John Tortorella has sudden change of attitude after getting called out

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Matt Garland
April 3, 2024 (1:52 PM)

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The Philadelphia Flyers are playing their worst stretch of hockey at the most critical time of the season. The Flyers lost their fifth straight game against the New York Islanders on Monday.

Head coach John Tortorella was his usual abrasive self post-game, revealing he thought the team played soft

"Soft. One guy played: The goalie,"

Tortorella said bluntly at the post-game press conference.

NHL analyst Bryan Hayes was a guest on Jay Onrait's "Harvey's Hot Takes". Hayes put the spotlight on Tortorella's bad habit of blaming others and not taking any accountability for himself.

"It was Sean Couturier, the Captain's fault at one point, it's been the goaltender's fault multiple times. It's the players' issues, it's the softness, it's the second period, it's the media. It's never his issue, it's somebody else's."

After some days to reflect Tortorella came to his media availability today singing a different tune:

"It comes down to - oh, they're going to quit on him. It follows me around. And so be it. If a player is going to quit on me, or players are going to quit on me because I'm trying to make them better people or better athletes, you've got the wrong damn coach here, and you've got the wrong damn people here"

"My job is, I'm going to push athletes. I try to stay away from.... I have other things on my mind that I don't give you. I was in control the other night. What I said, I meant. And quite honestly when I watch the tape now I'm more concerned that just the second period. Because of, I'm so proud of the team getting here. I guess now the narrative out there is I've heard other people (is): they're young. They're not supposed to be here. Bullshit. We're here. We're here. Face it. And let's be better. And I don't think we're ready to be better, and that's my problem with us right now. And it is my job - I have not done a good enough job to get them over the hump.. I haven't done a good enough job to make them understand we have to be different now. We have to be at a different level, that's my frustration with me, and that's my frustration with the team. And if people can't handle it, so be it"

The Flyers are back in action on Friday against the Buffalo Sabres. Maybe they can carry Tortorella's passion into the game and break the losing streak. Philadelphia has six games remaining with Washington and New York hot on their tails with games in hand.