If he is not fired, I will leave the Philadelphia Flyers head coach, as he has a misunderstanding with his star player.
Since Flyers head coach John Tortorella spoke extensively on Monday night following the team’s overtime loss to the Islanders, there has been a great deal of buzz. Some people are talking about Tortorella’s criticism of the team going too far. Some people seem to believe that Tortorella should just accept that this team is where it is and not fight for anything because nobody expected them to be there in the first place.
Tortorella answered during Wednesday morning’s practice. When it all boils down to it, “You got the wrong damn coach here and you got the wrong damn people here if a player quits on me or players quit on me because I’m trying to make them better people and better athletes. Oh, they’re going to quit on him it follows me around and so be it.”
Since this is an opinion item, let me share my viewpoint. I think this Flyers squad isn’t getting the credit it deserves. This group has been required to do a great deal over the last two seasons. These guys have been showing a lot of people wrong by working tirelessly night after night out in the field. They have been invited to participate in an ongoing project. Yes, there are certain peculiarities. They do better when playing against superior teams than inferior ones. They perform better when playing without a weapon than when using one. They really have the most shorthanded goals in the league.
They have persevered despite hardship and uncertainty, as well as through personnel changes and injuries. You have to assume that this is not a delicate group based on the way they drop and block more shots than any other club in the NHL. Some people believe that when they are slipping backwards, a coach’s stern words will break them. Come on, that’s not enough credit for them.
For the past two seasons, this core has been pushed to perform to the best of their abilities, often against overwhelming odds, despite knowing what they are up against. They do not surrender or lie down. They continue to delve deeper and discover more about themselves as a group and as players. They have triumphed in a great deal of uphill struggles. In fact, they have done so frequently that, with six games remaining in the regular season, they are still in the running for the playoffs. They are where they are and who they are.
I’m not speaking for him when I do that. Tortorella also expressed his pride in the team’s arrival on Wednesday morning, saying, “I guess now that I’ve heard from other people that they’re young, they’re not supposed to be here.” Bullshit, face it—we’re here; let’s be honest! “I haven’t done a good enough job of explaining to them that we need to change and elevate ourselves to a new level. That’s how I feel about myself and about the squad. And that’s okay (smacks table) if folks can’t handle it.” Let’s not disappear and declare, “You know what? This isn’t even where we should be. That’s terrible.”
It’s surprising how quickly this team is gelling. They’ve put forth a lot of effort to get this point. Nobody is saying that this is the final product—this is a rebuild. The Flyers are in the running for a playoff position this season, which almost no one predicted. They are still in the game. Tortorella would have been surrounded by Flyers supporters if he remained silent while the chance to seize it was closing. And they would be perfectly justified in doing so. We have been pleading for passion, honesty, and transparency. Even if we may not be accustomed to it, we shouldn’t be turned off by it when it does arrive. And guess what, if this squad does qualify for the playoffs? It becomes increasingly difficult and intense. That’s the way things are.
