From The Athletic - Flyers Poll/Survey (Part 2) - New Head Coach Portion

[pilldoc]

The Athletic has a poll/survey running on the State of the Union for the Flyers.  I will be posting some of their questions. 

 

They listed a lot of questions.  Here is Part 2.

 

Comment below for these 2 questions only.

[CoachX]

Lots of rumors saying it will be Torts. I would love that

[pilldoc]

I picked either Trotz or Montgomery as coaches who "should be" the next HC.  However, I could see the Flyers going with Torts or Tochett.

 

However, I just saw that it is down to Torts or Trotz ....

 

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10038431-nhl-rumors-john-tortorella-barry-trotz-finalists-for-flyers-head-coaching-job

[CoachX]

If true,  we win!

 

We finally get to have nice things

 

@OccamsRazor reference 

[mojo1917]

I know I've been pretty anti-Fonzi.

But I've been thinking he must really want to coach again ; and I wonder if the idea of bringing the organization, specifically this formerly marquee team, back from the dead is the draw?

 

He will be fun as hell to listen to, I've always enjoyed his candor and his sparring with Larry Brooks is legendary.

 

 

His teams play hard and are hard to play...that is a start. He will hold guys accountable and the team could become greater than the sum of its parts. All Fonzi team traits that I appreciate. 

 

The city is passionate about its team, I think he'll actually be a good fit. Even though have been hoping for Trotz or new blood, I will most likely enjoy the Tortorella experience. 

 

Edited June 12, 2022 by mojo1917

[CoachX]

I think Trotz is the better coach overall. I'd prefer him. But Torts might be more of what'd needed for the current Flyer team/franchise. Maybe I'm wrongly comparing him to Mike Keenan, but that's where my mind is.

 

 Flyer players have for a long time, have been coddled and prioritized over then team as a whole. Having a coach who won't tolerate that, is what's we need. 

[radoran]

Just now, CoachX said:

Flyer players have for a long time, have been coddled and prioritized over then team as a whole. Having a coach who won't tolerate that, is what's we need. 

 

I would imagine they would get Atkinson's perspective on Torts as a coach. I think he did get more out of that Blue Jackets franchise, but I also don't think that franchise had the talent to do much else.

 

It would, at the very least, be interesting...

[CoachX]

Atkinson on Torts:

 

“it all starts with practice. You practice how you play, especially when I turned pro. I learned that from John Tortorella. He was great in that aspect."

 

he went on: 

 

“It was hard to mold and gel as a group when you’re playing so many games (and not practicing much) … You can’t really get on the ice and do it .  I think going into next year, we need to find a way to have some more grit, some more jam, more ‘F you” to our game, on both sides of the puck, in our crease, defending our goalie and in their crease. I thought we were a pretty soft team this year in my opinion.”

 

 

Sounds like he's on board

[pilldoc]

Vast majority wanted Trotz also .....  However, we were correct to predict that Torts would ultimately be named coach.

 

From The Athletic ...

 

A fascinating question to look back on given that between the presentation of the survey and the results being published, the Flyers obviously chose John Tortorella as their 23rd head coach in franchise history. And our surveyed group had him fairly high — the fourth-choice on the board.

 

That said, there were three coaches that our survey preferred. It’s no surprise that Barry Trotz easily led the way, given his reputation and pedigree. He was in the mix, and Elliotte Friedman reported that Trotz let the Flyers know that he was not interested, though that’s a report that no one affiliated with the Flyers has been willing to confirm. Bruce Cassidy took the Vegas Golden Knights job and did inform the Flyers that he was doing so. Assuming that Trotz did essentially take himself out of the running, that leaves only Jim Montgomery — the Blues assistant head coach who has been strongly linked as a candidate for the Winnipeg job — as the only possible candidate preferred by the fan base that the Flyers directly selected Tortorella over.

 

As for the “other” answers? Gritty unsurprisingly received two votes.

[pilldoc]

 

#WeNailedIt ...

 

Congratulations to our voters, who were right on the money with Tortorella ultimately being the guy in Philadelphia. (In fairness, rumors had already started to swirl that he was the preferred choice before the poll was posted, but still. Good work.)

 

The best non-profane “other” answers? Mickey Mouse, and then the illustrious “Someone Chuck knows from Minnesota.”

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

On this one here, I am obviously late to the party, but from the beginning, if the Flyers were looking to fix certain aspects of their competitiveness, my easy answer would have been either Torts or Trotz (coin flip), and then Bruce Cassidy, based on his track record working with a less-than-ideal roster, outside of this top line and someone like Charlie McAvoy.
Everyone else, I think Cassidy got LOTS of mileage out of.

Who I thought the Flyers WOULD hire?
I would have thought someone they are familar with (Tocchet for instance), or some re-tread without a particular goal in mind, like Claude Julien or a Paul Maurice.

There also existed the possibility Philly could have hired someone from their system, but I got the feeling they weren't really looking forward to handing the bench over to a relative unknown.

For the record, and despite some fans' disdain for him (one of the fans who really doesn't like Torts I really have a deep respect for their opinion), I'd say at this stage, at this point in time, John Tortorella looks like the right hire, even if for just the short term.

4 years to dig out of a competitive hole really isn't that long if you think about it.
Yea, yea, I know...long suffering fans would say they have waited far too long already, and I can't say I blame them for feeling that way.