While speculation about Flyers head coach John Tortorella’s future had been a topic of conversation for weeks, there was no real sense of finality until a pair of devastating losses in his last two games.
On Thursday morning, the team made it official when Tortorella was fired.
General manager Daniel Briere announced that associate coach Brad Shaw has been named interim head coach. Shaw will be behind the bench when the Flyers take on the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
After 7-4 and 7-2 losses to Chicago and Toronto respectively, the handwriting was on the wall. The Flyers are mired in last place in the Metropolitan Division and almost assured of missing the Stanley Cup playoffs for a fifth consecutive season, the last three under Torotrella, whose contract ($4 million per year) was scheduled to expire at the end of the 2025-26 season.
“Today I made the very difficult decision to move on from John as our head coach,” said Briere in a Flyers press release. “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.”
In his two-plus seasons with the Flyers, Tortorella, 66, compiled a record of 97-107-33. The Flyers are currently 28-36-9 with nine games to play.
For his NHL career, which includes stints in Tampa Bay, Columbus, the New York Rangers, Vancouver and Philadelphia, Tortorella has a record of 770-648-37-165. He won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004.
Tortorella did have a winning season with the Flyers in 2023-24 (38-33-11)
“John’s passion on the bench was only equaled by his charitable work in our community,” Briere said. “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.”
Both Flyers governor Dan Hilferty and president of hockey operations Keith Jones expressed their appreciation for Tortorella’s contribution to the team’s rebuild.
“On behalf of the entire Flyers organization, we would like to thank John for his dedication over the past three seasons,” Hilferty and Jones said in a joint statement. “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.”
Tortorella was not available for comment. Both Shaw and the Flyers were not made available to the media at the team’s morning skate in Voorhees, N.J. but are exprected to address the subject this evening after the game against Montreal.
In addition, Briere will hold a press conference at 5 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Center.
Shaw, 60, is in his third season with the team after joining the Flyers coaching staff in July 2022. He spent the 2021-22 season as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks. He previously served as an assistant for five years with the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2016-17 to 2020-21 where he helped lead the team to a 193-133-46 record in 372 regular season games. Columbus also earned a spot at the Stanley Cup Playoffs in four of five years.
Prior to joining the Blue Jackets, Shaw served as assistant coach for the St. Louis Blues for a total of 10 seasons from 2006-07 to 2011-12 and associate coach from 2012-13 to 2015-16. He was also a part of the coaching staff with the New York Islanders as an assistant for the 2005-06 season and finished the year as the team’s head coach with an 18-18-4 record.
Shaw also served as head coach of the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks in the American Hockey League from 2002-03 to 2004-05. Prior to that he was a head coach in the International Hockey League with the Detroit Vipers in 2000-01 and an assistant in the AHL with the Springfield Falcons (2001-02).
Before becoming a coach Shaw played in the National Hockey League as a defenseman with the Hartford Whalers (1985-92), Ottawa Senators (1992-1995), Washington Capitals and St. Louis Blues (1998-99).
