TORT Claim

[mojo1917]

4 minutes ago, RonJeremy said:

but I'm worried he may ruin the already fragile confidence of this team.

as if. 

There is nowhere to go for the team's confidence to go but up.

I know you watched last season. 

[OccamsRazor]

3 hours ago, mojo1917 said:

Ristolainen signing is kind of embarrassing.

 

Can you IMAGINE putting a mic in front of Torts mid way through next season and then someone asking him what he thinks of Risto's game?

 

Should be epic...

[vis]

I am looking forward to Torts taking over the reigns.  At the least, things should be way more entertaining around this team.  Part of the reason general interest in this team has waned is because it's a faceless, passionless, boring franchise.  This is part of the reason why the product on the ice has been terrible.

 

Imo, Tortorella checks a lot of boxes for this team.  He is passionate; this team has lacked any semblance of passion.  He wants his teams to be difficult to play against and to give full effort on a consistent bases; no one can say this team has done that in a long time.  He is hands on and accessible to his players (for better or worse) and they will know where they stand with him (again, for better or worse); one criticism of Vigneult was that he was too aloof.

 

My concern is that he will stifle creative hockey.  And I hope he doesn't run roughshod over young players.

 

My understanding is that Cam Atkinson lobbied hard for him.  I think that speaks volumes.  Arguably, Cam was our best and most consistent forward last year (aside from G perhaps).  And he sets a good example, imo.

 

Some of the handwringing seems to be that this move reeks of "the old guard" having a say in management of this team.  Not sure it really does.  One thing is for certain: Torts is an outside voice so I don't think you can criticize them for that.  And what do we make of the report that Scott hired outside consultants to help vet candidates?  if anything, that seems to undermine the argument that the team is secretly run by Clarke and Holmgren.  Frankly, I doubt either one does a damn thing for this team outside of field a call for opinions (not approvals) on occasion.

 

My impression is that Torts is a pretty thoughtful guy.  He seems to be self-aware enough to try to adapt his style to new situations and learn from past mistakes.  Yes, he's demanding and probably says or does things that are overly critical.  But I think he's a good leader.  I say this all because I've worked for/with people who seem to share similar personality traits.  I initially hated working for some of these people, but over time came to better understand them (and them me) and ended up regarding them as great leaders and some of the best people I've worked with.  Hope it works out as well for the Flyers as well as it did for me. 

 

If Trotz rejected an offer and Cassidy is heading to Vegas, what other candidates did people want?

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

41 minutes ago, RonJeremy said:

I know Torts is kinda like Keenan, he's a maniac but he gets results.  I'm just wondering,  has he mellowed enough to where he will be more reasonable? Is he the kind of coach who will bench the young guys for making a mistake. Will he stifle the development of a guy who has offensive skill by trying to turn him into a defensive player.

 

Remember in Montreal  when Caufield was not scoring, he was benched alot and sent down by a hard ass coach. As soon as they got a coach who let him play his game, he scored big time. This is a pivotal season for a guy like Frost where he will blossom or bust. I hope Torts will help our young guys take the next step in development  but I'm worried he may ruin the already fragile confidence of this team.

In fairness, Tortorella also coached guys like Lecavalier, Brad Richards, St Louis, the Sedins, etc... so it's not as if he doesn't know how to handle players that are more offensively gifted than they are defensively gifted. 

 

I'm more interested in the staff that gets put together. If the Flyers can bring in someone who has a good rapport and development path with younger players, that will make Tortorella's job that much easier.

 

The good news though is that he might be able to convince management to take a guy like Savoie, who's game is eerily similar to St Louis. Not only that, but Tortorella is not afraid to call out management if they aren't doing enough to help the team win or if they're making bad deals. 

 

I fully expect that guys like Farabee, Couturier,  Laczynski, Tippett, etc..... really benefit under Tortorella.  It's about to get interesting though, for certain. 

[mojo1917]

1 minute ago, vis said:

If Trotz rejected an offer and Cassidy is heading to Vegas, what other candidates did people want?

I wanted Jim Montgomery.

Redemption story for him and the team.

Not much pressure to win right away, guys could develop and start playing a good competitive brand of hockey. He was successful with a pretty young team in Dallas before his life choices interfered with his job.

