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John Tortorella Comments on His Relationship With Matvei Michkov

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Graham Montgomery
February 8, 2025  (7:28 PM)
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Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella recently commented on his unique relationship with rookie forward Matvei Michkov.

John Tortorella has coached over 1600 regular-season games in the NHL and is one of the most recognizable coaches in league history.

He also has one of the most controversial reputations, with many having a love-hate relationship with him.

In fact, an anonymous poll of NHL players recently revealed that Tortorella is by far the least popular coach in the league.

That being said, he has proven to be an effective leader, with a Stanley Cup Championship under his belt and a career points percentage of .540.

This season, he has butted heads with Flyers rookie Matvei Michkov, who is a favorite for the Calder trophy, many times.

Recently, he had a very public dispute with him on the bench during a game against the New York Islanders, resulting in the rookie getting benched for the 3rd period in what turned out to be a 3-1 loss.

Torts recently commented on this exchange again as he talked about his evolving relationship with the 19-year-old Russian goal-scorer.

"[Those kinds of conflicts] will be inevitable, but they're so productive. I'm not sure what was written on it or what was said about it, but the conflict I had with him is not X's and O's...There's so many different things that go on in dealing with a young player like that."

He even admitted that he was in the wrong by benching him in the 3rd period.

He said that if he had a chance to replay that situation, he would have played him.

"I was done with that-ten minutes after it happened, I was done with it. Quite honestly, if I had to do it again, I probably should've played him in the third period. If I had to do it again, I would've-but should've, could've, would've. I learned too."

It is refreshing to hear an NHL head coach admit when they've made a mistake as it is quite rare.

That is one of the things people love about Tortorella, he is not afraid to admit to his own mistakes.

POLL
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John Tortorella Comments on His Relationship With Matvei Michkov

Between Matvei Michkov, Macklin Celebrini, and Lane Hutson, who do you think has the best chance to win the Calder trophy?