What we feel of the last days of John Tortorella with the Flyers

An accident between John Tortorella and the Defender of Philadelphia Flyers Cam York this week contributed to a deterioration relationship between coach and team that brought Tortorella’s dismissal on Thursday morning, said a team source.

The source said that after Tortorella put York on the bench for the last 50 minutes of the Flyers match Tuesday in Toronto, a clash between the two who did not become physical but who probably crossed the line “.

As a result, York was functionally scratched on Thursday in a victory over the Montreal Canadiens, even if he sat on the bench for the entire game because the flyers had no more players. The interim coach Brad Shaw called him a “disciplinary problem” and the source of the team said that the decision to sit in York was made by the general manager Daniel Briere, who believed that the team should take a point with York – who should return to training on Saturday.

But he will not play under Tortorella, who has not responded to multiple requests for interviews Atletico From his fire.

The disagreement with York, e Next comments That Tortorella made after the game contributed to the dismissal of the coach on Thursday morning. But those two events have not been isolated. Something started moving the commercial deadline on March 7, according to the source of the team.

Until then, Tortorella seemed to be on board with the moves that Briere did, while the Flyers exchanged the respected leaders Scott Laughton and Erik Johnson, further reducing a list that had lost the maximum of Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee about a month earlier. But there was a heaviness for the team deriving from some of the Tortorella reactions on the days and weeks that followed.

A disconnection began to grow between Tortorella, the management of the team and flyers, culminating on Tuesday in Toronto, where the post -deployment comments of the coach did not help his cause, according to the source of the team.

As reported by colleague Pierre Lebrun Friday morningThe times of the dismissal of Tortorella “was surprising. The indication of the Flyers at the beginning of this week was that they wanted to sit after the season with the 66 -year -old coach, who had another year on his agreement, to see where he was, mentally and physically”.

Shaw said on Friday that Tortorella “left a note in our room (coaches) and in the players’ room when he came and took his things. This is the type of boy who is”.

There was apparently a gurgling tension between Tortorella and York in recent weeks. York was made a healthy scratch for a game on March 8 and later complained of the lack of communication from the coach.

“We didn’t talk much, so I’m not sure,” he told journalists two days later, when he was asked why he thought he was scratched.

He also added: “I mean, I’m not playing to prove it. I am playing for the guys in this locker room and the logo on my chest. I’m not playing for him, necessarily, if this makes sense.”

On Friday, speaking for the first time since he was on the bench and then punished, York said: “I have not intended to enter the details of it. I will tell this, I take full responsibility for my actions. It was faced here in the locker room. It is something I will put behind me and I leave. We have remained eight games here and this is my goal at this moment. We will leave him.”

However, he admitted the frustration in looking at the team that was bombed 7-2 by the Maple Leafs, since they only had five defenders who played for most of the game at the end of a 10-day trip.

“Obviously, sitting on the bench in that type of game is never fun,” he said. “Five (defenders) are a difficult thing to do and you never want to put your teammates in that type of situation.”

Shaw was asked if he would have done something like a bench for 50 minutes, as Tortorella did on Tuesday.

“I won’t go there,” he said. “I don’t want to answer a question that can be used against wrongs. I don’t think they are the best interests of anyone, so I would prefer not to answer this.”

In 58 games this season, York has four goals and 11 assists for 15 points. The 24 -year -old is a limited pending free agent. There were discussions on an extension of the contract at the beginning of the season, but they did not make many progress.

York reiterated her desire to be part of the future of the Flyers on Friday.

“Here is where I want to be,” said York. “I said. I love what’s going on here and I love what we are building. It was not our (best) year, but it’s here. That’s where I want to be, and I can’t wait for the future to arrive.”

As for Tortorella, York said: “I have nothing wrong to say. He taught me many really good things and it was an excellent coach for me. I will use many things that taught me along the way in my career. He is really a good coach and I wish him good luck along the way.”

(Photo: Robert Edwards / Imagn Images)