He could bring the new guys along, I think I see the team as needing more of a rebuild than the GM and front office, so I was okay with having a guy grow with the team.

Like I said I don't hate the Torts hire all the way.

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

4 minutes ago, vis said:

If Trotz rejected an offer and Cassidy is heading to Vegas, what other candidates did people want?

I've been on the Benoit Groulx bandwagon for the longest of time. As the man who was responsible for getting Tampa Bay's prospects ready, he took undrafted free agents and late round picks and turned them into viable NHL players. If the Flyers are going to have a young roster, a development coach would be ideal. With that being said, there's something about playing for a coach who is very much about team and knowing where you stand. It seems most players who have played for Tortorella at one point or another seen to have a great deal of respect for him and his approach to things. 

[CoachX]

2nd winningest American Coach in NH history, 2x Coach of the year, SC champion,  12 playoff appearances in 20 seasons

 

NHL considers him a good coach. Im sure we forum fans know better though

 

1 hour ago, elmatus said:

 

Yes? His best years were when he lucked out coaching a stacked Bolts team

 

 

With TB:

1st year, 5th place

2nd, 3rd place

3rd, 1st place

4th, 1st place, SC

 

Got better every season leading up to SC. Looks like pure luck to me. Im sure coaching had nothing to do with it

 

[CoachX]

1 hour ago, pilldoc said:

 

At the very least, his press conferences with the Philly media will be must-see TV. And can you imagine him getting into it with some of the knuckleheads on WIP?

 

Tortorella replace AV in Vancouver over 10 years ago and guess what happened, he lasted one year. The same thing will occur here. After next season and another top 5 pick, Fletcher and Tortorella will be gone.

 

So assuming Torts does indeed come here ....who gets canned first .... Chuckles or Torts? over/under in terms of months?

 

If this happens, its a success

 

win-win for us

[CoachX]

58 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

Can you IMAGINE putting a mic in front of Torts mid way through next season and then someone asking him what he thinks of Risto's game?

 

Should be epic...

something to look forward to.

 

management loves Risto. Why? WTF knows. Torts hate that kind of player. Funny they will hire a guy whos directly opposite of them

[CoachX]

20 minutes ago, vis said:

I am looking forward to Torts taking over the reigns.  At the least, things should be way more entertaining around this team.  Part of the reason general interest in this team has waned is because it's a faceless, passionless, boring franchise.  This is part of the reason why the product on the ice has been terrible.

 

Imo, Tortorella checks a lot of boxes for this team.  He is passionate; this team has lacked any semblance of passion.  He wants his teams to be difficult to play against and to give full effort on a consistent bases; no one can say this team has done that in a long time.  He is hands on and accessible to his players (for better or worse) and they will know where they stand with him (again, for better or worse); one criticism of Vigneult was that he was too aloof.

 

My concern is that he will stifle creative hockey.  And I hope he doesn't run roughshod over young players.

 

My understanding is that Cam Atkinson lobbied hard for him.  I think that speaks volumes.  Arguably, Cam was our best and most consistent forward last year (aside from G perhaps).  And he sets a good example, imo.

 

Some of the handwringing seems to be that this move reeks of "the old guard" having a say in management of this team.  Not sure it really does.  One thing is for certain: Torts is an outside voice so I don't think you can criticize them for that.  And what do we make of the report that Scott hired outside consultants to help vet candidates?  if anything, that seems to undermine the argument that the team is secretly run by Clarke and Holmgren.  Frankly, I doubt either one does a damn thing for this team outside of field a call for opinions (not approvals) on occasion.

 

My impression is that Torts is a pretty thoughtful guy.  He seems to be self-aware enough to try to adapt his style to new situations and learn from past mistakes.  Yes, he's demanding and probably says or does things that are overly critical.  But I think he's a good leader.  I say this all because I've worked for/with people who seem to share similar personality traits.  I initially hated working for some of these people, but over time came to better understand them (and them me) and ended up regarding them as great leaders and some of the best people I've worked with.  Hope it works out as well for the Flyers as well as it did for me. 

 

If Trotz rejected an offer and Cassidy is heading to Vegas, what other candidates did people want?

well done! BRAVO!

 

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

26 minutes ago, BobbyClarkeFan16 said:

I fully expect that guys like Farabee, Couturier,  Laczynski, Tippett, etc..... really benefit under Tortorella.  It's about to get interesting though, for certain. 

