Tortorella After Flyers Latest Blowout Loss: ‘This Falls On Me’

The Flyers completed a winless road trip on Tuesday night in Toronto. They went 0-4-1 on the five-game trip, bringing their current losing streak to six games. They have losses in 11 of the last 12 games.

Naturally, as another season approaches its end with very little to take away in the present, frustration can start to grow. Head coach John Tortorella was asked about that after the game in a press conference that lasted just 64 seconds. But it was his answer about the frustration that spoke volumes.

First, Tortorella was asked about if a simplified approach could help the team, especially against an opponent like Toronto.

“It’s my job to prepare this team in this type of situation,” Tortorella said. “Haven’t done a good enough job the past couple games.”

Tortorella was then asked about the frustration in the last two games, a 7-4 loss to Chicago on Sunday and a 7-2 loss to Toronto on Tuesday, after playing better in the first three games of the trip and falling short.

“When you’re in this type of situation and you’re losing all the time, and there’s nothing at the end of the tunnel for you, there’s certainly going to be some frustration,” Tortorella said. “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. But I have to do a better job. So this falls on me, getting this team prepared to play the proper way until we get to the end.”

Hear from Torts following Tuesday night’s loss in Toronto. #PHIvsTOR pic.twitter.com/fgh5hkejpG

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) March 26, 2025

It’s the level of accountability that we’ve come to see from Tortorella multiple times, a response that has everyone talking about him and not the rest of the team. And it could just simply be that, a coach recognizing that the team wasn’t prepared to play to the standard they have created for themselves and noting he needs to do better.

But so often, when things are reaching a crossroads – as they most certainly will with Tortorella as another offseason approaches – do you see responses like this. You could look at Tortorella’s remarks here and just as easily find a coach out of answers and out of ways to try to solve the issues, simply at wit’s end for what is happening to the team. 

There’s going to be a lot of focus on the line where Tortorella states that he’s “not interested in learning how to coach in this type of season.” That ultimately seems to be more of a note of coaching a team selling at the deadline, essentially conceding the season before the meaningful games truly begin, as the Flyers did this season.

But it will equally spark questions about what Tortorella’s future with the Flyers really holds. There already were questions. Now they are increasing by the day.

The Flyers have nine games remaining in the 2024-25 season. Perhaps they have all the information they already need. Perhaps they will sit back and wait to see how Tortorella handles the final nine games. Perhaps it doesn’t matter, and the Flyers will continue to see Tortorella as the right fit.

But it’s getting a lot harder to see the future clearly. Not after another year of trade deadline selling and missing the playoffs, even if that was always the expectation. Not after losing 11 of 12 games and counting as the season nears its end. And not after those particular comments following a second straight blowout loss.