Confirmed with Link: The new coach of the Philadelphia Flyers is John Tortorella

[Magua]

Just a question, would you watch boring, trap style hockey if they were winning?

They made the playoffs under Hakstol twice doing that, even with a year of career highs from some guys. Do you fondly remember those years? Will you reminisce to your kids about them? It’s a loaded question because boring, trap style hockey with a talent deficient roster is not a path for success. At best, you get a fluky season, before hitting the wall, that leads everyone to pat themselves on the back.

The reality I face is the Flyers have made watching hockey miserable to the point I stopped watching every game. So the question is would boring hockey make me giddy to tune back in regularly? No.

 

[FlyerNutter]

The smartest coaching hire here would be someone internal.

Why not give the job to Lappy, or say Samuelsson (who has coaching experience) - who they clearly believe has done an admirable job being with the club for 20 years. Why not Schultz who has also done a a remarkable job helping to move the team forward?

The Flyers are adamant that they know best, that league trends are irrelevant - and they have the right men for the job.

Blaming external coaching hires every few seasons is cowardly.

 

[deadhead]

It is also true that Trotz is blatantly better than Tortorella. They aren't equal at all, and pretending they are is false.

It's also true, given how Trotz coached in NY and Torts in CBJ, that Torts would be a better fit for the long-run.

Torts inherited a very young CBJ team that made the PO once in six years before he arrived (but it's so easy) and helped a lot of players develop.
He'd be happy to get the job, he'd be willing to take a longer view, because he's not going to get offered to be HC for a team on the brink of contention. So his best shot is to build a team, not try and win now.

Trotz inherited a talented veteran team in NY, got them to play at a high level, but since he arrived, they traded (2) 1sts, a 2nd, a 3rd attempting to win it - and I doubt he'd be happy if Fletcher held on to his draft picks/prospects and failed to improve the team's chances now - it's not a lock Trotz will be coaching in five years (he's 60 and will make a lot of money) - he probably wants his money and to win now.

 

[ponder719]

What coaching candidate has received more support on this board than Trotz? What coaching candidate has received more vitriol on this board than Tortorella?

At this point, the answer’s “nobody,” because we’ve been in a position where we’re led to believe it’s either-or for quite a long time. That goes a long way towards making it feel like we all really want Trotz, when it’s just that he’s the better of the two options we’ve been conditioned to expect. When it looked like there could be more candidates, you had a ton of people, myself included, banging the drum for an up-and-coming coach like Grönborg, and screaming vitriol at the idea of Tocchet.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

At this point, the answer’s “nobody,” because we’ve been in a position where we’re led to believe it’s either-or for quite a long time. That goes a long way towards making it feel like we all really want Trotz, when it’s just that he’s the better of the two options we’ve been conditioned to expect. When it looked like there could be more candidates, you had a ton of people, myself included, banging the drum for an up-and-coming coach like Grönborg, and screaming vitriol at the idea of Tocchet.

Up until the report this weekend about Trotz and Torts being finalists, many people here wanted Trotz while also saying he would never choose the Flyers.

 

[Hollywood Cannon]

Just a question, would you watch boring, trap style hockey if they were winning?

Would I watch it? Yes, because I’ve watched boring, shitty, losing hockey for years now but that’s mostly because of the community here that I still follow the team.

Would I enjoy it? No. I watch sports to be entertained and a boring trap style of game is the antithesis of entertainment.

But for clarity sake, I am answering this as if we are talking strictly about regular season winning.

The only avenue to being “competitive” at this point in time is to be a team that plays like that so that’s likely the path this team is going to follow. It’s going to break my spirit even more than it has been broken since the Hakstol days. There’s essentially nothing left to my fandom of this team.

I have bought Gamecenter, Center Ice, ESPN+, etc over the years so that I could watch the Avs along with the Flyers. Some years I’d watch the Flyers more, some the Avs. The last couple years it’s been the largest gap between the teams that it’s ever been. It’s become a chore to watch the Flyers (and not be entertained) and with a soon to be two year old son why waste valuable free time on something that provides no entertainment?

