John Tortorella breaks his silence on the screaming match he had with Flyers' Matvei Michkov
John Tortorella was heated last night and was caught screaming at Flyers' Matvei Michkov and then benching him. He's now broken his silence on the issue.
Pains are a process of growing of any kind of relationship, including sports. Things seemed to reach a boiling point Thursday between Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella and highly touted rookie standout Matvei Michkov.
Cameras caught them in an in-bench heated discussion during the second period, middleways in the Flyers 3-0 loss to the New York Islanders.
Michkov, 20, didn't see the ice again, finishing with a career-low 8:30 of ice time, the second time in three games he's played under 10 minutes.
Tortorella said he was trying to teach Michkov in that heated moment
Asked post-game, Tortorella didn't get into specifics but told reporters he was trying to teach him how it is, per NHL.com's Adam Kimelman.
"You may not believe it, but it's for the right reason because we care about him ... And I'm not going to fail him by cowering away from situations that people may second guess. We're going to it the right way with this kid because we think he's that special."
"There are certain situations where you need to accept responsibility," Tortorella continued. "I don't want to get too involved in it because it's unfair to him ... this is to help him. In my heart, it's to help him ... and we're going to continue to go through the process together."
"You guys might think I have four heads up here when I'm sure you see what happens on the bench. That is good to me," the Flyers bench boss explained on his communication style with players. "That is a couple of people, a player, and a coach, going through some conflict, but some honesty coming along with it."
"(Michkov) is going to understand one way or another how we do things here, and what's expected ... accountability on the ice and the accountability of being a pro."
"There are certain situations where you need to accept responsibility," Tortorella continued. "I don't want to get too involved in it because it's unfair to him ... this is to help him. In my heart, it's to help him ... and we're going to continue to go through the process together."
"You guys might think I have four heads up here when I'm sure you see what happens on the bench. That is good to me," the Flyers bench boss explained on his communication style with players. "That is a couple of people, a player, and a coach, going through some conflict, but some honesty coming along with it."
"(Michkov) is going to understand one way or another how we do things here, and what's expected ... accountability on the ice and the accountability of being a pro."
Michkov has meanwhile held his own thus far into an opening NHL campaign with 14 goals, 20 assists, and 34 points in 51 games of action, which ranks second in points for the Flyers and paces them in game-winning markers with three.
But he's struggled of late, failing to score in five consecutive games while Philadelphia has lost four of five.
The speculation was that he was benched as a result of a bad turnover in the neutral zone that turned into Simon Holmstrom's opening goal for the Islanders.
The Flyers, losers of two straight now, look to get back on track Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche.
| POLL | ||
Does Matvei Michkov have an attitude problem? | ||
| Yes | 85 | 74.6 % |
| No | 29 | 25.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
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