Photo Credit: Our very own Rob Windfelder
“It’s the f..kin Philadelphia Flyers. The first time I went over the Walt Whitman Bridge, I’ve been stuck here in Voorhees, it’s f..kin Philly. I got so f..kin excited.,” Flyers Head Coach John Tortorella emphatically said during his first presser
If this can’t pump up a team, I don’t know what will. The quote above reminds me of Herb Brooks talking to his American team before playing the Russian team “Tonight is your night, there night is done,” and the rest is history.. Tortorella gets it, and he’s trying to build a connection with the fanbase of Philadelphia. The Flyers hired a former Stanley Cup winning Head Coach John Tortorella to a four year deal, worth $16 million. Some forget he won a Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning back in the 2003-04 season.
Tortorella is known to be a hard-nosed coach, who commands the most from his players. He is not afraid of benching or calling out star studded players either. This was one reason why the majority of the Flyers team reported early for training camp. They also knew that they would have to give their all to fight to stay in the lineup.
It’s become apparent as some have excelled, and some have had difficulties learning this, but on most nights the Flyers do not have a problem with effort. The team may not be talented enough to beat stiff competition or playoff bound teams on a nightly basis, but they do fight and claw their way into games nine times out of 10, “I’m not gonna stand up here all year long and talk about moral victories,” John Tortorella said following the loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. “But I’ve got to goddamn remember where we are, as far as where we are in the organization, and the process that we are at. I’m certainly not gonna boo the team. I’m gonna try to help them.”
What isn’t brought up much is how much he cares about the players. Maybe it’s not a big story, maybe it’s not the big thing, but he really does care about these players. And that is evident after he was seen patting Morgan frost on the back after a few tough shifts into his return into the lineup. Tortorella is a smart guy, he sensed that Frost was trying to do too much and getting frustrated, so he came over and calmed him down. Believe it or not from that point on Frost was a much different player in a good way following that incident.
Sort of the same thing occurred, but in a different way with Bobby Brink last week. Brink scores his first NHL goal, when he came back to the bench and sat down, Tortorella came over and patted him on the back and head saying “Good job”. Of course, that was a non story as he is just supposed to be a tough coach and that’s it.
These are the buildings blocks that are being instilled in this teaching season this season. He’s teaching the Flyers to learn how to finish games, that is where the Flyers are at in their next phase of the rebuild as a team. In addition, this is adding to the locker room culture of being down, but not defeated. They hung right with Carolina hurricanes, team that is a Stanley Cup contender. They just have to learn how to finish.
“We played our ass off tonight. We just didn’t finish our chances,” John Tortorella said following the loss to Carolina. “My thing is I want them to keep believing.”
No coach likes to lose, but Tortorella does speak the truth. He continues to teach and lead by example this season for this young Flyers team. He is building a foundation to succeed at a high-level, and the start of that was building a new culture, instilling a new culture rather. Mission accomplished, coach.
