‘There’s no freebies here’: John Tortorella discusses the state of the Flyers, Ivan Provorov and more
In an hourlong interview with The Inquirer, Tortorella dished on several key topics including his coaching philosophy, making the team "harder to play against" and developing young players.
John Tortorella’s reputation, from his fiery outbursts to tough-love coaching style, precedes him. However, we recently sat down with the new Flyers coach to see for ourselves what he’s all about.
In the hourlong conversation, Tortorella touched on topics ranging from his opinions on the modern game to the lessons he has learned from coaching his children. He shared the impressions he has of specific Flyers players and the locker room as a whole.
Here are some of the highlights from our two-part conversation. (Questions and answers have been shortened for brevity.)
Q: Chuck Fletcher has said he wants this team to be ‘harder to play against.’ How do you get a team coming off of two losing seasons to do that?
A: To me, it’s a mentality. And, if we want to go into X’s and O’s, the first thing I want to teach with the coaching staff is to play away from the puck, the play in front of Carter [Hart]. And when we talk about ‘play away from it,’ it’s not always the defensive zone. It’s the other zones, too. You just want to try to get the puck back so you have it, so there’s not so much time spent in your own zone.
And I think when you start teaching that part of the game, so many different facets of the game, as far as both being hard, come into play. It’s finishing checks, it’s closing people out, it’s wall battles, it’s taking care of Carter [Hart] in the blue paint. ... That’s when I think you start creating a mentality.
If we’re not doing some of the things, as far as the hardness of it ... then conversations come into play. And as I’ve always said, maybe conflict comes into play. I want that. ... And then we eventually not only get the individuals understanding the mentality we have to have to be a hard team to play against, but you get a camaraderie out of it.
And blocking shots, [is] a huge part of the game. Everybody crawls all over me because from so many years ago, blocking shots was a very important part of my game. And now you listen to the players talking in the playoffs, that’s what they talk about. I know the narrative of the National Hockey League is the offensive part of the game. You still have to be able to play away from the puck. You have to be a difficult team to play against. And we’re going to attack that part of it first. And then we’ll turn to a mentality.
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Q: How do you get players to buy into team defense, especially offensive-minded players, so they are not cheating in the offensive zone?
A: I think there’s ‘cheating’ and there’s, [the ability to] anticipate. It’s an anticipation skill. Some players don’t have it. Those offensive guys do. ... I’m going to get out of their way there. Coots [Sean Couturier] plays both ends of the ice. He’s a little bit different than Kevin [Hayes]. Kevin is going to learn that you’re going to have to do this stuff, too, away from the puck. And if people start seeing our top players doing that, the guys [whose] strength is playing away from the puck say, ‘You know what, they’re joining in with us.’
Everybody thinks when you talk about defense or playing away from the puck, you’re trying to turn a goal scorer into a checker. That’s the last thing I’m going to try to do. But they need to show me it’s a two-way street. And then I’ll let them go.
Q: Can you teach players to play bigger than they are? Or is it a matter of ‘Chuck, this is the type of player that I need to play my system and this is the player that we need to go out and get’?
A: Both. Chuck and I have talked about that as far as free agency, trades, or whatever it may be. We’ve talked both. I look at Cam Atkinson, a smaller guy, but he’s willing. That’s a mentality. And, listen, this isn’t a league of people running one another over. The game isn’t played that way. It’s a fast, skilled league.
Size is important. It’s exciting to me to see a Kevin Hayes and a Couturier up the middle if they’re healthy. That could change some things. Maybe if they were healthy last year, you and I aren’t even talking. ... My biggest responsibility is to change the mentality of who we are, to have an identity. And we’re working towards that end. And we’ve had discussions as far as just personnel itself.
Q: One of the big commitments the team made to get bigger and tougher was re-signing Rasmus Ristolainen. How exciting is it for you to get to work with him?
A: I watched him in Buffalo. We’ve had many conversations — I’ve had people talk to me about him. Anxious to see him. I hope he rubs off on other people because I think he’s very willing [and] very aggressive. And this isn’t about fighting or anything like that. It’s just being hard. I’m anxious to coach him. And hopefully, he can be one of those guys that kind of brings everybody into the fray as far as that part of the game.
» READ MORE: 2022 NHL draft: Potential Flyers target Matthew Savoie uses size criticism ‘as motivation’
Q: Ivan Provorov has cycled through a bunch of different defensive partners over the past couple of seasons. Where is he in his development right now? Have you met with him?
A: Yeah, I had just such a great conversation with him. And very open. I really enjoyed it. I’ve watched him play. And I’ve watched him eat shots, blocking them. He’s such a competitive guy. I think there’s another level to his game. And I want to try to help him get there. And it’ll be a huge piece. You get a healthy Ryan Ellis and [a] Provy that I think I can get to another level, that kind of leads the way with your back end.
Q: Based on either your own impressions or impressions from management, what are your thoughts on young players like Owen Tippett and Morgan Frost?
A: We really haven’t dug too deep into it. I don’t want information. I want to see it. I want to see it in a National Hockey League camp. I want to see it in a competitive situation. I want to see when I’m teaching, maybe going to a young player one-on-one [and seeing] how they react. That’s invaluable to me, when it’s me and them. It’s not people telling me.
In a cap world, it’s a very important job of an organization and coaching staff, the development part of it. I am really looking forward to that. I know we’re kind of up against [the salary cap] a little bit. Bring it on. I want to develop the kids. And when I go into putting a lineup together, I’m not looking at money, what they make. I’m not looking at where they were drafted, [or] what their status is.
That’s how you create accountability, you create competition within the team. I don’t care about the name. I care about the player in that position. If he’s playing better than that guy, he’s going to play. And when you’re a team where you ended up last year, that’s the way it’s going to be. We’ve got to get this turned around. And there’s no freebies here.