Flyers Fire Head Coach John Tortorella With Weeks Remaining In Season

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella has been fired with just weeks left in the 2024-25 regular season as the team has failed to find its footing amid a prolonged losing streak.

Expectations were never high for the rebuilding Flyers this year, and the team exceeded expectations through the first half of the year, remaining competitive and winning several impressive games against elite teams. That's all changed since the 4 Nations tournament break in the season, as they've now dropped six straight and 10 of their last 11.

"Torts," a widely respected veteran coach who led the Tampa Bay Lightning to a Stanley Cup championship in 2004, may have dug his own grave in Philly with postgame comments after the Flyers latest loss on Wednesday night.

"This falls on me, I'm not really interested in learning how to coach in this type of season where we're at right now," Tortorella told reporters. "But I have to do a better job."

In their announcement that Tortorella, the oldest head coach in the NHL, had been let go, the Flyers did not address his comments. But it's clear they're looking for someone invested in the rebuild, and perhaps someone who has the patience for it. Tortorella's aggressive benching of rising star Matvei Michkov and conflict with young players with Cam Atkinson has rightfully fallen under a microscope.

“Today I made the very difficult decision to move on from John as our head coach," Flyers general manager Danny Briere said in a statement. “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."

Tortorella has led the Flyers for three years, going 97-107-33 in that time.

Flyers assistant coach Brad Shaw has been named interim head coach. The Flyers have just nine games left in the regular season until it ends on April 17, but it will give the team a chance to get fresh footing heading into the offseason.