Flyers coach Tortorella delivers speech about pushing players too much

At Flyers practice today, coach John Tortorella delivered an instant-classic speech about his coaching strategy, and taking criticism for pushing his players too much.

Off the bat, Tortorella recognized the criticism that players will quit on him because they become tired of his tirades. Instead of apologizing though, Tortorella doubles down on his philosophy, saying he'll never tolerate quitters and he'll never quit himself. At the end of the day, Tortorella explained his bold recent actions coming from a place of pride for his Flyers team who have surprised everyone by becoming a legitimate playoff threat. Tortorella said that now his problem is that he needs the team to realize the gravity of their situation, and give everything they can do be better. To he critics and detractors doubting him and the team, Tortorella says «so be it.»

Tortorella has recently been taking some heat for some brash decisions and press conferences as he tries to navigate his Flyers into a shocking playoff run. Just weeks ago, Tortorella scratched team captain Sean Couturier, and walked out of a press conference when asked about goaltender Felix Sandstrom's poor performance.


In this incredible speech, Tortorella backed his unusual coaching strategies with incredible conviction. Sure he may get carried away sometimes, but his job is to squeeze the absolute best out of professional athletes - and he's done just that by dragging a rebuilding Flyers team to a playoff spot. Hopefully Tortorella's speech today re-ignites the team down the stretch and they're able to hold on to their spot, as they're just one point away from falling out of the wild card.