Flyers 2 Leafs7 – What More Can Be Said

“When you’re in this type of situation and you’re losing all the time, and there’s nothing at the end of the tunnel for you there’s certainly going to be some frustration. But this falls on me. I’m not really interested in learning how to coach this type, in this type of season where we’re at right now but I have to do a better job”. – Flyers Head Coach John Tortorella

Thoughts

For what it’s worth here’s my humble opinion. Tortorella is always pretty transparent, except of course when he’s not. After another miserable showing in Toronto tonight where the Flyers lost by the score of 7-2 one sentence from the coach really jumps out at me. “I’m not really interested in learning how to coach this type, in this type of season where we’re at right now”. …Why should he be, he’s never going to be in this situation again.

Ever since Tortorella accepted the job behind the bench here in Philadelphia his emphasis has been on “the culture”. His focus has been on building a team that matches the city it represents. Creating a strong locker room playing for the logo, and never laying down. During his time here that focus has resonated through the entire organization. From the front office, to the medical staff, every aspect now reflects that focus and dedication.

Over the past three seasons Tortorella has pushed his team to get by with the tools that they have to work with. To bond together and fight the uphill battles as a team. Going into this past trade deadline everything aligned to make big moves, create more cap space, and stockpile more draft picks. Smart moves focused on the future.

Unfortunately in doing so it also dismantled the locker room, disheartened the team, and for the short run set them back miles. They’ve lost 11 of their last 12 games. On March 1st they still had a shot at the post-season. Just over three weeks later they are in last place in the Metropolitan Division and sit among the very bottom teams in the league.

A unique situation

The Flyers are trapped playing out the final games of this season at a big disadvantage. As far as the roster goes they have made all the sacrifices, they’ve made many “subtractions”. There was no instant gratification for these moves. The return was draft picks and cap space. The “additions” will arrive at some later date. So the Flyers are forced to hobble with what they have left to the finish line which is now just 9 games away.

John Tortorella has said in the past that this will be his last coaching job. This is the 3rd season of his four year contract. I have no way of knowing if he will be coming back next year, but in my opinion that should be up to him. Up until this step of the rebuild he has kept his team competitive and the organization on point.

Tonight the coach is saying it’s on him, he has to do a better job. He is taking the focus off of his players when he says things like that. Everyone involved is in a bad situation. They have a nine games left to get to the off-season where the organization can start utilizing some of the bounty they’ve acquired.

Everyone should always strive to “do a better job”, but in this particular scenario the Flyers head coach is a victim of circumstances beyond his control. So is every player on the current roster for that matter. They are literally taking one for the team going into these matchups with a line-up that was not built to compete. It would be a real shame to see Tortorella end his coaching career on that note.

Quick Hits

All that being said life goes on and time waits for no one. The Flyers continued their dramatic skid into Toronto losing to the Leafs 7-2. It was the second consecutive game where the Flyers gave up seven goals. Fedotov against the Blackhawks and Ersson tonight. The team has recalled Kolosov from the Phantoms even though they dressed Fedotov for the back-up spot tonight. So it’s anyone’s guess where all that is headed.

Meanwhile the Phantoms could be beefing up with the Flyers future taking on prospects as their previous obligations are coming to the end of their seasons. Jett Luchanko is reportedly on his way. Bonk? Bump?

The Flyers were 0 for March again on the power-play tonight. This is not a new development and something definitely has to change there. It should have already changed a long time ago.

Cam York was benched in the 1st period of tonight’s game after he gave up the puck behind the Flyers net leading to the Leaf’s 1st goal. He did not see any time on the ice after 10:37 of the 1st period. So from his vantage point riding the pines he got to watch the Leafs dump six more goals into the Flyers net. Maybe not the best time to sit there and learn some sort of lesson that the coach chose not to be transparent about.

Next Up: The Flyers come home to host the Montreal Canadiens Thursday night at 7:00 PM

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