PHILADELPHIA — Between the time he was hired to the moment he was about to do the work, the specs for John Tortorella’s latest job had changed. At 64 and much closer to the end of a likely Hall of Fame career than to the start, he would be expected to be a program builder again.
Not that there wasn’t going to be some of that on his assignment list after that two-coach, 25-win affront to professional sports that was spilled onto the Wells Fargo Center ice last season, but there was little in Tortorella’s recent background and not much in his contract to suggest he was brought in for his patience. While known to have taken four years to grow the Tampa Bay Lightning from dozen-win disorder to a Stanley Cup championship, that was 19 years ago. From that moment on, he was marketed as a turn-key coaching property, on call to settle for nothing less than excellence.
So it was when he was hired by a franchise promising “blank check” commitment and an “aggressive” rebuild that Tortorella first would be asked to talk-the-Flyers-talk. With that, there would be promises of pride in the logo, sharp road-game edginess and a relatively rapid turnaround.
Then … training camp and a crowd of who’s-he’s that would have sent any coach screaming into downtown Voorhees.
Then … Sean Couturier needing more back surgery.
Then … Ryan Ellis out for another season.
Then … Cam Atkinson lost for the year.
Then … the annual 10-game Flyers losing streak.
And only then, while too few were listening, did Tortorella begin to spread the muffled message that he didn’t have enough to work with this season and, as such, would postpone any public analysis of the situation until certain he had a team worth discussing.
That was more than a month ago.
Since then, Tortorerlla has been something of a behind-bench magician, parlaying favorable scheduling swings and his own demands that the Flyers work at both ends to be within seven points of a playoff spot with 37 to play entering a Thursday visit from the Chicago Blackhawks.
And what was it that Jim Mora once said?
“I think from Day 1 of camp – even the three weeks before we got together – we knew it was going to be a difficult season,” Ivan Provorov said. “We knew we were going to have to work hard, stay with it, and work through some mistakes here and there. We’ve been taking one day at a time, one game at a time and I think we’re going to continue to do that.
“Once we get closer to the end of March and April, we’ll see what happens.”
The standings traffic report is grim and it remains unlikely the Flyers will wind through it all and into the postseason. But it’s early enough. They have decent goaltending. Play the games and see. But just driving the Flyers within sight of the realistic postseason mix is not what has made Tortorella so valuable this season.
It’s the way he has revived or maximized the gifts of some lagging organizational prospects; Morgan Frost, for example, and Noah Cates, and Joel Farabee.
It’s the way he has designed, grown and, recently at least, maintained four workable lines and three good defensive pairs.
It’s how he was able to use his dirty looks, legendary intolerance for sloppiness and devotion to two-end precision to jolt Kevin Hayes into an All-Star season.
It’s how he has refused to waffle on a decision. It’s how he has helped lift Travis Konecny off a plateau and into the possibility of doubling his career-high of 24 goals. It’s how he was unwilling to name a captain or even any deputies, waiting first to see who’d earned a uniform patch. It’s the way he has built a team that hasn’t lost back-to-back games in nearly a month.
“We go into every game deciding that our game is more important than the other team’s game, whether it is a team that’s the best in the league or a team that’s lower in the standings,” Hayes said. “And we’ve been playing some good hockey. So we’re going to stick with what we’re doing and hopefully we can get some more wins.”
Two months ago, that would have sounded like cheap babble. No more. Tortorella has been why. The odds board at betonline.com has 12 options for the Jack Adams Award as NHL Coach of the Year, and it doesn’t include Tortorella, a two-time winner. With chances still strong that the Flyers finish with a losing record, it would be a massive longshot. But not everyone had the same tools to use.
The Flyers gave Tortorella a four-year contract, suggesting a tight three-year window to produce and the willingness to eat the final installment. It might take him that long. It might take him longer. But he is showing why, for Flyers fans, it should all be worth the wait.
Contact Jack McCaffery at jmccaffery@delcotimes.com
Source: Berkshire mont
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