I forgot to mention Noah Cates. He won't just thrive, but he'll star. Farabee might just make the jump to superstar under Tortorella. Tortorella will love the way that they play the game and it won't surprise me if they end up in leadership roles under Tortorella. 

[Captain Lando]

13 minutes ago, CoachX said:

something to look forward to.

 

management loves Risto. Why? WTF knows. Torts hate that kind of player. Funny they will hire a guy whos directly opposite of them

Right there with what you just posted will be very interesting to see how that unfolds. Will management tell Torts to suck it up and deal with Risto and will Torts bench him or will Torts force the hand of management to unload Risto and his crazy deal he has? That right there will be entertainment to see. 

[Buffalo Rick]

The circus is coming to Philly!  Last guy on Earth I would hire!  Wow

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

4 minutes ago, Hockey Junkie said:

The circus is coming to Philly!  Last guy on Earth I would hire!  Wow

The circus was already here with Holmgren, Lombardi and the ring leader, Clarke. 

[pilldoc]

9 minutes ago, Hockey Junkie said:

The circus is coming to Philly!  Last guy on Earth I would hire!  Wow

 

you are a decade late ....it has been a circus here for the past 10+ years ......

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

4 hours ago, pilldoc said:

 

At the very least, his press conferences with the Philly media will be must-see TV. And can you imagine him getting into it with some of the knuckleheads on WIP?

 

Tortorella replace AV in Vancouver over 10 years ago and guess what happened, he lasted one year. The same thing will occur here. After next season and another top 5 pick, Fletcher and Tortorella will be gone.

 

So assuming Torts does indeed come here ....who gets canned first .... Chuckles or Torts? over/under in terms of months?

 

 

Ok, @pilldoc and Flyer fans....hide your short attention spans and fear of blocks of texts, TFG is here to dazzle and possible piss some of you off  :

 

First of all, Doc, congrats on your Flyers getting John Tortorella...no really, that's not a sarcastic post (and I KNOW some in the Flyer fanbase genuinely can't stand him, and I understand that).

I've posted many times something everyone by know should know: That Torts has a limited shelf life before he wears on his teams.
BUT, the idea here is, that he will instill some sort of cohesion back into the locker room, as some have said as well, accountability, pride in what they are doing out there....not to mention clearing out the locker room of whiners, floaters, paycheck collectors, and other manner of flotsam and jetsam left over from previous disastrous seasons.

This much he has shown he has done in the past. Some players will either ask to be traded, change their attitudes and/or mindsets, simply not be re-signed under his regime, or even "flee" as free agents the first chance they get.
And that last one may not necessarily be a bad thing. One has to wonder, after all, of the mettle of a player who would "flee" a coach who wants them to work hard every damned shift on the ice and who is critical of their play when warranted.

Second, I absolutely agree that Torts vs Philly media will be must see TV. Over the years, Johnny Omelette has gotten better at dealing with the mealy mouthed people around, including the media that always seem to disguise some question behind some other absurd dialogue, however, he likely will still uncork some "go %$#@ yourself then Brooksie" at someone should he get to the point where he wants no more to do with the inquiring muppet he is dealing with.

If anything, his antics should help get the heat off his team (at least the good players) who may fall victim to countless assaults by the media to answer questions about team failures (and there is STILL gonna be lots of that in Year One of Torts), when they should continue to focus on hockey. Tortorella will bear the brunt of the media and that is an underrated aspect of his hiring that I think his locker room appreciates, but others outside it don't realize how important it is to the players.

Third, that hiring in Vancouver..... a blip in the radar.
That hiring of Torts in Vancouver was an absolute misfit from the moment he was even being considered. That last Vancouver team had AV's fingerprints all over it in personnel, culture, style, attitude...everything!

As you know, Torts and AV couldn't be more different guys, and the Vancouver higher ups simply did NOT allow Torts to run that 'soft group' the way it needed to be run in order for them to be more than an aging, cling-to-the-past, inner circle that had no chance to compete against hard working teams.

NOW THAT is where it will get interesting in Philadelphia.
Torts following AV in Philly (let's ignore Yeo for now  here) is the ONLY parallel that, for the sake of Flyers fans, should be drawn with the same happening in Vancouver.

