The Philadelphia Flyers shocked the hockey world when they fired John Tortorella with just nine games left in the 2024–25 season. But now, Torts is telling his side of the story. From heated disagreements with GM Danny Brière, to the infamous Toronto comments that fueled accusations of quitting, to his unwavering respect for his players — this is the dramatic retelling of how it all came crashing down.
Was Tortorella pushed out too soon? Or was it the right move for a rebuilding Flyers franchise?
👉 Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
👍 Like the video, hit Subscribe, and turn on the bell so you never miss another Flyers breakdown.
X – https://x.com/HWhockeyX
IG – https://www.instagram.com/hwhockeyig/
#sportsnet #philadelphiaflyers #nhl
13 Comments
Torts can say what he wants. He was a crappy coach. The players hated him. He instilled a low effort system with a team causing them to miss the playoffs for five years. He is a dinosaur that cannot handle the changes to a modern game.
One time after a 3v3 OT, Torts told media he was confused by 3v3 and does not know how to play defense during that stretch. This loon would put out a defensive forward and 2 dmen for 3v3. Maybe there is some 5D chess I am unaware of.
Tort's is a FRAUD Just go away
My son, then 18, asked what I thought of Torts being hired. I told him that he's a good coach, but it won't end well. 3 to 4 years at most. Torts is a handful and I believe he would be best suited to coach a team on the brink of a chip, like EDM
I've never played pro sports, never pretended to but like many I have been in many locker rooms, dugouts, etc. I do not know John personally, I only know him from the outside as a fan but from this side of the tv, computer he seemed like a coach that never grew with the game. The players are different obviously and they are brought up differently now. No more "suck it up kid, i'm the coach and if you don't like it hit the road". Just seemed like he coached every team/player the same and never evolved. Like I said, I don't know him, never been in a locker room with him, just my opinion.
The Flyers franchise had become a shadow of the former reputation as a hard worker team! They had become somewhat talented ( Girouix- Vorechek) but selfish team that was soft. They desperately needed a hard coach to turn this culture around. The stories were coming out about the players and staff, as even Chuck Fletcher said “ we are in a malaise”.
No Torts or like him coach no turn around would be possible.
Torts did the hard , bad cop, work that no other coach had done in a decade or so!
If the Flyers ever become a contender it will be on the foundation that Torts started the last 2-3 years.
excuses, guy shit the bed
Super stoked that the flyers canned his ass.
Jackass narcissist who tries to win games
2-1.
Seeya loser!!!
And the Flyers are going to suck for another 5 years at the rate they’re going. And that’s on Briere and Jones.
You hit the nail right on the head. While it was absolutely time for him to go at the end of last season, Torts served his purpose in Philly perfectly. When he was hired, the Flyers were an absolute mess top to bottom. A roster with a bunch of overpaid has beens and no direction whatsoever from management. That being said, Torts still coached the Flyers as hard as he coached the Lightning back in the early 2000’s and it yielded great results. Young players like Foerster, Brink and Cates especially have developed beautifully under his style and the roster as a whole started playing with fire and intensity. Say what you want about Torts, but he 100% helped the Flyers regain their identity. While he was just another “lets throw some stuff at the wall and see what sticks” kind of move from Chuck Fletcher, in the long run this one worked out well. Time for Tocchett to finish the job, Torts helped lay the base foundation with the bottom six players, now it’s time for Tocchett to develop the high end talent like Michkov, Martone and hopefully Luchanko and Nesbitt. Lets go Flyers!!!⚫️🟠
I love Torts and feel he should still be our HC. Right now it looks like the players are skating in mud, they are slow. When Torts was here they came out of camp skating hard ! Yeah he was tough and I did not agree with everything he did, but he got us back on track as an organization! I like Tocchet and I hope he does well and the team continues on track to the playoffs and hopefully a SC !! GO FLYERS!!
It's crazy this video never touched on what happened with Coots and what happened with York which was Torts ultimate downfall with this organization. I guess just another outsider speculating with what happened.
Well it may not be a head coaching job but he’ll be on USAs bench for the Olympics
Torts is like the guy from Bar Rescue. He comes in and cleans up a total dumpster fire then instills structure and accountability and prepares you for success. However, you cannot deal with him for long because he’s so abrasive and hard headed about his convictions. Still, I’m glad he was the coach and weeded out Hayes, JVR, Provorov, DeAngelo, Frost, Farabee, and all the players that don’t have what it takes when you’re ready to win.