Flyers general manager Danny Briere said it was time to remove John Tortorella as head coach, stating it wasn’t one particular incident or event but rather a series of things that happened over the last three weeks since the trade deadline.
“I felt it was time,” Briere — who said he and Keith Jones believed the team might take a step backwards in 2024-25 — said after reading a brief prepared statement Thursday thanking Tortorella for his time and effort. “It’s not one thing, it’s a series of things that have happened and probably a little more in the last three weeks that escalated prior to the trade deadline, right after that. It’s an accumulation that have happened but probably more often lately.”
Asked if Tortorella’s comments after the Flyers’ 7-2 loss to Toronto on Tuesday night was the catalyst for the firing, Briere said it was “one of the things that have happened along the way” but it wasn’t the specific reason. “I’m not going to get into the specifics of what we dealt with, that’s not fair to Torts. We had just some different opinions on different things.”
When pressed about whether Tortorella was frustrated with the situation when he uttered those words in Toronto, Briere said “getting shallacked” and “the embarassment” that went with the loss certainly didn’t help. “I put it more as he was frustrated with how things have gone lately and how he was embarrassed by the loss that night just like a lot of our players were.”
Briere said he didn’t get any input from the players regarding the decision this morning, but added he and Keith Jones “are pretty aware” of what’s going on in the room. Although the general manager said Tortorella made some players develop, there were others who probably didn’t fare as well under his coaching style.
Over his tenure, Tortorella rarely interacted with a Flyer who he didn’t bench or scratch over his nearly three seasons. From Travis Sanheim’s scratching before his friends and family in Calgary, Sean Couturier’s scratching last season, and Matvei Michkov’s earlier this season, Tortorella used that tactic a lot. His last game as a Flyers coach saw Cam York benched for 50 minutes. Although not addressing those incidents, Briere intimated Tortorella wasn’t exactly everyone’s cup of tea behind the bench.
“There’s things that happen that leave scars, it’s just the real world, that affects certain players more than others,” he said. “Maybe a little bit. I don’t know to which degree but there are certain things that you keep an eye out and watch for that have happened in the past, yes.” Briere added the absence of Tortorella could give other players a chance to be more “vocal” and step up as leaders on the team and in the locker room.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was that there was no discussion of Tortorella moving upstairs to an advisory role within the organization next season. Briere still believes Tortorella has the passion to coach elsewhere but a place with the Flyers other than coaching wasn’t in the cards.
As to a possible successor to Tortorella when the season is done, Briere said he hasn’t thought that far ahead, hasn’t made any lists or hasn’t made any calls to possible candidates. He also isn’t limiting his list to experienced NHL coaches or those who are young. According to the general manager the goal now is to support Shaw and the players. “I’m not sure what we’re going to be looking for as a coach. I can tell you is we have a young team. A coach that can teach is going to be important to start with.”
Briere said both he and Tortorella had different viewpoints on some things over their time together but didn’t articulate those specific issues. He admitted that Tortorella is one of a kind. “Torts is a complicated man, he’s a complicated coach,” Briere said. “He’s a blast to work with because he challenges you. I truly believe he made me a better GM. He’s not a yes man. He had opinions and he had the right to share his opinions. But again, myself, Keith Jones, Dan Hilferty, we felt at this time it was time to move in a different direction.”
The general manager admitted that trading players both at the 2024 trade deadline and again this deadline for future prospects and draft picks didn’t improve Philadelphia’s playoff chances. But Briere emphasized he wasn’t going to take any shortcuts in getting to the ultimate goal to keep Sean Walker, Morgan Frost, and Joel Farabee to try and squeeze into a wildcard spot. “Torts was on board with that, he understood that was part of the plan and the phase of the rebuild we were in. So that was not an issue.”
With the Flyers having one win in roughly the last month of play, Briere admitted the losing has taken its toll on everyone in the organization from the players, the coaching staff and front office. “It’s not easy,’ he said. “The toughest part of the rebuild is going through this. Now I really hope that this is the bottom, that this is rock bottom for us today. And this is the turnaround. The trades were tough to do, to send some good players elsewhere and not really replace them in the trades. That was taking a toll on all of us, Torts included. He hates losing probably more than anybody we know but I hope moving forward now it’s going to start to get better. It’s not going to be an overnight thing, it’s going to take time. But I feel we’re stepping into a different phase of the rebuild. It’s still a rebuild but starting to go into a different phase now.”
Of course Tortorella and Michkov had their tete-a-tetes this season. “He coached him hard,” Briere said regarding how Tortorella dealt with the Mad Russian, adding Michkov is “one of the most competitive hockey players I’ve been around.” That competitive streak probably helped him deal with Tortorella. “You’ve seen him get benched, you’ve seen him get scratched. And what does he do? He comes back and all he wants to do is stick it back to you, stick it back to Torts. It was really impressive.”
Although he probably didn’t foresee it coming this morning, Tortorella could probably see something on the horizon. In a discussion with NBC Sports Philadelphia a few weeks ago, the former coach explained how he knew he had a certain shelf life like any other coach.
“I’m a realist. I know there’s going to be a certain time when it’s time for another voice. And Danny’s going to have to make that call. But I’m going to coach the team the way I think it should be coached. I’m not going to make decisions to keep my job. I’m going to make decisions that are best for this organization. And when it’s my time Danny’s going to let me know. And we’ve had a very honest conversation about that too. Just let me know. I’ve got other things too.
“I’m locked in here and I want to be part of this but if you don’t feel it’s the proper thing, and I get that because building is a lot of teaching. It’s a lot of my voice. It’s a lot of that. And I’m sure Danny, Jonesy, Dan Hilferty keep a close eye on that. They talk to the players at exit meetings at the end of the year and all that, they get information. I’m a big boy. Just let me know because I do not want to be that guy that people say, ‘Man it’s time to go.’ Let me know, I’ll leave.”
Tortorella, 66, finished his tenure with the Flyers 10 games under .500 (97-107-33). He has another year remaining on his four-year contract.
