Photo Credit: NHL.com
It was an abysmal second period for the Flyers against the New York Islanders. A period in which they were outshot 17-3 and out chanced in a big way. Tortorella pulled number one goalie Samuel Ersson after the first stanza, in favor of a 6’7 Goliath Ivan Fedotov and hope of a spark for his club. Obviously, things didn’t go according to plan, as the Flyers fell in overtime 4-3, this Tortorella really let his team have it:
“There are certain people that they don’t have a clue how to play or just don’t have it in them to play in these type of situations,” John Tortorella adamantly said following the game. “And this is why I’m glad we’re playing these games because we have to figure things out as far as what we’re going to become as a team here.”
“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.” – Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella
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. Tortorella said the other day that his team was gassed, but last night he said something entirely different, “We can talk about rest, this that and the other thing. If you don’t have enough balls to play in these type of games, rest doesn’t do you any good,” Tortorella said.
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.
Last night was not one of those nights where a moral victory was won. Yes, they got a point in the end, but it felt like a deflating loss, especially after how Ivan Fedotov fought throughout the game. Tortorella called out his team, with the hopes of a positive response by the team on Friday night, “And this is why I’m glad we’re playing these games because we have to figure things out as far as what we’re going to become as a team here.”
This is a teachable moment in the end, hopefully Tortorella uses this as leverage to better his team.
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