The Flyers’ determination to make John Tortorella the franchise’s subsequent head coach has one in every of Tortorella’s former gamers sending prayers to Philadelphia.
Brandon Dubinsky — who performed for Tortorella on each the Rangers and Blue Jackets for 4 seasons apiece — took to Twitter to take a shot at his former coach.
“🙏 for the @NHLFlyers gamers!,” Dubinsky tweeted, as stories of Tortorella’s Philadelphia hiring went round on Thursday night time.
It’s not the primary time that Dubinsky has expressed his obvious displeasure with Tortorella. In 2012, the 13-year NHL veteran informed The Athletic that the pair’s relationship was “a sh-t present.”
“It wasn’t an excellent yr,” Dubinsky stated, referencing the 2011-12 season with the Rangers. “We weren’t getting alongside. I didn’t agree with the choices he was making for me, so for me, Columbus was a recent begin. I used to be energized and excited. I used to be again to enjoying the best way I knew find out how to play.”
The 63-year-old Tortorella has established himself as a polarizing determine all through his 19-year head teaching profession. His 673 profession wins make him the 14th most-winningest coach in NHL historical past. In 5 seasons on the helm of the Rangers, Tortorella steered the Blueshirts to 4 playoff appearances.
A recognized fiery persona, Tortorella tends to rub individuals the mistaken manner, typically clashing with media and even his personal gamers, like Dubinsky.
Whereas it’s not but clear what the consensus opinion on the rent is amongst Flyers’ gamers, winger Cam Atkinson — who performed below Tortorella in Columbus — went out of his technique to reward the coach in April.
“I believe all of it begins with follow,” stated Atkinson. “You follow the way you play. Particularly once I turned professional, I realized that from John Tortorella. He was nice in that side. … I believe going into subsequent yr, we have to discover a technique to have some extra grit, some extra jam, extra ‘F you’ to our sport, on either side of the puck, in our crease, defending our goalie and of their crease.”
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