 

[Flyerfan18]

Just a question, would you watch boring, trap style hockey if they were winning?

Absolutely. My favourite kind of hockey.

 

[TheKingPin]

It really does not matter. We don’t have what it takes right now and that doesn’t look like it’s going to change for some years. Hire Trotz and enjoy a few second round exits.

 

[Hollywood Cannon]

P.S. RIP Ray.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

It is also true that Trotz is blatantly better than Tortorella. They aren't equal at all, and pretending they are is false.

I don't think that's true at all. They're both good coaches. Which one is better is a matter of opinion and debate, not unassailable fact.

Hell, you said yourself you would have fired Trotz in Washington the offseason before they won the Cup.

 

[flyerslducks]

The smartest coaching hire here would be someone internal.

Why not give the job to Lappy, or say Samuelsson (who has coaching experience) - who they clearly believe has done an admirable job being with the club for 20 years. Why not Schultz who has also done a a remarkable job helping to move the team forward?

The Flyers are adamant that they know best, that league trends are irrelevant - and they have the right men for the job.

Blaming external coaching hires every few seasons is cowardly.

Totally in favor of this as it leads to tanking. We need to tank now and to get back to back top 5 picks and have those guys supplement/take over while couts and co. Are still relatively young

 

[Beef Invictus]

I don't think that's true at all. They're both good coaches. Which one is better is a matter of opinion and debate, not unassailable fact.

Hell, you said yourself you would have fired Trotz in Washington the offseason before they won the Cup.

Did I say that? Can you remember the context? I can. Perhaps you shouldn't delete that context. It involved a problem in his approach to the playoffs that practically no coaches change late in their careers, but he did, making him a rarity and skyrocketing my esteem of him. You know, digesting new information and adjusting stances for those new facts.

Tortorella has shown far, far less flexibility than Trotz. Flexibility and adaptability are king.

Torts = Trotz is a false equivalence that requires extreme simplification of their approaches to coaching and the situations they've been in. You do very much enjoy your extreme simplifications though, like when you argued that Yandle is the same as Ghost despite that clearly being false, and then calling me insane for disagreeing.

 

[Flyer lurker]

Trotz is likely off the market. Local craft brewery just offered him free beer for life if he takes the Jets job.

But flyers can offer former jets who are current 6c.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

They made the playoffs under Hakstol twice doing that, even with a year of career highs from some guys. Do you fondly remember those years? Will you reminisce to your kids about them? It’s a loaded question because boring, trap style hockey with a talent deficient roster is not a path for success. At best, you get a fluky season, before hitting the wall, that leads everyone to pat themselves on the back.

The reality I face is the Flyers have made watching hockey miserable to the point I stopped watching every game. So the question is would boring hockey make me giddy to tune back in regularly? No.

I think my favorite talking point for Trotz is “well no one expected NYI to be good after Tavares left”. I’m not saying Trotz isn’t a good coach or didn’t do a good job but you had young guys like Barzal, Beauvillier, Pulock, Pelech, Toews, etc. come up over time. You had more established guys like Lee, Nelson, Bailey, etc. who were closer to their mid 20’s or so & on RFA deals. It wasn’t an overly talented team but it wasn’t devoid on talent either.

The key for Trotz I’ll give credit most here to him is that he never suffers really from below average goaltending. He’s shuffled through goalies & not that they’re stiffs but it’s also not like he’s riding like Lundvist to success. He’s had goalies who are/were susceptible of poor seasons but never happened under Trotz. That’s probably what caused him to squeeze so much out of an average or above average roster. But even then their lack of high end talent usually showed up in the end. It’s just not easy to win it all without the horses. Even teams like St. Louis are far & between.

The reason it ultimately ran off the tracks there though is Lou paid a lot for those veterans while they left their prime & got more expensive while being worse versions of themselves. Trotz took the hit because the GM essentially ran the team into the ground using up a lot of capspace & assets.

