In the second period of Wednesday night’s game against the Capitals, and during a television timeout, some Flyers beat reporters noticed that coach John Tortorella and defenseman Nick Seeler seemed to be having a heated discussion about something. It most likely was about the third goal, where Seeler pinched a bit and had to hurry back after expecting Matvei Michkov to be covering Washington forward Connor McMichael. Michkov didn’t, leaving McMichael on a breakaway and putting the Caps up 3-0.
When Inquirer’s Jackie Spiegel asked Tortorella after the game about the conversation, Tortorella was candid while not revealing the particulars.
“Seels and I? Oh yeah, we have those once a game,” he said. “We’re discussing hockey plays, right, and we’re certainly not going to tell you what we’re talking about. But that’s all part of it. You guys will probably make a big deal out of it, all of you, you’ll probably make a big deal. All it is is two men that care about what’s going on on the ice. I love that guy! And that stuff is good for us. But you guys will make a big deal about it.”
When pressed a little further, Tortorella revealed they were discussing a play on the third Washington goal. “That’s the bottom line, we were just discussing things.”
When Seeler was asked about it in the locker room after the 6-3 loss, he basically echoed Tortorella’s sentiments. “Yeah, it’s just two guys who are passionate about winning and kind of have the same mindset, mentality and those things happen,” Seeler said. “It is what it is. I mean it’s going to happen every game whether it’s me or someone else. I think it’s productive, it shows you care and it shows he cares.”
Seeler elaborated a little more when another reporter asked if having that kind of frank conversation with a coach is a better approach than having a coach that rules with an iron fist. “Absolutely, like I said, that’s the type of coach he is. He expects a lot from us and he expects a lot from himself. That’s all you can ask for as a player. We may get in a little argument like that but at the end of the day he always has our back. Every single guy on that bench he cares about and has their back and that’s all you can ask for.”
While Tortorella isn’t perceived as a warm, cuddly coach, he isn’t averse to having players state their beefs with him. One only needs to recall last year’s situation with Morgan Frost after a one-on-one conversation that seemed to clear the air and saw an improvement in Frost’s play. Tortorella was almost giddy that it transpired. Even when he disagrees with how some players play, Tortorella still manages to separate the person from the player.
This was also quite evident during the whole William Gauthier fiasco last January where former Flyers forward (now Penguin) Kevin Hayes supposedly influenced Gauthier’s decision to leave. Tortorella called out both the reporter in question and his source without mincing any words. “Kevin Hayes and I had a problem,” Tortorella said at the time. “He and I couldn’t come to an agreement on how to play. That’s a good man.” The coach quickly added he called “bullshit” on the reporter’s source and never responded to any questions the reporter offered from that moment on.
So in closing, the coach and the players might chew each other out but if both are aiming for the same goal it’s often water under the bridge once such chinwags are over. Perhaps one amusing incident on the horizon is if Tortorella and Michkov get into it on the bench, leaving Egor Zamula to act both as mediator, referee and translator.
