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The Flyers have a new head coach, and it's none other than the fiery John Tortorella.
The Flyers have yet to formally announce the hiring of Tortorella, but sources have confirmed to NBC Sports Philadelphia's Jordan Hall that the almost-64-year-old is set to take over behind the Philly bench.
A lot of people have a lot of opinions about Tortorella joining the Flyers. On one hand, he's the second-winningest American head coach in NHL history and a two-time Jack Adams Award winner. Plus, he guided the Tampa Bay Lightning to their first Stanley Cup title in the franchise's history in 2004.
On the other hand, though, Tortorella famously has an abrasive attitude known to rub players and team personnel the wrong way at times. He had numerous battles with the media and even his own players during his time coaching the Lightning, New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks and Columbus Blue Jackets.
One of those players was apparently former Ranger and Blue Jacket Brandon Dubinsky, who tweeted a snarky remark Thursday night about the Flyers' hiring of Tortorella.
Dubinsky played under Tortorella for eight years — four with the Rangers, four with the Blue Jackets — so he clearly knows a thing or two about the Flyers' new bench boss.
Strangely enough, Dubinsky put together some of his most productive seasons with Tortorella at the helm. Playing under Torts during the 2010-11 season, Dubinsky logged a career-high 24 goals and 54 points.
Dubinsky clearly isn't a fan of Torts. This was highlighted in a story written by Aaron Portzline of The Athletic when Dubinsky described his relationship with Torts as "a s*** show" just before he was traded to the Blue Jackets in 2012.
"It wasn't a good year. We weren't getting along," Dubinsky said. "I didn't agree with the decisions he was making for me, so for me, Columbus was a fresh start. I was energized and excited. I was back to playing the way I knew how to play."
While Dubinsky's experience was far from positive, many other players have spoken very highly of Tortorella in the past, including Blue Jackets players Zach Werenski, Joonas Korpisalo and current Flyer Cam Atkinson, who unpromptedly dropped some words of wisdom he learned from Torts during his end-of-season presser.
Tortorella may have butt heads with players from time to time throughout his career, but he's also clearly made some positive impacts with others. With the Flyers, it's hard to imagine he won't leave a similar mark — hopefully for the better.
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