John Tortorella benches two of his star players in Philly, refuses to provide a reason
When John Tortorella was hired by the Philadelphia Flyers, we all knew that it was only a matter of time before certain players were targeted and some "Tortorella justice" was handed out in the form of benchings and healthy scratches. Well, here we are, a handful of games into the season and Torts has already benched two of his star players.
The Flyers dropped a 3-0 decision on home ice to the visiting San Jose Sharks on Sunday and while most of the team's ice time was spread out the way you might have assumed, there were two star players who didn't even crack 13 minutes of ice time, thanks to third period benchings.
When asked following the game why he benched Travis Konecny and Kevin Hayes, Tortorella chose not to answer the question, remarking to the Philly media that he wanted to "keep that in the room".
Tortorella's methods are often questioned, but having won a Stanley Cup, it's clear that the old school coach knows what he's doing. While he hasn't had much postseason success in the salary cap era, he has made the playoffs in 10 of 15 seasons behind the bench over that span. He also led the Columbus Blue Jackets to a shocking first round upset over the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018-19.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 24 | 202 ANSWERS John Tortorella benches two of his star players in Philly, refuses to provide a reason Will Tortorella coach the Flyers to a playoff berth this season? | ||
| Not a chance | 77 | 38.1 % |
| Anything can happen | 79 | 39.1 % |
| He won't last a full season in Philly | 46 | 22.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
