. I’ve seen players play better. I’ve seen coaches … I don’t want to be that guy. It was out of respect to my team that I was not doing a good job. I wasn’t."
Yes, Tortorella knew the job he was taking when he first signed on as head coach of the Flyers. He pushed the team to the brink in his first season, falling just short of a playoff berth in the final game. The team regressed the following season, and things came to a head in his final year.
Tortorella felt like the right coach at the time for the Flyers. He worked them hard, trying to get the best out of them. But as time wore on and things trended downward, a change was needed.
Even if it wasn't the way Tortorella thought he should've gone out.
“Do I think I should have got fired for it? No. But I have too much respect for those players to kick the hell out of them right to the bitter end."