John Tortarella Out As Flyers Head Coach
The Flyers have relived John Tortarella of his coaching duties.
The Flyers let go of John Tortorella as head coach on Thursday (3/27), with nine games left to play in the NHL season. Brad Shaw takes over as interim coach through the end of the season.
After losing six in a row and picking up just one win in their last twelve games, management made their move. The breaking point came Tuesday when Toronto hammered Philadelphia 7-2.
Daniel Briere, in a statement published on the team’s social media accounts and website, was measured about the change.
“Today I made the very difficult decision to move on from John as our head coach,” said Briere. “John played a vital role in our rebuild. He set a standard of play and re-established what it means to be a Philadelphia Flyer. John’s passion on the bench was only equaled by his charitable work in our community. As we move into the next chapter of this rebuild, I felt this was the best for our team to move forward. I’d like to thank John for his tireless work and commitment to the Flyers.”
Dan Hilferty also thanked Tortorella in a statement.
“On behalf of the entire Flyers organization, we would like to thank John for his dedication over the past three seasons,” said Flyers Governor Dan Hilferty and President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones. “We fully support Danny’s decision in making this change as he continues to do what is needed for the future of our organization. John Tortorella has made a positive impact throughout the Flyers organization, and we are grateful and appreciative of the opportunity to work with him. We wish John, Christine and their family all the best moving forward.”
The incoming Shaw brings plenty of NHL experience from working with four different teams. Since 2022, he’s run Philadelphia’s penalty-kill units after working as an assistant in Vancouver, Columbus, St. Louis, and New York.
During his time here, Tortorella put up a 97-107-33 record. Last season showed some hope as the team hung in the playoff race until late before dropping off.
The change caps off a three-year rebuilding effort. Despite making progress with player development and community connection, recent struggles forced the mid-season switch.
Shaw steps in to lead the team for the final nine games of the 2023-24 NHL season, starting tonight (3/27) at home against the Montreal Canadiens.
