Flyers Now 11th in Points % in East; Tortorella Still an Infallible Genius?

[jetsforever]

Seems like Fedotov was only good for one game and Ersson never really was

 

[GTislanders]

Never forget when everyone dogged the Islanders for the Flyers. That didnt age well.

 

[Hank Plank]

Flyers really poured it on at the end Torts is so proud of the boys.

 

[JKG33]

Losing Hart was their issue.

Yup. Stick any team with a cast of AHL goalies and they'd be in trouble

 

[Rich Nixon]

Seems like Fedotov was only good for one game and Ersson never really was

Ersson was very good for the stretch that the team was seeing success, and he was actively outplaying and taking the starting job from Hart prior to Hart's exit.

The problem is, they had no viable backup and ran Ersson, a very young goalie who was expected to start about 20 games this season, into the ground.

Ersson has played at the equivalent of a 70-start pace since Hart's arrest. There's a really good goalie in there, but he's been mentally and physically destroyed for weeks now.

 

[MikeyMike01]

Of all the things to be passionate about in life, some people choose John Tortorella.

 

[MXD]

Of all the things to be passionate about in life, some people choose John Tortorella.

That's a passive-aggressive passionate reply.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Seems like Fedotov was only good for one game and Ersson never really was

Ersson played 12 NHL games before this season and played 48 this year. Perhaps a bit of perspective?

As Torts said the other day, Flyers don't even come this close without him.

Of the half dozen or so goalies drafted by the Flyers over the past decade, I doubt they were expecting a fifth round pick to be the guy leading the team in a playoff run.

 

[Cypher]

I mean, the Flyers are higher in the standings than expected, so... Torts did well this year. Don't get this thread.

 

[TheOrganist]

I’m sure the presser went well.

 

[MXD]

MSL is really chatty in his presser so we can't see Tortorella's presser on RDS lol

 

[Junohockeyfan]

Anyone got video of Torts presser? That's got to be entertaining.

 

[Rich Nixon]

Anyone got video of Torts presser? That's got to be entertaining.

It really wasn't. He didn't say anything of interest, maintained modest faux-positivity. He's as checked out as the team is.

 

[A1LeafNation]

 

[MXD]

Yeah, that was a pretty chill presser.

 

[GrkFlyersFan]

Ersson was very good for the stretch that the team was seeing success, and he was actively outplaying and taking the starting job from Hart prior to Hart's exit.

The problem is, they had no viable backup and ran Ersson, a very young goalie who was expected to start about 20 games this season, into the ground.

Ersson has played at the equivalent of a 70-start pace since Hart's arrest. There's a really good goalie in there, but he's been mentally and physically destroyed for weeks now.

He did seem to be in the process of taking the job from Hart, but he was still playing less than Hart was, and sure as hell wouldn't have been playing this much. Do we open next year with him as starter? Do we trust a tandem with him and Fedotov? I won't hold anything Fedotov does the rest of this season against him. He's just been thrown in there.

 

[MVP of West Hollywd]

They were looking pretty good on March 23 having just gotten 5 of 6 points against Boston/Toronto/Boston, and only really needing to play at like an 80 point pace the rest of the way. This is an pre Matthews Leafs type meltdown!

 

[Darcy Tucker]

I kind of feel for Torts. He's a unique hockey mind. Deserved better for a tough season coaching that roster and losing Hart.

 

[PhysicalGraffiti]

Philly fans are interesting. A lot of this is just the hate they have for Torts from the beginning, and it doesn't matter what he does, the Flyers fans hated him and didn't want him behind the bench.

Then he takes a team bordering on a top 5 draft pick and has them in a playoff spot for much of the year and overall way overachieving.

It's like looking for a reason to blame him no matter what. They lose a ton of games, he sucks and should be fired. They win wayyyyy more than thought, but then miss out on the playoffs, he sucks and should be fired.

He's one of those in the NHL between players and coaches who has such a vocally loud hate group and nothing would change anyone's mind.

 

[Beau Knows]

It's like looking for a reason to blame him no matter what. They lose a ton of games, he sucks and should be fired. They win wayyyyy more than thought, but then miss out on the playoffs, he sucks and should be fired.

I feel like you're brushing over some legitimate gripes they have with Torts as coach by simplifying an entire fanbases criticism into such simplistic terms.

The fans want the Flyers to rebuild. They were winning games by playing a system that you could argue wasn't sustainable or the best for developing players with the way the game is played now.

Playing the way they do might just end up keeping them mediocre by losing the opportunity to get a top 5 pick, all while failing to build a system and an environment that the team can rely on when they have the pieces in place to compete for a Cup.

Add to that the way Couturier seems to feel about the way he was treated, and they're probably also concerned that he could have a negative impact on the teams ability to attract and keep talented players.

Basically the concern is that Torts has been sacrificing the teams future to scrape into the playoffs at best, which is the wrong approach for where that franchise is right now.

 

[Rich Nixon]

Philly fans are interesting. A lot of this is just the hate they have for Torts from the beginning, and it doesn't matter what he does, the Flyers fans hated him and didn't want him behind the bench.

Then he takes a team bordering on a top 5 draft pick and has them in a playoff spot for much of the year and overall way overachieving.

It's like looking for a reason to blame him no matter what. They lose a ton of games, he sucks and should be fired. They win wayyyyy more than thought, but then miss out on the playoffs, he sucks and should be fired.

He's one of those in the NHL between players and coaches who has such a vocally loud hate group and nothing would change anyone's mind.

On the flip side, I'd argue that the same aspects of persona that people hate also attract a larger number of vocal supporters than are deserved. Strip away all the HARD HOCKEY MAN bravado and press conference moments and he's just another legacy coach who displays the same flaws in every gig he gets and hasn't accomplished much other than moral victories and temporary highs over the last 20 years.

Like, imagine if he was just kind of a boring, mild-mannered NHL coach with the same issues and outcomes. His teams consistently feature the worst PPs in the league; they play an unsustainable style based around chasing and shot blocking; often overperform early in seasons and collapse late; he makes a lot of really detrimental lineup decisions and manages players in odd ways. People mocked Alain Vigneault's obsession with Tanner Glass back in the day...Tortorella willingly played Nic Deslauriers in 80 games last season.

Any time a Torts thread comes up a whole bunch of fans of teams he's never coached pop up with "Love Torts, he's just what my team needs!" How many fans you see in the places he once coached going "Damn, I wish they never fired Torts"? Not too many, because those people have gone through the day-to-day grind of following his teams. It's no more magical or gratifying than a Hitchcock or Vigneault experience.

So the strong feelings in both directions seem to stem from how he holds himself publicly. Some people look at it and think there's something real there (ACCOUNTABILITY AND GRIND!) others look at it and see a lot of empty ego with repetitive results. It's like a politician or pop star dichotomy moreso than a sports figure. Problem is, he's part of a team--so when that persona wears out on the people in his locker room, it becomes just another flaw in his actual coaching work.

 

[SopelFanThe3rd]

It only took 2 years for players on his teams to tune him out. Just happened to take longer in NY, Vancouver and CBJ

Huh? He lasted one season in Van.

 

[HabsQC]

I wasn't a fan of the Couturier benching. It seems that it's the point where it really started to fall but idk really. I kinda hoped the Flyers would maintain their pace and be in the playoffs. It's kinda sad to see them come short this way.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

The Jersey throw at the away game is crazy

 

[sbhnur]

There's absolutely no need for any analysis, you just cant win a game with these goalies at this point and everyone of the roster and in the franchise knows it. So the season has already ended some games ago. The downfall of the last 15 games has this single reason. Again 69% and 70% today.