Where the Canucks had AV's DNA firmly entrenched, and the FO were very slow to do much, if anything, to accommodate Torts' style, this current Philadelphia team never really got the chance to 'absorb' Vigneault, and in fact, are a heaping, shapeless, aimless, blob of a mess, that Tortorella, IF ALLOWED and ACCOMODATED by the Flyer front office, can indeed shape into a tough, no nonsense, competitive group.

If that is allowed to happen (let Torts do his thing), then the team could very well be set right before his infamous expiration date comes about....which leads me to your final post about Torts-Fletcher:

If indeed Torts starts to get results, and there is resistance from the GM to some of how he wants to do things, you can bet your bottom pill that it will be Fletcher shown the door first as 'Chuckie's' track record in fixing things in an org is much, much less impressive that John Tortorella's....... in fact, some may argue, Fletcher is the type of guy you NEED to bring in guys like Tortorella to clean up after!
So this relationship should be very interesting to watch how it unfolds.

Finally, Torts' legacy.
Putting aside the fact he has only won ONE Cup, and simply focusing on what his role really is (hint: It ISN'T to guide a team to a Stanley Cup, but rather shape them into the type of group that competes hard enough where a Cup would eventually be attainable, even if it isn't without him on board), let's look at his history in coaching....

Tampa Bay.
A joke of an organization pre-Tortorella due to many factors. But the ONLY factors the HC can control is the locker room, who inhabits it, and who plays. THAT is what he did for that group and even after his departure, the Bolts for the most part, have been a competitive, proud group over the years, even though it took a guy like Steve Yzerman (and his understudy Julien Brisebois) at the GM spot and Jon Cooper at the HC spot to eventually lead the team to more titles.
But Torts left the org NO LONGER the league doormat and laughing stock.

New York.
The Rangers were an aging, mostly easy to play against collection of highly paid players whose best days were behind them, and overshadowed any of the spark of young players that would come in with new attitudes and actually want to work hard to attain something rather than follow in the footsteps of those who are still living in their past glories.

Torts goes in there, helps clean house, brings about a tough mentality to the locker room and helps usher in spring chicken guys like Ryan Callahan, Ryan McDonagh, Brian Boyle who in turn, help turn the org into a respectable, competing group.... and even after Torts was gone, the Rangers, for the most part, have been a competitive group who do NOT hang onto old floating vets for very long before deciding it is time to renew and start competing again (see recent Ranger reset, rebuild that changed over from the Rick Nash group to the one they have now).

Vancouver.
Again, let's forget that one as Torts had NO BUSINESS being hired there....not if the front office wasn't willing to bend to what he needed to kick that group in the arse.
What? Didn't the Canuck FO know what they were getting with Torts? Did they think they were getting a blue collar 'Yes Man' and business would continue as it was with better results?? Fools.....

Columbus.
Again...took a mostly soft, inconsequential group, and turned them into poster children for hard work, more than the sum of their parts, competitive types that had them be much better than they ever were at any point in their history.
They were even famously able to take a 62-game winning, President's trophy winning team to the cleaners in a playoff series simply by playing tougher and ultimately kicking the crap in all aspects, out of that high flying group, to the point where Torts' Jackets CHANGED the mindset of that team (you know who!), to where THEY knew they needed to be tougher in order to win.

Torts leaves Columbus and they are slowly but surely rounding into something good once again, still tough to play against, and you can bet, if the Jacket's front office has any smarts about them, they do NOT want to return to the days of soft nobodies that teams LOVE seeing on their schedule.

I will conclude this opus with the bottom line here:

--Torts isn't going to be there when the Flyers achieve Stanley Cup contentions status, though his influence, in many ways should still be there.
--Many people in the Flyer fanbase will still hate the guy....and I honestly can see their point of view...but...
--He SHOULD get results, if the Flyer FO doesn't get in his way, and in fact, assists him in what he is trying to do.
--When Torts' expiration comes about, the team should be in much better shape than before he got there...and in the meantime, Flyers' fans should have been treated to competitive hockey, making the playoffs here and there, good media days starring the ol Omelette, and all this even if a Stanley Cup is still not attained.
But BONUS if somehow Torts stays on longer than people think and the Flyers somehow, someway DO win one while he is there.....
--The Torts' hire, polarizing as it is, is probably the best possible hire Philly could have made at this time seeing as how other candidates chose elsewhere, or perhaps, weren't ever really considered for one reason or another.

