Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella enters his third season with the orange and black. During his short time in Philadelphia, the team has undergone many changes with their rebuild. Today was the first day of training camp, which meant the infamous “rope test” was on full display. Tortorella has always been known as a tough coach, but he brings out the best in his players.
When asked about the rope test and how his players did, Tortorella said, “We have so many good athletes in this league, and nobody wants to be embarrassed; they do the work. There was some struggle- there weren’t many people who didn’t finish. That’s the key for me to make sure they finish the skate.” While names weren’t given for those who didn’t finish the skate, that’s probably for the best. Tortorella was pleased that the majority did and didn’t care how hard they were skating- as long as they finished.
With most training camps utilizing pucks on the first day, it’s known that Tortorella’s is all about skating. This is something Scott Laughton brought up: it gets you into shape. Tortorella said, “It’s an effective way for me to judge where people are at and the commemoratory of what we’re trying to do here. I thought it was a good first day.”
Tortorella talked about last season and what exactly went wrong as the Flyers were sitting in a playoff spot for most of the season.
“My biggest regret is I don’t think we played well enough at the end of the year. I think we were one of the best transition teams in the league, but I think my blinders were on watching us play that quickly and well. I think we struggled to finish. I did not do a good enough job of ensuring we could play another way. I think that hurts. I thought our goaltending struggled, and rightfully so. It’s not to blame Ers (Ersson), but I wore him out. Then, that was the decision we made. He was the best one to give us an opportunity.”
The head coach continued what else went wrong last season: “The one that bothered me all summer was that I think I let the team down. I didn’t put enough effort- enough focus into rebounds, deflections, playing under the hash and creating offensive through some grind, and we needed it.”
Tortorella wasn’t shy about the expectations of this upcoming season, “it’s year three in our program. In year three with the same coaching staff, we’ve had a lot of the team here this year. I love the team, and I’ve told them that. The room has been fantastic, but I’ve got to watch. Do they give a bit? Or am I leaving them alone too much at certain times because I trust them? I have to coach them differently. It’s been three years, and I suspect they’ve improved.”
With the 20-day training camp, there is much for Tortorella to observe, such as exhibition games, which he anxiously waits to see. The Flyers haven’t made any significant changes this off-season besides Michkov coming over. Tortorella confirmed that a lot of the lineup this season will be like last year. He was also open about the fact that the Flyers don’t have money to spend, which means no help during free agency, so it’s up to the players to improve.
Tortorella continued, “Tip (Tippett),(Tyson) Foerster, Cam York, just to name a few, we’re delighted with your progression, but it’s not good enough. You got to keep on getting better.”
Tortorella was very open, including the coaching staff and how they coach. He also expects all the players to score more and do a lot better than last year, and he wants to focus his time on training camp going over rebounding since the team rarely got deflection goals.
One player with a lot of attention heading into this season is Matvei Michkov, who the Flyers drafted in the 2023 NHL Entry Level Draft with their seventh overall pick.
Tortorella stated, “The only time I’ve seen him (Michkov) was during the rookie game. I didn’t watch him during the practices. I thought he played well in the rookie game. His family’s here- brother and mom; he’s picked up the language pretty quickly.”
The head coach shared his thoughts about the rookie’s playing abilities, “He loves playing hockey. He’s a hockey player. He wants to be on the ice all the time. I spoke to him four or five times in short little spurs, but he seems like a really good kid that wants to play hockey.” Flyers veteran defenseman Erik Johnson did confirm that Egor Zamula is Michkov’s assistant. Johnson stated that he sits next to Michkov in the locker room and wants to help guide him as much as possible.
