Watch: Flyers’ Tortorella Goes Nuclear, Defends Kevin Hayes

Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella had another classic press conference moment on Wednesday night. Say what you will about his coaching, but Tortorella is an amazing person that cares for all of his players – past and present.

In the last 48 hours, a rumor developed that St. Louis Blues forward and former Flyer Kevin Hayes had influence over Cutter Gauthier’s decision to spurn the Flyers. It was later revealed by Hayes, Flyers president Keith Jones, and Gauthier himself, that Hayes had absolutely nothing to do with it. The aftermath of the rumor, though, brought Hayes death threats and other extremely hateful comments made towards him and his family. Somewhere in the last 48 hours, Tortorella caught wind of this, and he was livid about it. Watch below.

“Is the guy here that caused Kevin Hayes a problem?”

Torts is the man. Just called out the reporter who made up the Kevin Hayes rumour the other night. pic.twitter.com/r1wX2fI5UP

— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) January 11, 2024

“IS the guy here that caused Kevin Hayes a problem? You? Are you kidding me?” Tortorella starts. “You think Kevin Hayes is gonna do something like that? It’s bull—t. It pisses me off that you guys throw that s–t around and it affects someone’s life. Kevin Hayes had a problem – we couldn’t come to an agreement on how to play.”

“That’s a good man. That’s a good man. And what you said is gonna stay with him,” Tortorella continued. “That’s what you guys don’t understand, you say something – you’re gonna sit there and say you had the right sources. I call bull—t,” he finished.

Again, this is the same Flyers coach that publicly had issues with Hayes last season, which led to multiple benchings. If anything, this shows why players WANT to play for ‘Torts’, not the other way around. Tortorella is as black-and-white of a coach as you’ll find anywhere and knows exactly when to defend his players and when to let them face the music and get motivated to be better. This moment shows how lucky the Flyers really are to have Tortorella as their head coach.

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