🏒 Torts fires himself | Sports Daily Newsletter

John Tortorella has won a Stanley Cup. He was the first American-born head coach to reach 1,500 games in the NHL and his career record in 23 seasons is 770-648-165, with 37 ties. He is known, however, as a guy who wears out his welcome and the Flyers yanked away the welcome mat on Thursday.

Tortorella had tired of coaching a rebuilding team and could not have been happy when the Flyers traded away mainstays Scott Laughton, Erik Johnson, Joel Farabee, and Morgan Frost in a quest for more draft picks. So after his team lost for the 11th time in 12 games, Torts spoke his mind, saying, “I’m not really interested in learning how to coach in this type of season, where we’re at right now.”

It was always going to end this way, Mike Sielski writes, with Tortorella saying something incendiary that he couldn’t take back. Tortorella apparently could no longer coach under those conditions, so in effect he fired himself.

— Jim Swan, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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The Phillies opened their season by striking out 19 times in Washington, but the Nationals struck out 13 times themselves. Luckily for the Phils, they started hitting after Washington starter MacKenzie Gore left the game. Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber smacked solo home runs, then Alec Bohm and J.T. Realmuto did major damage in the 10th inning of a 7-3 Phillies victory.

Who’s batting leadoff for the Phillies? Trea Turner did in the opener, but Schwarber is likely to get the call Saturday when the Phils face a right-handed starter.

So the Phillies whiffed and still won. Their offense will be more productive this season if they get bigger contributions from two well-paid sluggers, Realmuto and Nick Castellanos, Marcus Hayes writes.

There are a lot of takeaways from the Phillies’ season-opening win. Which are real and which are overreactions?

Next: After an off day, the Phillies resume their series in Washington at 4:05 p.m. Saturday (NBCSP+). Jesús Luzardo makes his Phillies debut against Jake Irvin.

Tortorella’s firing seemed a direct response to his disinterested comments on Tuesday night.

Flyers GM Danny Brière said Thursday that wasn’t the case and that Tortorella’s exit came after a “series of things” and had been escalating since the trade deadline. What kind of coach will the Flyers target to replace him? Brière said it is too early to get too deep into that but acknowledged the team could opt for a younger coach this time around.

The Flyers certainly responded to being freed from Tortorella’s tight grip, as they rushed out to three first-period goals, including two from Matvei Michkov on the night in their 6-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

Kevin Young’s Brigham Young program is rolling. The Cougars played in Thursday night’s Sweet 16, they have a rare NBA prospect on their roster, and they also have the top-ranked recruit in the country, AJ Dybantsa, coming to campus next year. Ask Young how he has accomplished so much in such a short time in Utah and his NBA pedigree will surely be on the list. Wing Egor Demin — a lottery prospect in this June’s NBA draft — said he picked BYU “because of ‘KY’ coming from the NBA.” Ditto for Dybantsa, a surefire one-and-done whose only goal is to sharpen his game for the NBA level.

But if Young gets more granular, he’ll point straight to his tenure with the Sixers, a period he considers “the most important time of my life as a young coach.” The Inquirer’s Gina Mizell spoke with Young and a host of characters from those formative years to find out why.

In a one-year deal, one of the PGA Tour’s signature events, the Truist Championship, will be played at the Philadelphia Cricket Club from May 8-11. While the Philadelphia area is home to next year’s PGA Championship, at Aronimink, it continues to lack a regular stop on the tour despite numerous great golf courses and its rich golf history. This tournament could be an audition of sorts.

We know Howie Roseman is passionate. Obsessive, too. These traits have revealed themselves constantly throughout his 15-year tenure as the Eagles’ general manager, propelling him to the top of his profession. The characteristics, however, show up in other parts of his life as well, specifically one of his favorite endeavors away from the game. Join Jeff McLane as he chats with Roseman about his “other” big obsession: food. Listen here.

Want to be included in our weekly feature? Submit photos with a Philly sports theme here for the opportunity to be featured.

We asked you: Which Phillies player do you want to have an All-Star season? Among your responses:

My choice is Johan Rojas, should he continue to play in season as he did in the recent spring training season. We know he rules in the outfield. If Coach Long gets Johan’s head cleared when at the plate during the regular season, he’s a shoo-in All-Star in an already overloaded and crowded outfield. — John B.

For the Phillies to have a great season, all of the experienced older stars who have been all-stars in the past need to have typically good years: Harper, Turner, Realmuto, Castellanos, Schwarber as well as Bohm. To get them over the top and deeper in the playoffs, one of the remaining position starters needs to break through with an all-star year, and the bullpen needs to pitch like they did last year during the regular season when two were picked to the all-star team. Marsh, Stott, or Kepler needs to star, and four or five of the bullpen arms need to have very good, strong years. It will take all of this to be better than the Mets and the Braves. — John W.

I would like to see Bryce Harper have an All-Star MVP type season. He is the team leader and if he leads the way the rest of the guys will be inspired to play to that level as well. Last year he hit .285 with 30 homers and 87 RBIs which is not a bad season for most, but he is surely capable of more. It is time for this excellent team to hurdle those late-season obstacles and win it all. — Everett S.

I think I would like Stott to have an all-star year and a comeback that will dazzle us and inspire our team. He has the potential to be a total player! We need a feel-good year! — Vince O.

Trea Turner. I was more pumped when he was signed than when Harper was signed. He can do it all. His numbers with the Phils are very good but not as high as the bar that’s been raised. Look for Trea to reach the expected level in ‘25. — Jack R.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Jackie Spiegel, Mike Sielski, Marcus Hayes, Scott Lauber, Lochlahn March, Jeff McLane, Gina Mizell, Jeff Neiburg, Katie Lewis, and Isabella DiAmore.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

As always, thanks for reading. Have a good weekend and I’ll see you in Monday’s newsletter. — Jim