All due respect to Rick Tocchet, for instance, but Torts as HC > Rick Tocchet as HC.
As a fiery, wise, omnivore, ursid, Flyer fan friend of mine once told me regarding Tocchet: "I like him better as a lieutenant or XO officer, rather than the guy in charge", and I think that rings true.

Love him or hate him...Torts is now your guy and Flyer hockey will still have its headaches starting out, but should NOT be boring.
Let the expletives begin...

Edited June 15, 2022 by TropicalFruitGirl26

[Captain Lando]

There are reasons to really like this move and reasons to be concerned about this. 

 

Torts has a reputation of taking a team that is retooling and doing a lot with it. Meeting much better expectations than what is thought at a nice rate. On the other hand torts can also burn some bridges really fast. Whether that be with some players, the fan base, media, and even the front office.  This is why he doesn't seem to stick around very long.

 

If all things go well and the players mesh to his style and the ones that don't get flushed out of the system then everything will seem gel this will look like a masterpiece of a hiring. If he comes in and starts sitting players that the front office doesn't like and that starts strife and the team isn't still winning at least a little better than last season and he and the media are at each others throats after each game. He will wear thin quickly and fans will quickly look at the hiring as a disaster. 

 

 

Edited June 15, 2022 by Captain Lando

[RonJeremy]

2 hours ago, mojo1917 said:

as if. 

There is nowhere to go for the team's confidence to go but up.

I know you watched last season. 

We could lose even more confidence and finish dead last instead of third to last..but that would actually be a good thing. 

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

35 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Ok, @pilldoc and Flyer fans....hide your short attention spans and fear of blocks of texts, TFG is here to dazzle and possible piss some of you off  :

 

First of all, Doc, congrats on your Flyers getting John Tortorella...no really, that's not a sarcastic post (and I KNOW some in the Flyer fanbase genuinely can't stand him, and I understand that).

I've posted many times something everyone by know should know: That Torts has a limited shelf life before he wears on his teams.
BUT, the idea here is, that he will instill some sort of cohesion back into the locker room, as some have said as well, accountability, pride in what they are doing out there....not to mention clearing out the locker room of whiners, floaters, paycheck collectors, and other manner of flotsam and jetsam left over from previous disastrous seasons.

This much he has shown he has done in the past. Some players will either ask to be traded, change their attitudes and/or mindsets, simply not be re-signed under his regime, or even "flee" as free agents the first chance they get.
And that last one may not necessarily be a bad thing. One has to wonder, after all, of the mettle of a player who would "flee" a coach who wants them to work hard every damned shift on the ice and who is critical of their play when warranted.

Second, I absolutely agree that Torts vs Philly media will be must see TV. Over the years, Johnny Omelette has gotten better at dealing with the mealy mouthed people around, including the media that always seem to disguise some question behind some other absurd dialogue, however, he likely will still uncork some "go %$#@ yourself then Brooksie" at someone should he get to the point where he wants no more to do with the inquiring muppet he is dealing with.

If anything, his antics should help get the heat off his team (at least the good players) who may fall victim to countless assaults by the media to answer questions about team failures (and there is STILL gonna be lots of that in Year One of Torts), when they should continue to focus on hockey. Tortorella will bear the brunt of the media and that is an underrated aspect of his hiring that I think his locker room appreciates, but others outside it don't realize how important it is to the players.

Third, that hiring in Vancouver..... a blip in the radar.
That hiring of Torts in Vancouver was an absolute misfit from the moment he was even being considered. That last Vancouver team had AV's fingerprints all over it in personnel, culture, style, attitude...everything!

As you know, Torts and AV couldn't be more different guys, and the Vancouver higher ups simply did NOT allow Torts to run that 'soft group' the way it needed to be run in order for them to be more than an aging, cling-to-the-past, inner circle that had no chance to compete against hard working teams.

NOW THAT is where it will get interesting in Philadelphia.
Torts following AV in Philly (let's ignore Yeo for now  here) is the ONLY parallel that, for the sake of Flyers fans, should be drawn with the same happening in Vancouver.

