Injured Flyers forward backs ex-coach John Tortorella amid 'quitting' rumors

Last week, the Philadelphia Flyers made the difficult decision to move on from head coach John Tortorella. They fired him and announced that assistant coach Brad Shaw would be taking over the head coaching duties for the remainder of the 2024-25 NHL season on an interim basis.

Right-wing forward Garnet Hathaway, who hasn't been able to play since late February thanks to an injury he sustained against the Pittsburgh Penguins, expressed his support and gratitude for Tortorella's time with the Flyers.

"I have so much respect for him," Hathaway said. "I think knowing Torts and being able to play for him for almost two years, I think I saw how much he cared, how invested he was and how much he cared for the guys in this room, how much he wanted to get the absolute most out of them."

Hathaway then noted that Tortorella was fierce and vocal in his defense of the players and pushed back on the notion that he quit on the team.

"He had our backs," he continued. "Multiple times I saw firsthand or to the media that he was the one that was always supporting us and he wouldn't let anyone go around and say something that wasn't true about us. Anyone who thinks he quit on this team is completely wrong."

The Flyers fire John Tortorella who had been their head coach since 2022

Last week, Flyers general manager Daniel Briere announced the decision to part ways with Tortorella, who had been hired in the 2022 offseason.

When asked about the timing of the coaching change with so little left in the regular season, Briere answered that it was simply the appropriate time.

"I felt it was time," he said. "You're going to ask me, 'Is there one thing that happened?' It's not one thing. It's a series of things that have happened, and probably a little bit more in the last three weeks, that has escalated since probably around the Trade Deadline, right after that."

Since the coaching change, the Flyers have gone 2-0 with victories over the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres.