John Tortorella returns to bench to coach against Mike Sullivan in final battle of Pennsylvania

The Flyers reprieve from hearing their head coach’s voice ended Sunday.

On Thursday in Ottawa, coach John Tortorella made the decision to watch the game from above and let assistant coach Brad Shaw run the bench. One of the reasons was to give the players a different voice. He knew if he’s tired of hearing himself, they must be too.

In addition to removing himself from the bench, he had his assistants run the meetings. While he was present, “they run the show.”

Shaw and Tortorella have coached together for so long that many things stayed the same, de facto captain Scott Laughton said. They have a lot of the same philosophies and “preach” the same things.

But the sound of the voice and the tone are different. Laughton searched for a word to describe the difference, discarding the description of Tortorella as more intense and settling on saying Tortorella will “give it to you a little bit more if something happens.”

Tortorella said he’s hated watching from afar the past two games as he watched one game from interim general manager Danny Briere’s box and the next from the locker room. He’s gone stir crazy, not having a chance to impact the game. The second period against the Buffalo Sabres, where the Flyers gave up four goals, was especially rough.

“I can’t stand it,” Tortorella said about being away from the bench. “But we’re going to do it this way.”

Even when things are going wrong, and Tortorella is getting frustrated, he said he’s stuck with it because it’s important to let the assistant coaches learn to settle the bench.

Tortorella explained to the team that he wants his assistants to get this experience to help them eventually get their own head coaching jobs, Laughton said. It’s not something the team is used to, but Laughton and some of his teammates said they think it’s a cool concept.

Laughton has worked with Shaw on the penalty kill during the season. In those meetings, as well as the past two games, he’s appreciated the way Shaw teaches the game. He’s also worked with Rocky Thompson, who works with the forwards and the power play. Thompson will get to run the bench for “a couple” games, Tortorella said, and Darryl Williams will get one game.

But ahead of the Flyers final game against their cross-state rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, John Tortorella announced he’ll retake his spot behind the bench to coach against his old friend, Mike Sullivan. With Thompson’s and Williams’ games coming up, the Flyers will get another break from Tortorella’s voice.

“But they’re gonna hear me tonight,” Tortorella said.

The kids have been the story lately. But the veterans still have things to play for, even with the team knocked out of playoffs.

“You’re playing for your next season, your next contract,” James van Riemsdyk said. He will be a free agent, so he wants to impress other teams. Those with time on their contracts need to prove to Tortorella that they deserve a big role next year.

Although everyone’s talking about the youth, himself included, Tortorella said he’s been pleased with the veterans’ contributions lately.

“I think everyone’s chipped in,” Tortorella said.

Even though there are only seven games left, there’s still time to make an impression and change Tortorella’s mind, he said. He tries to be careful not to get stuck on one idea of who a player is, and he said he’s not “locked in” on who is definitely a part or not a part of what they’re building.

That doesn’t change his opinion that this team needs to subtract to add.

“It may be a player that’s pretty good, too,” Tortorella said. “It’s not so much everything’s judged on just play. It’s judged on where we are at the in the process of building this team.”

The Flyers play the Penguins at 7 p.m. Sunday in PPG Paints Arena. ... Samuel Ersson, who is up from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on emergency recall, is starting in goal. Carter Hart (lower body) is still day-to-day, but he joined the team on their four-game road trip. ... Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is out because he’s banged up, Tortorella said. The Flyers went 11 forwards and seven defensemen last game. By subbing forward Kieffer Bellows in for Ristolainen, they will go back to 12 forwards and six defensemen.

» READ MORE: Flyers eliminated from playoff contention with a 6-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres