Following a statement 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs late last season. Sean Couturier I’m sure was left pondering what was next in terms of playing time. Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella benched the former Selke Trophy winner hours earlier before the game started, a move that sent shockwaves through the NHL.
John Tortorella’s decision to bench the Flyers’ Captain sparked a firestorm of controversy, and it’s clear why fans and pundits were up in arms: you don’t bench the Captain lightly. In hockey, the Captain isn’t just a player—they’re the team’s leader, the heartbeat of the locker room. When Tortorella made this bold move, he likely intended to send a message of accountability, consistent with his hard-nosed coaching style. But instead of rallying the team, it backfired.
The fallout was immediate and lasting. The Flyers’ locker room never seemed to recover from the benching, with morale and cohesion taking a hit that lingered into the following season. The team’s performance suffered, and at times this season, you could still feel the echoes of that decision dragging them down. Fans and pundits didn’t hold back, criticizing Tortorella for what they saw as a misstep—and they had a point. Benching a leader like that risks fracturing the team, and in this case, it did exactly that.
Tortorella’s known for his tough, no-nonsense approach, but this move showed that even a seasoned coach can misread the room. While he might have had reasons behind the scenes we don’t fully know, the results speak for themselves: the benching didn’t motivate the Flyers—it broke something in them. Team dynamics are delicate, and a decision this drastic can expose or worsen underlying issues. Here, it seems to have done both. The fans and pundits were right to question it—not because they have all the answers, but because the evidence on the ice showed Tortorella’s gamble didn’t pay off.
“If you looked at the minutes. I think it tells how I was kind of maybe being pushed aside,” Couturier said with part of a blank stare. “It is what it is. I didn’t agree with the way I was getting pushed aside, but I was just trying to not be a distraction and keep my mouth shut. Just put in the extra effort to try to get back to where I should be.”
Couturier cleared the air this past Saturday, publicly. He confirmed that he didn’t have much of a relationship with former Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella. Couturier believed his thoughts were pushed aside the majority of the time.
“I didn’t agree with how I was getting pushed aside.” – Sean Couturier said at exit interviews
“I think as long as we are all in this together, and pushing in the same direction together. That’s the main goal,” Couturier said at his exit interview. “I just felt at times I got pushed aside. I didn’t know the reason, or maybe wouldn’t agree with the explanations or whatever was given to me, but whoever the coach is it doesn’t matter. We just need to be all in together.”
Through all this, Couturier also said the majority of the problem with John Tortorella was that Torts wanted him to be fast, and play the game faster. The problem is, and Couturier knows this as he joked–he’s never been a fast hockey player. Couturier cannot be someone he never was.
“If you look at the way Torts wanted us to play, it was fast, quick on the puck—maybe not fully my type of game. If you look at my career, I was never the fastest guy, but I still found a way to be first on the puck. I think that’s maybe the reason, but I don’t know, honestly. It is what it is.”
Now it’s time to move on, and let bygones be bygones. Next season the orange and black will have a new Head Coach, possibly Interim Head Coach Brad Shaw, “I’m going into every year trying to win, make the playoffs. It’s been tough these last couple of years,” Couturier said. “I don’t have as many years as there used to be. I don’t want to say that the clock is ticking, but I want to win before I’m not playing. Hopefully, we can turn this around quick and get back into contention mode, and where this organization deserves to be.”
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I want to win before I’m not playing. Hopefully, we can turn this around quick and get back into contention mode, and where this organization deserves to be.” – Sean Couturier
