Q&A: John Tortorella explains his coaching philosophies and addresses his uncertain future with the Flyers
Tortorella opens up about why he's' so adamant about Matvei Michkov improving his defensive details and whether he'll continue coaching after his current contract expires.
With the Flyers still in the developmental stage of their rebuild, a lot of the focus this season has been on the team’s younger players and their progress.
Front and center has been rookie Matvei Michkov, who 40-odd games into his NHL career has alternated moments of offensive brilliance with defensive lapses that have drawn the ire of head coach John Tortorella.
In Part 2 of The Inquirer’s conversation with Tortorella, the veteran coach discusses his systems, reasons for handling Michkov the way he has, and his long-term future with the Flyers.
Tortorella believes in zone defensive coverage as a core principle and not something that’s personnel-based. He prefers it because he sees it as a way for his teams to quickly transition from defense to offense.
The veteran coach called the narrative that he’s “destroying Michkov” baseless and that he’s only coaching him this way because he’d be doing him a disservice by not helping him become the best overall player he can be.
When asked about his long-term plans, Tortorella, who has one year remaining on his contract after this season, passed the buck to president Keith Jones and his bosses: “We have a chance to win here. I want to be part of that. That’s not my call. But I’m going to coach each and every day towards that.”
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
» READ MORE: Q&A: John Tortorella talks coaching Matvei Michkov, balancing winning and development, and more
In Part 2 of The Inquirer’s conversation with John Tortorella, the veteran coach discusses his systems, his reasons for handling Michkov the way he has, and his long-term future with the Flyers.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
» READ MORE: Q&A: John Tortorella talks coaching Matvei Michkov, balancing winning and development, and more
Q: In terms of systems, you run a 2-1-2 forecheck. Why do you feel that that’s a good strategy?
A: It’s your foundation of how you play. It’s your team concept, right? Teams go 1-2-2, 1-3-1. I like the 2-1-2, because I think it gets your your athletes always moving their legs, always checking. Our whole philosophy is to check forward. ... I don’t want us thinking. I want us pursuing, I want us pressing. Very similar to Carolina. Carolina has bigger [defensemen], has more depth in their organization right now with their team, and they do it better than anybody in this league, I think.
Q: When Alex Ovechkin first came to the NHL, there were a lot of questions about his defensive play until he linked up with Barry Trotz in his 10th year. So with Michkov, how much better is it to get him in Year 1 versus Year 10?
A: It’s a great question because they did not win the Stanley Cup there in Washington until Alex decided to have some defensive awareness. Until he was taught and he accepted some of it. Didn’t turn him into a checker, right? Still had flaws defensively, but at least he committed to playing some defense. That’s when they won a Stanley Cup there. They weren’t going to win it until he changed his game.
Mich is a guy that, and he’s a different player than Alex, but it’s the same type of situation when you’re developing a team. Now I get him as a 19-year-old, which I think is so important, to be able to go over this stuff now with him. I’m not sure if I’m going to be the coach when he’s winning with this team here, but this has to happen. What’s going on in the process with him right now has to happen.
Bringing him here two years early, no question is one of the biggest pluses that’s happened with this organization, because we’re living through some of his idiosyncrasies, his flaws, [things] he just doesn’t understand. Do I blame him? Absolutely not, because he hasn’t been taught that. And I’m not running down any coach over there in Russia, but they’re not going through what we have to go through with him if we’re going to try to win a Stanley Cup with him being one of those top players for us.
Q: You’ve coached several Russian players. Is it hard for players coming from the KHL because of the difference in rink size and NHL style of game?
A: I don’t know because I’m not there. ... My question is, and I don’t know, are they being held accountable to play defense? OK, because they’re big shots, right? And now they’re coming to the U.S. Were they being held accountable over there? Or were they allowed to just go? And that’s the big question here. That’s my job.
I hear these things that [I’m] going to destroy Michkov. It’s my [expletive] job to make sure he has an awareness of how to play away from the puck, or he will not be the best player he can be in North America. ... It’s my job to do that. If I don’t do it — everybody gets so emotional about it, it’s just going through the process. If I don’t do it now, and we are getting him two years earlier, are you kidding me? I should be fired on the spot. I’m going to do it. I don’t give a [crap] what you think. I don’t give a [crap] what anybody else thinks. I care about the kid, and if I don’t do it, shame on me because I’m not doing my job as a coach.
Q: You are 66. How long do you want to keep coaching?
