John Tortorella’s second season behind the bench was productive in some respects, disappointing in others but never boring. Tortorella chewed out his own players, the officiating crew and in one instance a media member for things he obviously thought needed pointing out. The upcoming season, particularly with the arrival of Matvei Mitchkov, should only result in more candid, colorful quotes. Here then are 10 of the better John Tortorella quotes of the past season.
10. Tortorella goes to bat for former Flyer Kevin Hayes (January 10, 2024)
When William Gauthier was traded to Anaheim for Jamie Drysdale and a second-round pick in 2025, it was revealed that Gauthier didn’t want to play for the Flyers. As if that wasn’t bad enough to the fanbase, there was speculation former Flyers forward Kevin Hayes had some influence on Gauthier’s eventual decision.
“Is the guy here that caused Kevin Hayes a problem?” Tortorella asked during a presser on Jan. 10. When the reporter acknowledged he was the guy, Torts took him (and his source) to task. “Are you kidding me? You think Kevin Hayes is going to do something like that? It’s bullshit.” Tortorella then briefly entertained another question before going back to him. “It pisses me off that you guys throw that shit around and it affects someone’s life. Kevin Hayes and I had a problem, we couldn’t come to an agreement on how to play. That’s a good man! That’s a good man! And what you said is going to stay with him. That’s what you guys don’t understand, you say something, and you’re going to sit there and say you have the right source. And I call bullshit!”
Tortorella was consistent the rest of the season with the reporter, refusing to answer any of his questions either pre-game or post-game the remainder of the season.
9. Describes Matvei Michkov as “The Mad Russian” (November 30, 2023)
When discussing the challenge he faced when coaching the Flyers current roster while acknowledging the team was in the process of building for the future, Tortorella dropped a quip that resulted in Matvei Michkov earning a nickname before even suiting up for the Flyers.
“Sometimes in my mind you get to the future, you start moving away a couple of years from now, when the mad Russian comes over here and you start bringing in maybe some free agents when the time’s right with some more offensive skill,” Tortorella quipped. “I want that to fall into place when they come in. I want to stay with this style. Does that hurt our style when we’re down? I don’t think so. It’s a really hard question to answer. We’re just going to go play and see where it all goes.”
The “Mad Russian” description has resulted in some merch being created with Michkov’s likeness and a comical moniker that was often used for professional wrestlers in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, not someone who is 5’10” and 176 pounds.
8. Flies into Bobby Brink, Olle Lycksell (March 1, 2024)
The Flyers played in Washington on March 1. They opened the game with forward Bobby Brink scoring and were up 2-0 at the end of the first. In the second the wheels fell off with the Capitals tying things up before going ahead late in the second period, a goal that both Brink and teammate Olle Lycksell were on the ice for.
When asked post-game about giving both Brink and Lycksell a chance to redeem themselves, Tortorella doubled down. “Not with the stupidity prior, him and Lycksell,” the coach said. “Not with the stupidity they won’t see any ice.” Brink played the next game against Ottawa while Lycksell was scratched. Lycksell played a few nights later against St. Louis.
7. Defends Fedotov, destroys rest of the team (April 1, 2024)
With the team struggling and a lot more questionable goals going in, Tortorella pulled starter Sam Ersson and replaced him with the newly arrived Ivan Fedotov following a bad opening period on April Fools Day against the Islanders. Fedotov came in completely cold yet kept the Flyers from a very lopsided loss as the Isles dominated the middle frame with a 17-3 shot advantage. Morgan Frost tied things up late but gave the puck away in overtime for a 4-3 loss. Afterwards Tortorella lauded Fedotov but lambasted the skaters in front of him.
“One guy played, the goalie,” Tortorella said, describing Fedotov as “terrific” before again scolding the rest of the team. “You’re finding things out here, when these games are at a whole different plane. So we’re finding things out. There are certain people that they don’t have a clue how to play or don’t just have it in them to play in these types of situations. And this is why I’m glad we’re playing them. Cause we have to figure things out as far as what we’re going to become as a team. That was embarrassing in the second period for the Philadelphia Flyer uniform the way we played, embarrassing. High marks as far as how we came back in the third. Some guys.”
“I’m totally impressed. I put him in a hell of a spot and he’s the only goddamn player who played in the second period.” When asked if rest would help Tortorella tossed another salvo. “Yeah we can talk about that shit too, rest. This, that, the other thing. If you don’t have enough balls to play in these type of games rest doesn’t do us any good. Doesn’t do us any good.”
6. Tortorella addresses team quitting on him (April 3, 2024)
After the quasi-rant after the Islanders game, Tortorella addressed the elephant in the room at the time: the team was either turning on him or tuning him out. The Flyers were in the midst of a five-game winless streak and were clinging to diminishing playoff hopes. The coach was bit more reflective on the situation and owned up to not getting the job done himself.
