Tough Love in the City of Brotherly Love
On Mar. 19, the Philadelphia Flyers, who are hanging onto their playoff hopes, faced off against the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was announced by head coach John Tortorella that he was scratching the team captain Sean Couturier due to his poor recent play. Ever since being named captain, Couturier has struggled tremendously on the ice. He currently has 36 points in 64 games, which is not at all up to par with captain material according to Tortorella.
Although scratching your team's captain may not seem like the best move for the team's morale, it ultimately worked in their favor when they beat the Maple Leafs by a score of 4-3. The team has undergone some serious leadership changes with Tortorella’s coaching tactics. He’s mostly known for “getting the most out of his guys” as this was a serious way of telling the team that nobody's spot in the lineup is secure. For a team who is on the bubble of making their way back to the playoffs, this is definitely a great way to get the team going.
The Flyers were a bottom team in the league during the preseason previews and you can ultimately thank Tortorella for completely flipping that narrative. He has made guys who were fringe NHL players turn into a completely successful group of guys for their team thus far. With the team playing like their previous win over Toronto, can you imagine what the ceiling could be for them if Couturier gets back in the lineup and plays up to his standards? It would surely look like a dangerous team to face in the playoffs.
Image from aol.com
The Flyers’ next four games are against the league's best in Carolina, Boston, Florida, and the New York Rangers. It will be interesting to see how the team is able to respond to the message Tortorella sent in the long haul and in the most important games of the season.