A: I want to win. I love this part of the process because we’re teaching and we’re just putting in the ground floor and foundation. But I want to be part of this when we have a chance to win, too. Age, I know people talk about it, but I’m a coach. I’m a lifetime coach. I love being with the athletes. I love my job. I love doing it in Philly. I do. I think the organization is such a great organization. So I don’t make decisions on my job, other people do. I’m coaching each and every day until they say, ‘Hey, you know what? We’ve had enough for you. You’re gone.’
» READ MORE: Should the Flyers take a chance on Trevor Zegras? And three other centers Danny Brière could target in a trade.
I want to coach, and I want to win with this team. I want to go through this process and get us to an area when we start maybe bringing in those free agents a couple of years from now. And you have a chance to really look at yourself, and know we have a chance to win here. I want to be part of that. That’s not my call. But I’m going to coach each and every day towards that. My job right now is to do this part of the process, and then it’s up for Jonesy, Dan Hilferty, whoever is above me who makes those calls, they make the call.
Q: There’s been a lot of talk about you transitioning to the front office. How do you feel about that?
A: I’m a coach.
With the Flyers still in the developmental stage of their rebuild, a lot of the focus this season has been on the team’s younger players and their progress.
Front and center has been rookie Matvei Michkov, who 40-odd games into his NHL career has alternated moments of offensive brilliance with defensive lapses that have drawn the ire of head coach John Tortorella.
In Part 2 of The Inquirer’s conversation with Tortorella, the veteran coach discusses his systems, his reasons for handling Michkov the way he has, and his long-term future with the Flyers.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: In terms of systems, you run a 2-1-2 forecheck. Why do you feel that that’s a good strategy?
A: It’s your foundation of how you play. It’s your team concept, right? Teams go 1-2-2, 1-3-1. I like the 2-1-2, because I think it gets your your athletes always moving their legs, always checking. Our whole philosophy is to check forward. ... I don’t want us thinking. I want us pursuing, I want us pressing. Very similar to Carolina. Carolina has bigger [defensemen], has more depth in their organization right now with their team, and they do it better than anybody in this league, I think.
» READ MORE: Q&A: John Tortorella talks coaching Matvei Michkov, balancing winning and development, and more
It is totally different from my first year here. We were 1-2-2, and we defended our [butts] off. Never talked about stretching the zone. ... Now we’re trying to stretch all the time, and we take risks. So 2-1-2 to me is a mindset. It’s don’t think. Angling is a big part of the sport of hockey but when you start thinking about angles, you’re thinking. I just want us to chase. And it forces our D to come up. If we’re going to do it correctly and do it in [five-man units], it forces the D to make a pass, or whatever it may be, maybe a turnover. The D can’t just stand there and watch, they got to get up there and pinch too, because we’re going 2-1-2.
Q: In terms of defensive strategy, you like to use zone defense and not man-to-man. Why do you prefer zone?
A: I’ve never played man-on-man. With a zone defense, I think it gives you a better offensive mechanism. I think people are freer. I think we’re outnumbering on a puck. ... I think a lot of teams have gone to the man-on-man, I won’t. I just believe in the zone defense, because it surrounds people around pucks, and I think it gives you a better chance to transition into offense.
Because people are loose, and play man-on-man, you’re kind of running all over the place with your guy. And I want to see people overload in an area where the puck is, and if it spits out, we have some people open right now, we can get going offensively. So when you talk about defense it’s basically a mechanism to get the puck back, to go offensively. We just want to surround it.
Eventually, you do get to man-on-man when you’re playing zone, like if the puck spits out to the point, we’re sending our two wingers to the two point men, and it’s basically three-on-three down low and two-on-two up high. That’s when it goes to the point. If it gets thrown down to the corner and we stop the play, we go right back to swarming and getting into our zone defense, because then we can maybe gobble up a puck, outnumber a team there, spit it out, and get going, and people are free to get going offensively.
Q: When Alex Ovechkin first came to the NHL, there were a lot of questions about his defensive play until he linked up with Barry Trotz in his 10th year. So with Michkov, how much better is it to get him in Year 1 versus Year 10?
A: It’s a great question because they did not win the Stanley Cup there in Washington until Alex decided to have some defensive awareness. Until he was taught and he accepted some of it. Didn’t turn him into a checker, right? Still had flaws defensively, but at least he committed to playing some defense. That’s when they won a Stanley Cup there. They weren’t going to win it until he changed his game.
Mich is a guy that, and he’s a different player than Alex, but it’s the same type of situation when you’re developing a team. Now I get him as a 19-year-old, which I think is so important, to be able to go over this stuff now with him. I’m not sure if I’m going to be the coach when he’s winning with this team here, but this has to happen. What’s going on in the process with him right now has to happen.
