Photo Credit: NHL.com
“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.” – John Tortorella
If this can’t pump up a team, I don’t know what will. The quote above rinds 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 knew it was going to be grueling, they know it’s going to be a very “Difficult Camp” as John Tortorella said earlier in the offseason:
“It’s going to be a very difficult camp. High volume skating. They will be told about this during the summer. We’re attacking it. We’re attacking it.” – John Tortorella
The Flyers have been bottom feeders in the league for the past two years. One had to believe that a no non-sense coach was in the cards in the distant future. This current Flyers team needs a sense of direction and guidance, as they really had an embarrassing campaign this past season of historic proportions in a bad way, so welcome to Camp “Tortsture” where suicide skates are a daily thing, even the goalies participate in suicide skates.
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Tortorella is not afraid to call out stars, as he had a rocky relationship with Patrik Laine when he was a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets. However, player after player has come out defending Tortorella with saying the team will be well structured, most notably Kevin Hayes:
“We are going to be the better structural team. We have good players don’t get me wrong, but we don’t have that flash.” – Kevin Hayes
Chuck Fletcher just wants the Flyers to become harder to play against, and John Tortorella emphasizes that same notion, as well:
“Bottom line, I want the team to be harder. I think we need to present ourselves, look harder, coming off the bus, coming into buildings. I want other teams to say you know what we’ve got our hands full tonight.” – John Tortorella
This won’t be an easy overnight process, however, at least the Flyers should be a fun team to watch again, a competitive team. The Flyers were soft last season, in a sense they were not competitive for three quarters of the season. How this will work out is anyone’s guess, but hopefully this is a long-term investment for the Flyers, as Tortorella becomes the fifth Head Coach hired in six seasons for the orange and black. This is a trend hopefully the Flyers have cured with hiring Tortorella.
One thing remains clear, the Flyers will be a well oiled, conditioned team. Most players are trying to impress first year Flyers coach in Tortorella, even though Tortorella is most likely familiar with all aforementioned players. However, the players know it will be tough from here on out, and that Torts will command the most out of them. That is what good coaches do, and Torts is that coach.