“It always comes down to, ‘Oh they’re going to quit on him,'” he said. “It follows me around and so be it. If a player’s going to quit on me or players are going to quit on me because I’m trying to make them better people and better athletes, you got the wrong damn coach here and you got the wrong damn people here. So I’m not sure what goes on. My job is I’m going to push athletes. I try to stay away from, I have other things on my mind I don’t give you. I was in control the other night. What I said I meant. And quite honestly when I watch the tape now I’m more concerned than just the second period. Because of I’m so proud of the team getting here.
“Now the narrative out there because I’ve heard from other people that they’re young, they’re not supposed to be here. Bullshit! We’re here. We’re here. Face it and let’s be better. And I don’t think we’re ready to be better and that’s my problem with us right now. And it’s my job. I’ve not done a good enough job to get them over the hump after playing those seven games.”
5. Sandstrom….shrugs…silence (March 24, 2024)
The Flyers had a 33-15 shot advantage to end their March 24 game at home against who would become the Stanley Cup champions in the Florida Panthers. The loss was primarily due to the shoddy goaltending from Felix Sandstrom who was giving Sam Ersson a rare night off in what was a mammoth workload. After the game Tortorella’s 39-second press conference was one of the more memorable for the wrong reasons. “We played a good hockey game,” Tortorella said of the effort. But when asked about Sandstrom the silence spoke volumes.
Tortorella shrugged twice, hitting his cast against the dais each time before walking out of the room. On March 26 before the game against the Rangers the coach apologized to Sandstrom for his reaction. “I made a terrible mistake with you guys the other night I think one of you asked about Sandy,” he said. “My body language was wrong. What I should have said to you and I tried to communicate to you guys after is he’s trying, Sandy’s trying. Things happened this year that put our goaltending situation into a little bit of a state of flux. Sandy did not deserve that from me. It was wrong.”
4. Torts tete-a-tete with Morgan Frost (January 5, 2024)
After being a healthy scratch for 11 games in the first half of the season, the tension between Morgan Frost and Tortorella was not visibly apparent but most could sense something was brewing. On Jan. 5 Tortorella said Frost and he had a frank conversation. “It’s a big step for Frosty. He came to me for a meeting,” Tortorella said. “I talked to Frosty on the phone letting him know what’s going on with the lineup. I talked to him on the plane and on the phone about the reasons so he understood. He’s the one who wanted the meeting. For me I was thrilled that he came in and wanted to talk and gave me some of his thoughts and not agree. That’s a huge step for me with Frosty. It’s so important that players do that.”
Frost looked like a completely different player after the air-clearing conversation with Tortorella, earning more ice time, producing more consistently and being more responsible without the puck.
3. Couturier’s indirect middle-finger salute (February 10, 2024)
It was clear center Sean Couturier and Tortorella didn’t agree on everything this season given his being a healthy scratch. But it was refreshing to see Tortorella infer what Couturier’s reaction to scoring against Vancouver on Feb. 10 was all about.
2. Gauthier-Drysdale trade (January 9, 2024)
When Jamie Drysdale (and a second round pick in 2025) was acquired from Anaheim in exchange for highly touted Cutter Gauthier, the Flyers from the top down weren’t interested in talking much about the departed prospect. When asked about the player leaving, Tortorella was curt and, well, cutting.
“Then we don’t want you,” he said. “I don’t know Cutter from a hole in the wall and I’m not too interested in talking about him. I’d rather talk about Jamie, he’s the guy who’s coming here.”
1. Tampa Bay Bench Blowup (March 9, 2024)
Fans might argue the team’s low moment came during a 9-3 beating by Montreal late in the year. But the March 9 game in Tampa Bay was a highlight reel for all the wrong reasons. After a horrible start, a bad call on an iffy tripping penalty and a head-scratching 10-minute misconduct on Garnet Hathaway, Tortorella blew his stack. After changing goalies and down 4-0 just over 10 minutes into the game, referee Wes McCauley gave Tortorella a bench minor unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and a game misconduct. That’s where the fun began. Watch it here.
“I’m not fucking going! I’m not going, I’m staying right fucking here! Fuck you! No! I’m not! I’m not! You play! Fuck off!” Tortorella screamed at the group of officials and in particular McCauley. Seconds later when officials told him to leave, the coach demanded to have McCauley come over to talk to him. “That’s fucking bullshit!” he shouted before heading down the hallway, leaving assistants Brad Shaw and Rocky Thompson to delegate what was already a lost cause. The Flyers lost 7-0 but the rout wasn’t the talk of the league as much as the coach behind the bench for 10 minutes of it.
