
What other coach would give a 64-second press conference after a win?

Energy was high at the Wells Fargo Center after the Flyers notched a 4-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets. Everyone was loving Travis Konecny's feisty return to Philadelphia after the All-Star break (including a Gordie Howe hat trick), and there was palpable excitement over back-to-back wins after experiencing a harrowing five-game losing streak. It wasn't the best Flyers performance of the season, but it sure was entertaining. Surely the good vibes and the win will have mattered more than anything, right?
Not to head coach John Tortorella.
He made sure that his feelings were known in his answer (or lack thereof) to the first question posed to him: "What did you see in the second and third?"
Without speaking a single word, he held up a "zero" with his hand.
He was in no mood to discuss the victory further than simply stating, "Won the game. Got two points."
Perhaps the most shocking moment from his brief press conference was when he was asked about Travis (Konecny's) standout night, Tortorella's eyebrows furrowed as he replied, "Travis who?" Even after clarifying that they meant the Flyers' no. 11, Tortorella wasn't jumping to heap praise on him.
There seemingly wasn't even space to give Sam Ersson—by far the Flyers' best player against the Jets—his flowers (although Tortorella did acknowledge Ersson's impact during his meeting with the press after the Flyers' Feb. 9 practice).
It would've been understandable if Tortorella had read his team the riot act after being so obviously dissatisfied with their performance. At practice, he confirmed that he hadn't harped on it with his players, saying, "I trust them that they know how bad they played in the second and third period. I've moved past it."
It's not surprising that Tortorella isn't jumping for joy just because the Flyers won. Just winning isn't good enough anymore—and that's not a bad thing. The Flyers have moved into a position where they're not just trying to scrape together two points wherever they can get it. They're making a legitimate playoff push, and that means they need to start playing playoff hockey. Scoring three goals in the first period is nothing to sniff at, but if that level of play can't be sustained across the next two periods...well, Tortorella said it best at morning skate on Feb. 8: "Can we do it consistently? That's every team's battle is find out who you are. I think we have an idea of who we are. Can you do it consistently?"
The remaining 32 games this season will be the biggest test of the Flyers' identity—they've shown what they can do, who they can beat, and the energy they can bring to the fans and to each other. Tortorella wasn't being short because he was mad at the win, it was because he knows his players can give so much more and play so much better. He knew exactly which Travis he was being asked about, but he's not going to act impressed with any individual when the group didn't fully display why teams should be intimidated to play the Flyers again.
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