Where the Canucks had AV's DNA firmly entrenched, and the FO were very slow to do much, if anything, to accommodate Torts' style, this current Philadelphia team never really got the chance to 'absorb' Vigneault, and in fact, are a heaping, shapeless, aimless, blob of a mess, that Tortorella, IF ALLOWED and ACCOMODATED by the Flyer front office, can indeed shape into a tough, no nonsense, competitive group.

If that is allowed to happen (let Torts do his thing), then the team could very well be set right before his infamous expiration date comes about....which leads me to your final post about Torts-Fletcher:

If indeed Torts starts to get results, and there is resistance from the GM to some of how he wants to do things, you can bet your bottom pill that it will be Fletcher shown the door first as 'Chuckie's' track record in fixing things in an org is much, much less impressive that John Tortorella's....... in fact, some may argue, Fletcher is the type of guy you NEED to bring in guys like Tortorella to clean up after!
So this relationship should be very interesting to watch how it unfolds.

Finally, Torts' legacy.
Putting aside the fact he has only won ONE Cup, and simply focusing on what his role really is (hint: It ISN'T to guide a team to a Stanley Cup, but rather shape them into the type of group that competes hard enough where a Cup would eventually be attainable, even if it isn't without him on board), let's look at his history in coaching....

Tampa Bay.
A joke of an organization pre-Tortorella due to many factors. But the ONLY factors the HC can control is the locker room, who inhabits it, and who plays. THAT is what he did for that group and even after his departure, the Bolts for the most part, have been a competitive, proud group over the years, even though it took a guy like Steve Yzerman (and his understudy Julien Brisebois) at the GM spot and Jon Cooper at the HC spot to eventually lead the team to more titles.
But Torts left the org NO LONGER the league doormat and laughing stock.

New York.
The Rangers were an aging, mostly easy to play against collection of highly paid players whose best days were behind them, and overshadowed any of the spark of young players that would come in with new attitudes and actually want to work hard to attain something rather than follow in the footsteps of those who are still living in their past glories.

Torts goes in there, helps clean house, brings about a tough mentality to the locker room and helps usher in spring chicken guys like Ryan Callahan, Ryan McDonagh, Brian Boyle who in turn, help turn the org into a respectable, competing group.... and even after Torts was gone, the Rangers, for the most part, have been a competitive group who do NOT hang onto old floating vets for very long before deciding it is time to renew and start competing again (see recent Ranger reset, rebuild that changed over from the Rick Nash group to the one they have now).

Vancouver.
Again, let's forget that one as Torts had NO BUSINESS being hired there....not if the front office wasn't willing to bend to what he needed to kick that group in the arse.
What? Didn't the Canuck FO know what they were getting with Torts? Did they think they were getting a blue collar 'Yes Man' and business would continue as it was with better results?? Fools.....

Columbus.
Again...took a mostly soft, inconsequential group, and turned them into poster children for hard work, more than the sum of their parts, competitive types that had them be much better than they ever were at any point in their history.
They were even famously able to take a 62-game winning, President's trophy winning team to the cleaners in a playoff series simply by playing tougher and ultimately kicking the crap in all aspects, out of that high flying group, to the point where Torts' Jackets CHANGED the mindset of that team (you know who!), to where THEY knew they needed to be tougher in order to win.

Torts leaves Columbus and they are slowly but surely rounding into something good once again, still tough to play against, and you can bet, if the Jacket's front office has any smarts about them, they do NOT want to return to the days of soft nobodies that teams LOVE seeing on their schedule.

I will conclude this opus with the bottom line here:

--Torts isn't going to be there when the Flyers achieve Stanley Cup contentions status, though his influence, in many ways should still be there.
--Many people in the Flyer fanbase will still hate the guy....and I honestly can see their point of view...but...
--He SHOULD get results, if the Flyer FO doesn't get in his way, and in fact, assists him in what he is trying to do.
--When Torts' expiration comes about, the team should be in much better shape than before he got there...and in the meantime, Flyers' fans should have been treated to competitive hockey, making the playoffs here and there, good media days starring the ol Omelette, and all this even if a Stanley Cup is still not attained.
But BONUS if somehow Torts stays on longer than people think and the Flyers somehow, someway DO win one while he is there.....
--The Torts' hire, polarizing as it is, is probably the best possible hire Philly could have made at this time seeing as how other candidates chose elsewhere, or perhaps, weren't ever really considered for one reason or another.