Bringing him here two years early, no question is one of the biggest pluses that’s happened with this organization, because we’re living through some of his idiosyncrasies, his flaws, [things] he just doesn’t understand. Do I blame him? Absolutely not, because he hasn’t been taught that. And I’m not running down any coach over there in Russia, but they’re not going through what we have to go through with him if we’re going to try to win a Stanley Cup with him being one of those top players for us.
Q: You’ve coached several Russian players. Is it hard for players coming from the KHL because of the difference in rink size and NHL style of game?
A: I don’t know because I’m not there. ... My question is, and I don’t know, are they being held accountable to play defense? OK, Because they’re big shots, right? And now they’re coming to the U.S. Were they being held accountable over there? Or were they allowed to just go? And that’s the big question here. That’s my job.
I hear these things that [I’m] going to destroy Michkov. It’s my [expletive] job to make sure he has an awareness of how to play away from the puck, or he will not be the best player he can be in North America. ... It’s my job to do that. If I don’t do it — everybody gets so emotional about it, it’s just going through the process. If I don’t do it now, and we are getting him two years earlier, are you kidding me? I should be fired on the spot. I’m going to do it. I don’t give a [crap] what you think. I don’t give a [crap] what anybody else thinks. I care about the kid, and if I don’t do it, shame on me because I’m not doing my job as a coach.
Q: So I’m going to say it, trust the process?
A: Absolutely, I’ll put it to you this way, Jackie. Other players are watching too. The other guys that I’m holding accountable may not have the skill, but they bring other things that [Michkov] can’t bring to the team. I’m holding them accountable to all this stuff. They’re watching. So it just does not work. I would never disrespect Michkov. I would be disrespecting him if I didn’t put him through this process, especially getting him here early.
Q: When I talked to Keith Jones earlier this season he brought up how you treat every player, including captain Sean Couturier, the same. How important is it to the room to not single out players and say you’re special?
A: I’d lose the team. I would lose the locker room. I should be fired because it’s just not right. That’s the thing, when people always talk about accountability, right? And I hate the word culture. I just use the word standard. You can talk about it, but if you don’t follow through with it every day, and don’t let situations get swept under the rug, and treat that guy a little bit differently than another guy, you lose your hockey team. You will not have a concept and you will not have the foundation for winning in the National Hockey League.
[Couturier] is, I’m not sure what line he is. He’s struggled. I have other people that I’m watching. It doesn’t matter what your pick is, how much you make, what your name is, all that it doesn’t matter to me. It can’t because it’s unfair to everybody else in that room. Because the key thing is, when you’re putting Mich through the process, of holding Coots accountable or [Morgan Frost] accountable, or a fourth-line guy accountable. everybody’s watching what’s going on. ... We have a standard that everybody has to follow, and I have to make the call as far as ice time and where you sit in the lineup. And it isn’t done through who you are, or what your last name is, and through your stature in the team. It’s how you’re playing, and I’ll always do it that way.
Q: You are 66. How long do you want to keep coaching?
A: I want to win. I love this part of the process because we’re teaching and we’re just putting in the ground floor and foundation. But I want to be part of this when we have a chance to win, too. Age, I know people talk about it, but I’m a coach. I’m a lifetime coach. I love being with the athletes. I love my job. I love doing it in Philly. I do. I think the organization is such a great organization. So I don’t make decisions on my job, other people do. I’m coaching each and every day until they say, ‘Hey, you know what? We’ve had enough for you. You’re gone.’
I want to coach, and I want to win with this team. I want to go through this process and get us to an area when we start maybe bringing in those free agents a couple of years from now. And you have a chance to really look at yourself, and know we have a chance to win here. I want to be part of that. That’s not my call. But I’m going to coach each and every day towards that. My job right now is to do this part of the process, and then it’s up for Jonesy, Dan Hilferty, whoever is above me who makes those calls, they make the call.
» READ MORE: Should the Flyers take a chance on Trevor Zegras? And three other centers Danny Brière could target in a trade.
Q: There’s been a lot of talk about you transitioning to the front office. How do you feel about that?
A: I’m a coach.
Q: Did you ever, did you ever think when you first got into coaching 30 years ago that you would still be doing it today?
A: No, and I’m very fortunate. I am very fortunate that I’ve worked with Rick Dudley, John Muckler, Jimmy Schoenfeld, and all the people, my managers and all, to give me an opportunity to continue in this business. I’m very fortunate. And I know I come with [expletive], you know? I know I do, and some people don’t want that. I’ve been very fortunate to have the people that gave me an opportunity to work with their players and try to help the team.