Defenseman very upset over what John Tortorella did to him at the end of the season
With the regular season coming to a close and the Philadelphia Flyers out of the playoff race - albeit for awhile - head coach, John Tortorella scratched defenseman, Tony DeAngelo for the final 5 games of the season. The controversial offensive defenseman paced the Flyers backend with 11 goals and 42 points in 70 games but drew the ire of his head coach all season long.
Scratching and benching players happened quite often this season for the Flyers, a list that included Kevin Hayes, Morgan Frost in front of his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs, Travis Sanheim in front of his family and friends in Calgary, and Rasmus Ristolainen. Tortorella stated from day 1 that he wanted players to compete, show full effort, and play hard because even he knew the team was bereft of talent.
As skilled as DeAngelo may be on the offensive side of the puck, his defensive game left many to wonder why then-general-manager, Chuck Fletcher shipped out 2nd, 3rd, and 4th round picks before signing the restricted free agent to a 2-year deal worth 10 million on the second day of the draft. He got caught flat-footed several times per game, created turnovers that led to odd-man rushes, created turnovers in his own zone that directly led to goals, being undressed in overtime several times, and a 2-game suspension for spearing Corey Perry.
Back in February, Tortorella even mentioned that he didn't realize how much work his defensive game needed and that he was essentially sheltered by the Jaccob Slavin and the Carolina Hurricanes the year before - evidenced by his +30 rating in a career season.
When asked about being held out of the lineup to finish off the season, DeAngelo was quoted as saying:
"He's the coach of the team, so you gotta respect that and I respect what he does. Do I agree with what happened in the last five games? Absolutely not. I think it's ridiculous I didn't play the last five."
What's "ridiculous" is that in one of the games that he was a healthy scratch, the Flyers decided to dress only 5 defensemen and went with a lineup that included 13 forwards. Nick Seeler was ruled out of the lineup and instead of dressing DeAngelo, the Flyers coaching staff echoed a message loud and clear that they are not going to stand for players not showing up.
A sentiment not only brought about by Tortorella but also his assistant coaches in Rocky Thompson and Brad Shaw, who each had their turns as the head coach with Tortorella sitting in the press box next to interim general manager, Daniel Briere.
Rocky Thompson had this to say after one of their losses:
"I just told them it's not about X's and O's, I said quite frankly it looks like some guys don't even care. They're just not trying. I wasn't going to call anybody out individually, but your teammates know. I told them I'd give them another chance"
Which just so happened to be the last game DeAngelo suited up for in 2022-23.
The veterans on the team mailed it in the final month of the season and that includes Kevin Hayes, James van Riemsdyk, and Tony DeAngelo. Tortorella demanded one thing and if he didn't see it, he would let you know, and have a young prospect claim your minutes. Owen Tippett, Morgan Frost, Noah Cates, and Cam York stepped up when they struggled and with the Flyers exercising changes over the summer, look for DeAngelo's name to be out there with only one year remaining on his contract.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 15 | 111 ANSWERS Defenseman very upset over what John Tortorella did to him at the end of the season Will John Tortorella be back in Philly next season? | ||
| Yes | 49 | 44.1 % |
| No | 62 | 55.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
