'We Are Going To Try Like Hell': John Tortorella Has Unique Exchange With Flyers' Fan

The Philadelphia Flyers head coach sent a handwritten letter to a fan.

With a reputation as a coach who will bench, healthy scratch,  and compare his players to toilet seats, John Tortorella might not seem like the sentimental type. 

But a tweet shared by a fan revealed that Tortorella took the time to respond to a letter sent in by his father, who wrote to the head coach expressing how "he is sick of Philly sports teams losing and how he's enjoyed the [Flyers] playing above expectations."

In his response, Tortorella thanked the fan for his letter and promised that he was "going to try like hell to get this right with the Flyers."

Things have certainly been clicking more than anyone could have predicted this season, currently sitting third in the Metropolitan Division and looking likely to make the playoffs. Multiple players have had breakout seasons under Tortorella, with players and fans alike acknowledging that while their coach's personality can be an acquired taste with unconventional (to say the least) methods, it seems to be getting the most out of a team that was seriously struggling before he took over in 2022.

In a city where teams' connections to their fans is a cornerstone of the Philadelphia sports scene, and especially in the midst of the Flyers' front office complete culture overhaul of the organization, something as simple as a personal handwritten letter goes a long way. It's a building block, another step in the direction of bringing the team and the fans closer together after years of alienation and disconnect under the previous front office regime. Tortorella might not be the most universally palatable figure, but he's certainly the man for the Flyers.

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