John Tortorella preaches patience following ‘godforsaken season’ with the Flyers

John Tortorella had a great time at the Flyers Charities Carnival on Sunday mingling with Flyers fans who used to boo his old teams, even if a lot of them didn’t like what he had to say.

As the fans swung by his “Hockey and Hounds Experience,” they willingly shared their feedback regarding the state of the Flyers. Tortorella didn’t mind. He said they’re clearly “dying for it to go the right way,” just as he and his team are. But he also didn’t lie to them in his response.

“I did spend a lot of my day saying you’re gonna have to be patient,” Tortorella said. “And a lot of people didn’t like hearing that.”

» READ MORE: Photo Gallery: Scenes from the Flyers Charities Carnival

The carnival arrived amid a three-game winning streak and a five-game point streak for the Flyers, but the team’s overall record, 28-32-12, remains far from optimal. The organization accepted the team was out of playoff contention after a 2-8 February.

It’s been painful, but there’s more pain to come.

“I think it’s going to be a different level of pain, hopefully, next year, because I think there’s levels and then you start really getting to the really good part of the process of seeing what it’s going to look like,” Tortorella said.

Tortorella recently referred to this year as a “godforsaken season.” But it has actually been a better season than last. With 10 games left, the Flyers already have three more wins and seven more points than 2021-2022. Not to mention, Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson have missed the whole season, in addition to several lengthy injury absences to key players like Travis Konecny and James van Riesmdyk.

Tortorella has been very clear that the Flyers don’t even have a foundation for their building process and that it’s going to take a long time to get back on track.

» READ MORE: Firing Chuck Fletcher gives the Flyers a shot at a fresh start. They had better take it.

However, it’s not the on-ice stuff that has caused Tortorella to label this season as “godforsaken.” For the most part, he knew what he was taking on in regards to personnel and injuries.

“I kind of knew we were gonna have to go through that,” Tortorella said. “I didn’t realize — and I can’t get specific — there’s a lot of other stuff going on around this team that I think needs to be straightened out.”

Tortorella used two analogies to describe the situation rather than get into specifics. He said that there are lanes and people are bumping into each other. They need to get their lanes straightened out. He also described it as a lot of “gray,” using his hands to depict there should be two sides, but there’s a lot in the middle.

“There’s a lot of gray areas that I think needs to get ironed out within the whole organization,” Tortorella said. “The grayness needs to leave.”

Carter Hart was scheduled to start in net for the Flyers on Tuesday against Montreal. However, he was scratched late Tuesday afternoon after it was determined he would be unable to play due to a “lower-body injury.” The Flyers called up Samuel Ersson on an emergency recall and will now start Felix Sandström against the Canadiens.

Hart will also be unable to play for his country at the World Championships this summer unless the ongoing Hockey Canada investigation into an alleged sexual assault concludes prior to the tournament. This year’s World Championships are being held in Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia from May 12-28.

Hart was a member of Canada’s 2018 World Junior team, which is under investigation for an alleged sexual assault that purportedly took place in June 2018 after a Hockey Canada gala. Monday, Hockey Canada announced that all members of that team will not be considered for international competition until the investigation is complete. The decision was made earlier in the year, according to a statement obtained by The Canadian Press.

Hart, who was the starting goalie on that 2018 team, said at the beginning of the season that he is “fully cooperating” with the NHL’s investigation but refused to confirm if he is cooperating with the reopened London police and Hockey Canada investigations.

Hockey Canada released the statement hours after a motion ordering Hockey Canada to hand over a report from the investigation into the 2018 allegation was unanimously passed by a parliamentary committee.

Nicolas Deslauriers was a surprising scratch Thursday. After skating in warmups, he didn’t come out with the team for the game. Forty-four minutes later, the Flyers announced he had an upper-body injury and would be re-evaluated Friday.

Deslauriers did not play Saturday, either.

But he took the ice for morning skate Tuesday ahead of the game against the Montreal Canadiens. Deslauriers said after morning skate that he was injured during Thursday’s warmups, which has never happened to him before. He said it was the type of injury he could have pushed through if it were the playoffs, but with the Flyers out of the running, it was smarter to be cautious.

Although Deslauriers is back, Tortorella doesn’t plan on playing four full lines. Instead, he is playing defenseman Justin Braun and going with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Braun sat out while Egor Zamula, who was recently called up from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, got two games in. Tyson Foerster, another call up, also went back to the Phantoms following Saturday’s game, taking away another forward option.

While Deslauriers was out, Kieffer Bellows stepped in. Deslauriers gave Bellows, who scored his third goal of the season Saturday, props for jumping in for him at such late notice.

Tortorella didn’t confirm if Bellows would remain in the lineup, with Deslauriers back and Foerster gone. However, Bellows skated on the third line in morning skate alongside van Riemsdyk and Kevin Hayes.