John Tortorella Blame Game Goes One Step Too Far
Philadelphia Flyers Are Tired of Tortorella Taking Blame and Make Coaching Change
It should come as no surprise that the Philadelphia Flyers are making a coaching change. The team announced prior to their game on Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens that John Tortorella was no longer the team's head coach.
?Night Cap Recap ?
John Tortorella Out as Head Coach in Philadelphia #letsgoflyers pic.twitter.com/thXOwXoRTQ
— Jim Biringer (@JimBiringer) March 27, 2025
Current assistant coach Brad Shaw will be the interim coach for the rest of the season.
The #Flyers announce Brad Shaw is taking over as Interim Head Coach.@DailyFaceoff
— Anthony Di Marco (@ADiMarco25) March 27, 2025
Again, Tortorella's departure, whether he was fired, relieved of his duties, or stepped down, is no longer shocking to anyone. In fact, we all should have seen this coming after his comments on Tuesday night, when the Flyers lost 7-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
John Tortorella: "This falls on me, I'm not really interested in learning how to coach in this type of season where we're at right now...but I have to do a better job."#Flyers pic.twitter.com/M3LJbWdadB
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) March 26, 2025
Again, we live in a viral world, but saying, “This falls on me, I'm not really interested in learning how to coach in this type of season where we're at right now...but I have to do a better job,” is not going to help any coach’s cause.
Yesterday on @FullPressNHL Podcast with @RyanMPaton we discussed Tortorella’s comments and how he couldn’t keep blaming himself for thw team’s lack of preparation.
Now he is out as the Philadelphia Flyers head coach. #letsgoflyers
Full Episode: https://t.co/jFN1nPC6LE https://t.co/7cYbMKJcbc pic.twitter.com/1aRuMGfTlp
— Jim Biringer (@JimBiringer) March 27, 2025
As Ryan Paton of Sirius XM NHL Network Radio and Pucks in 7 told Full Press Hockey on Wednesday, how many times can a coach take the blame before a change is necessary?
John Tortorella, coming out after saying, this is on me, it's on me. It's on me. We've heard this Jim on at least three occasions this season, maybe more than the coach is coming out saying, this is on me. I'm not getting this team prepped the way I should, Paton said. I'm going to tell you something. I don't think Torts should be there. I don't think this is the right fit. I'm not knocking his coaching style. I think he's very good. But when you're calling yourself out a few times over the course of the season, what does it tell you? It tells you one of two things. One, you're not doing the right job, and two, the team's not responsive to you. - Full Press Hockey Transcription.
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In a statement released on Thursday morning, Flyers General Manager Danny Briere said the following:
“Today I made the very difficult decision to move on from John as our head coach," said Briere. “John played a vital role in our rebuild. He set a standard of play and re-established what it means to be a Philadelphia Flyer. John's passion on the bench was only equaled by his charitable work in our community. As we move into the next chapter of this rebuild, I felt this was the best for our team to move forward. I'd like to thank John for his tireless work and commitment to the Flyers."
Despite reports of him being plugged into the Flyers' front office and understanding the plan, John Tortorella wants his team to be competitive and win hockey games. So when the team isn’t winning, the act gets old really quickly.
Over the course of his time coaching in the NHL, you can see that the same way of coaching that favours certain players over playing younger players does not help Tortorella’s cause. While he has done great work with Matvei Michkov, the other young players have not taken steps the way they should.
Not to mention when players like Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee are finding success elsewhere, that tells you all you need to know about how John Tortorella has coached this season in Philadelphia.
Not surprised Torts it out considering the comments the other day.
Again we live in a viral world but there was a sense that he was not going to be the coach next season. @sportsology told @FullPressNHL in November a coaching change was coming #letsgoflyers
More Here:… https://t.co/XsCHvuwJJZ pic.twitter.com/hBWbvkvpsy
— Jim Biringer (@JimBiringer) March 27, 2025
As Russ Cohen of Sportsology.com and NHLDraftBuzz.com told Full Press Hockey, change was coming, especially given how Tortorella favored certain players over others.
Yeah, I think it's possible they'll do that. I think he'll probably stay with the organization in some facet, but I can see that happening, because I see that with the way that he plays. He's still playing or favoring too many veterans. So you just kind of wonder where that system is. And I think we've all watched John long enough to know that it's not exactly fair all the time. He may differ with that opinion, but it's just to me, it's hard to argue. So I think at times, Tortorella’s system is holding back the younger players, and I think at some point they have to make a decision with that, because you want to be rebuilding forever, or do you want to, like, really just start letting these guys play and take your lump? - Full Press Hockey Transcriptions
It will be interesting to see the Philadelphia Flyers' direction. Will they stick with Brad Shaw after the season? Results and how the team plays will determine if the interim tag is removed.
You know the Flyers will want to try to get Rick Tocchet back in the fold. They tried to get him before the John Tortorella hiring. Again, Tocchet does not have an extension in Vancouver, so the door is open.
Or do the Flyers go completely in another direction? It will be interesting to watch. However, just days after his comments, John Tortorella is out as the head coach in Philadelphia, and the team continues to struggle.
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