Philadelphia Flyers
Ex-Flyers Bench Boss John Tortorella Returns to TV
John Tortorella has returned to TV. ESPN has announced its on-air staff for the coming season. This is how ESPN announced the return of the former Flyers Head Coach to the network.
Tortorella originally joined ESPN back before the 2021 season. He left the network after just one year to take the Flyers job back in June of 2022. Tortorella will return to ESPN as a studio analyst, the same role he held with the broadcasting giant before his departure.
ESPN announced this move alongside the announcement of extensions of play-by-play announcer Bob Wischusen, analysts Cassie Campbell-Pascall, Kevin Weekes, and P.K. Subban, and reporter Leax Hextall. They also made the official announcement of T.J. Oshie joining the staff as a studio and game analyst.
After being fired by the Flyers, it was not known what would be next for the former coach. Tortorella, 67, would have been the oldest head coach in the NHL, a few months older than Anaheim Ducks bench boss Joel Quenneville, if Torts had returned to coaching. He was rumored to join Mike Sullivan’s staff in Pittsburgh, but it never came to fruition.
After the coaching carousel had made its rounds and Tortorella remained jobless, his hockey future was up in the air. Now, we have our answer as to what is next for the former Flyers’ coach.
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I wonder if he will trash talk the Flyers on his ESPN.
He’s above specifically trash talking about the Flyers, but he certainly won’t hold back about any team that he sees is screwing up regarding any aspect of the game. He has been and will always be a straight shooter. Gotta respect him for that. He doesn’t sugar coat things.
Apparently those who hired him weren’t familiar with his TSN tenure.