All due respect to Rick Tocchet, for instance, but Torts as HC > Rick Tocchet as HC.
As a fiery, wise, omnivore, caniform, Flyer fan friend of mine once told me regarding Tocchet: "I like him better as a lieutenant or XO officer, rather than the guy in charge", and I think that rings true.

Love him or hate him...Torts is now your guy and Flyer hockey will still have its headaches starting out, but should NOT be boring.
Let the expletives begin...

So what you’re saying is when Torts is gone the Flyers will be two years away from being two years away?  Got it!

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

6 minutes ago, RonJeremy said:

We could lose even more confidence and finish dead last instead of third to last..but that would actually be a good thing. 

 

Even more a reason to like Torts as coach, no?

If he drives away all semblance of NHL level players, and all he has left to work with are fringe AHL'er promoted beyond their ability, then you could easily find yourselves in top 5 pick situations for a couple seasons.
Gotta get all the silver linings you can, ya know!   

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

2 minutes ago, AlaskaFlyerFan said:

So what you’re saying is when Torts is gone the Flyers will be two years away from being two years away?  Got it!

 

Well, at least I fall in line with the general consensus then, eh?  

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

My concern with a guy like Tortorella coming in is that there are two senior advisors who twice won the Stanley Cup with a similar coach in Fred Shero and that the expectation will be that Tortorella will do the same and the moment he doesn't, they'll be the first to lead the charge in getting rid of him. Clarke and Holmgren have had their fingerprints all over this organization and that when things have give sidewards under their watch, they've disposed of things or they've run to the CEO or the late Ed Snider to get rid of people. The power and influence those two have within the organization is incredibly concerning. 

 

If Tortorella can help rid the locker room of dogs and deterrents who don't want to play or don't like how they're being coached, then I'm all for it. My concern with Tortorella is that he's going to come in and target a guy like Frost for some reason like he isn't physical and then he's going to make an example out of him. There are going to be players that aren't physical behemoths that don't hit everything that moves. Now, if Tortorella can get through to Frost the way he got through to Richards and St Louis, that's a win because let's be honest, Frost has been given the colossal run around from coaches within this organization. I think Tortorella will need to understand that the young skilled guys are going to need his leadership and he's going to have to be a bit more nurturing with some. 

 

Now that the head coach is pretty much in place, the Flyers need to get some assistant coaches who can help in areas like special teams. A new goaltending coach might not be a bad idea either. 

[aziz]

4 hours ago, elmatus said:

His best years were when he lucked out coaching a stacked Bolts team, and he's been riding that success ever since.

trivia:  tort's win% in TB was 44.6.  outside of TB, it is 51.1.*

 

not really sure your statement is entirely accurate, unless you are referring to the SC win alone.

 

not saying i think he's a good hire, but it just isn't true he did better in TB than he did elsewhere.  again, other than that cup win.

 

*unless i suck at math more than i think, which is possible

[Fizz]

On 6/13/2022 at 10:50 AM, CoachX said:

Reading around the net...all signs indicate Torts is the guy 

 

Someone contact the Mayor's office and have him shut down the Walt Whitman

FFS.......

[Howie58]

I have been reluctant to get emotionally involved with this search because this team's talent is the issue, trades/RFA issues next, then (in my mind), the medical-training complex, and lastly, the coaching.  When you've had seven coaches in nine years, it should be clear that isn't a prime issue.   Look at John Stevens in LA, Berube in STL, and Lavy in NSH and WSH--they have done quite well, including a Cup.   

 

On that score, I see bad things.  If we took someone "developmental," like Quinn, we would either be too impatient or provide too little talent.  With someone like Torts, we will have accountability, but development of youngins may get short shrift.  Either way, I give this marriage two years.  

 

I also agree with others that he may be resting on laurels.  It's been 18 years since a Cup.  His post-season record is below .500.  I guess we will be entertained.  Maybe that's better than an emotionless Hakstol or Yeo, but it will be hard to take without over .500 play and shot at the playoffs.  

 

I think a guy like Montgomery might have done a good job with special teams and be given more time to develop the squad. I still wonder if I'll be around for another Cup.  

 

Best to all,

 

Howie