John Tortorella’s tenure with the Philadelphia Flyers ended after a confrontation with defenseman Cam York escalated a series of issues inside the organization.
According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, revealing the details during Monday’s episode of the “32 Thoughts” podcast, the incident between the two was verbal, not physical, but still intense.
"I don't think it was physical or anything," Friedman said. "One thing you look into in this day and age is, 'was there any investigation or issue that's going to come out of this? And I've been told, 'No, that's not the case,'
"It was just a really intense verbal dispute that didn't go into anything that was going to go any further than that."
Friedman explained that tensions had been rising internally since the trade deadline. The final straw was the exchange between York and Tortorella during last Tuesday’s 7–2 loss in Toronto.
“I think it’s pretty clear now that, since the trade deadline, things kind of just soured,” Friedman said. “The argument between York and Tortorella brought it all to a head.
"That last night in Toronto… the pot boiled over.”
York, who was benched for 50 minutes during the game and later scratched against Montreal for disciplinary reasons, took responsibility for his actions.
“I’m not going to get into the details of it,” York said. “I take full responsibility for my actions. It’s been addressed here in the locker room. I’m going to put [it] behind me and move on.”
Still, York praised Tortorella while interim coach Brad Shaw revealed a candid gesture made by the former coach before his ultimate exit from the organization.
“He taught me a lot of really good things,” York said. “He’s a really good coach, and I wish him the best of luck down the road.”
Meanwhile, general manager Daniel Briere called the moment “rock bottom” and said multiple factors contributed to the firing in what he described as a "very difficult decision" to make.
Tortorella finished with a 97-107-33 record over three seasons. Then-assistant coach Shaw took over and has led the Flyers to three consecutive victories against the Canadiens, the Sabres, and the Predators since.
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