A brief reflection on the John Tortorella era of the Flyers

John Tortorella is no longer coaching the Flyers, but the impact of his tenure will be felt for a while–for good, for ill, and with a touch of humor.

Apr 11, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella during the second period against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

We’re nearing the end of the 2024-25 NHL season and, to the surprise of many, John Tortorella will not be the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers when the final horn blares. He was fired in late March with a handful of games remaining for a number of reasons, though it was his comments after a blowout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs and treatment of Cam York that finally forced General Manager Danny Briere’s hand. Tortorella was one of the longest tenured coaches in a league that rips through bench bosses like tissue paper and, though he had one year remaining on his contract, his clock stopped just shy of a full three seasons guiding the Flyers.

It was a roller coaster of a time, that’s for sure. Today we’d like to look at some of the impacts Tortorella had on the Flyers–positive and negative–and recall a few of his more memorable moments. Let us know in the comments if we missed anything, or your own favorite/most hated Torts moment!

The Actual Ice Hockey

Say what you will about the methodology and style: Tortorella had an undermanned Flyers roster playing good-to-great hockey for the better part of two seasons. From the start of the 2023 season to now, the Flyers produced an expected Goals-for percentage of 52.15, according to Natural Stat Trick–that’s sixth in the league over the same time if you discount the Utah Hockey Club (who only have this year’s data, obviously). Tortorella had the Flyers playing way above their talent level and, for the bulk of the 2023-24 season, sitting comfortably in a playoff position. Considering the lousy 2022-23 campaign (and the last of the Chuck Fletcher era), that team blew expectations out of the water.

While that was a team effort, numerous players–particularly defensemen–flourished under Tortorella’s system. Rasmus Ristolainen, long maligned for being a replacement level defenseman, posted a positive xGF% for the first time in his decade-long career in 2023-24–and then did it again in 2024-25. Jamie Drysdale, as well, is in the midst of his first season with a positive on-ice impact, and we’ve been seeing his offense pop more in the last month, too. Travis Sanheim went from being nearly traded to a serviceable top-pair defenseman on a team that had no one else to step into that role. Even Cam York, who ultimately got the coach fired and was benched an entire game as punishment, is progressing into a solid top-four blue liner despite a down season.

For the forwards, none has come further than Travis Konecny. He’s hovered around a point per game three seasons running and has established himself as an elite penalty killer, offensive driver, and locker room leader. The entire line of Bobby Brink, Noah Cates, and Tyson Foerster has taken steps–not necessarily at finishing (though Foerster’s got a shot to match or break the 20 goals he scored last season), but they’ve become monsters in the offensive zone. Tortorella absolutely had a hand in developing all of these players, and the Flyers organization should reap the benefits for years to come; the team has a sustainable structure that could thrive in a playoff environment.

Of course, there are failures on the ice that contrast with the successes, and none are more glaring than the anemic power play. For the third year straight, the Flyers have one of the worst power plays in the league, and while much of that falls on assistant coach Rocky Thompson, it’s Tortorella who’s kept him around all this time. It was especially bad this season, where the Flyers got shutout back-to-back twice, and a 1-10-1 stretch in March in which they were outscored 52-22 highlighted just how abysmal their offense and finishing talent was.

A lot of talent the Flyers had went out the door this season, too: Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost–while not stars–were decent middle six NHL players. Both were unceremoniously shipped to the Calgary Flames, and Tortorella played a major part in that as it was clear he’d decided neither player had “it” when push came to shove. Whether Tortorella will be proven correct remains to be seen, but he was right about Kevin Hayes, Ivan Provorov, and (who could forget?) Hayden Hodgson.

The Non-Hockey Antics

“I’d wet my pants.“

“I don’t know Cutter [Gauthier] from a hole in the wall.“

“When the Mad Russian gets here…“

We could sit here all day and still probably not hit every golden Tortorella quote. Who could forget when he compared Morgan Frost to a toilet seat? Or when he told a journalist he wouldn’t be answering his questions because of how said journalist had declared “Kevin Hayes’s finger prints are all over this” when Gauthier was swapped for Drysdale, leading to death threats and the like for Hayes and his family? Or even when Tortorella refused to leave the bench after being ejected from a game in Tampa Bay?

Then there’s the time he got kicked in the face by a horse, and still showed up to coach his first game back in Columbus after his previous coaching stint there ended.

The Flyers, of course, lost that game 5-4.

Not all of his quotes were humorous or insightful, though, and one of the ugliest moments came last season after a 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers. In the post game presser, Torts threw up his hands and walked off set when asked about Felix Sandstrom’s poor performance in net.

There’s also the time he benched Sean Couturier shortly after naming him captain, which caught him a lot of flack from the media and, presumably, the players. Though Couturier did get the last laugh upon returning to the lineup (and again now, since the head coach has been fired):

The Pivotal Moment

Of all the things Tortorella did as the Flyers coach, one thing stands out more than anything else: we would not be having conversations about a Flyers rebuild if it weren’t for him. He was the first one in the organization who–though he couldn’t say the word “rebuild”–made it clear that the Flyers, as constructed, were a long way off from being serious Stanley Cup Contenders.

Tortorella was the one to push the first domino on the path to where we are now, and for all the wild quotes, games played with players, and everything else, his hiring was a critical juncture for the Flyers organization and a necessary wakeup call for ownership on how dire the state of the team was. Would another coach have had the guts to call out ownership like that, even subtly? Especially one who’d just been hired? How much longer would this team have been stuck in mediocrity had another coach been chosen? Would Fletcher have remained GM for another season or two, selling the “aggressive retool?” There’s no way to answer these questions, but a different coach may’ve continued along with the charade.

It’s hard to grade a coach’s overall performance so shortly after being fired–especially for a team in the middle of a rebuild, where impacts aren’t always immediately obvious–but I’d mark the Tortorella era in solid B/B- territory. There were several issues having him coach a team going through a rebuild, but on the whole there were more successes than failures–and Flyers management acted quickly when it became clear the situation was no longer tenable. So long, Torts, and thanks for all the gifs.