Honestly the Flyers current situation mirrors the Islanders current situation a lot more than the Islanders situation back then. I think Trotz could help get them into the playoffs next year but I just don’t see anything more than a band aid. I don’t think he’s going outrun the mistakes of the GM here either in the long run.

 

[flyersnorth]

Just a question, would you watch boring, trap style hockey if they were winning?

Good question, really.

For myself, of course I would watch if they were winning. Winning means good vibes and entertainment. I like being excited to watch the Flyers, and there ain't no better way than to be a winning team.

At the same time, I really do wish we had an elite player to watch on a nightly basis. Add a Trotz system in the mix, and yeah, maybe the games themselves can get a bit dull or underwhelming.

I'd still watch though.

 

[Tripod]

They made the playoffs under Hakstol twice doing that, even with a year of career highs from some guys. Do you fondly remember those years? Will you reminisce to your kids about them? It’s a loaded question because boring, trap style hockey with a talent deficient roster is not a path for success. At best, you get a fluky season, before hitting the wall, that leads everyone to pat themselves on the back.

The reality I face is the Flyers have made watching hockey miserable to the point I stopped watching every game. So the question is would boring hockey make me giddy to tune back in regularly? No.

I missed chatting on HF during games more than the games itself when I stopped watching.

Sad that the slop has made fans of 40 years WANT to not watch.

 

[DancingPanther]

They made the playoffs under Hakstol twice doing that, even with a year of career highs from some guys. Do you fondly remember those years? Will you reminisce to your kids about them? It’s a loaded question because boring, trap style hockey with a talent deficient roster is not a path for success. At best, you get a fluky season, before hitting the wall, that leads everyone to pat themselves on the back.

The reality I face is the Flyers have made watching hockey miserable to the point I stopped watching every game. So the question is would boring hockey make me giddy to tune back in regularly? No.

But it was in the 90s!! Look at those Devils teams. D-Y-N-A-S-T-Y

It's a proven way to win. Even the Lightning cLoG tEh nEuTrAl zOnE

 

[freakydallas13]

Up until the report this weekend about Trotz and Torts being finalists, many people here wanted Trotz while also saying he would never choose the Flyers.

Maybe people wanted Trotz as the lesser of two evils, but almost no one is out there going "Trotz is my #1 choice".

Personally I want them to tank the next 3 seasons and bring Yeobastank back.

 

[Beef Invictus]

But it was in the 90s!! Look at those Devils teams. D-Y-N-A-S-T-Y

It's a proven way to win. Even the Lightning cLoG tEh nEuTrAl zOnE

Never mind that even the Devils were a damned good offense. Led the league in goals for in 2000-01, for example. After being 2nd the year before. They didn't win because of the neutral zone trap, they won because they scored. They happened to marry scoring to strong defense.

It's almost like the point of the sport is "Scoring Goals" not "Hyperfocus On Safety"

Imagine what the Flyers of today would do to Rafalski if they stumbled onto him.

 

[DancingPanther]

Never mind that even the Devils were a damned good offense. Led the league in goals for in 2000-01, for example. After being 2nd the year before. They didn't win because of the neutral zone trap, they won because they scored. They happened to marry scoring to strong defense.

It's almost like the point of the sport is "Scoring Goals" not "Hyperfocus On Safety"

Imagine what the Flyers of today would do to Rafalski if they stumbled onto him.

Stop bif. They did the D FENCE

 

[usahockey22flyers]

 

[Magua]

F***ing loser regressive organization. I hope they’re the laughing stock of the league for years to come. I want this to hit rock bottom then tunnel underneath that. It’s all so predictable because they’re such a mistake repeating, visionless confederacy of dunces.

“Hey, look, Cassidy was named! We can get rolling now!”

 

[Beef Invictus]

 

[FlyerNutter]

 

[usahockey22flyers]

I don’t feel well