VOORHEES, N.J. — John Tortorella is 65 years old and in his last stop of coaching.
But there should be no debate on if the fire is still lit. If the will to win, the hatred of losing, still burns.
Any question of that can simply be tossed into Tortorella's fire.
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And if any evidence is needed, just look at the last three and a half weeks.
The head coach has been ejected from a game and suspended by the league. He has apologized to a player for what he called a "terrible mistake." In one day, he empathized with his team and later criticized it.
And on Wednesday, with his Flyers staring down adversity, Tortorella did not hide from the challenge.
Not even close.
NHL
He was seen and heard, leading from the front.
"I guess now the narrative out there is, because I've heard from other people, 'They're young, they're not supposed to be here.' Bulls--t, we're here. We're here. Face it. And let's be better," Tortorella said. "And I don't think we're ready to be better and that's my problem with us right now. And it is my job. I have not done a good enough job to get them over the hump. After playing those seven games, and then each game as it goes down, we have six left, I haven't done a good enough job to make them understand we have to be different now, we have to be at a different level. That's my frustration with me and that's my frustration with the team."
After missing the playoffs the last three seasons, bottoming out at a combined 81-107-32, the Flyers publicly embraced a rebuild heading into this season. And to the surprise of just about everyone, they've been in a driver's seat of the playoff race since mid-January.
"Everyone said that we were going to be bottom five at the beginning of the year," Joel Farabee said. "Just to be in this position is awesome and I feel like we still have a lot to prove to all you guys."
Things have gotten dicey down the stretch. The Flyers have dropped 15 of their last 22 games (7-10-5). They recently survived a daunting seven-game gauntlet, going 2-3-2. Since then, they've gone 0-2-1 and have been outscored 13-5 to start a stretch of six straight games against teams not in playoff position.
The latest defeat Monday night matched their season-worst losing streak of five with a 4-3 overtime decision to the Islanders. Following the game, Tortorella ripped into his team for a "soft" and "embarrassing" second period.
With the Flyers in a tenuous spot, was he concerned the locker room might not handle it well?
"It always comes down to, 'Oh, they're going to quit on him.' It follows me around and so be it," Tortorella said. "If a player is going to quit on me or players are going to quit on me because I'm trying to make them better people and better athletes, you've got the wrong damn coach here and you've got the wrong damn people here.
"My job is I am going to push athletes. I have other things on my mind that I don't give you. I was in control the other night. What I said I meant. And quite honestly, when I watch the [game] tape now, I'm more concerned than just the second period. Because I'm so proud of the team getting here."
On the current roster and injured reserve, Tortorella has 14 players who have never played in the NHL playoffs. Wednesday was the Flyers' second of three days between games. The club hopes the gap serves as a much-needed reset.
"You learn how tough it is to get in, first of all," Marc Staal, a veteran with 128 games of playoff experience, said. "It's one thing if you're out of the playoffs with two months of the season left to go. But there's one thing if you're in it all year and then getting through those final few weeks of dealing with that pressure and that feeling of having to play must-win hockey games. You definitely grow from that as a player and as a team.
"I've been through it many times. I like our team's mentality, I like how we're very unselfish, there are no egos, we're all pulling for each other and that's usually a good recipe to finish strong."
Tortorella labeled Thursday "a pretty important day." The Flyers will have a full practice before heading on a four-game road trip. They'll have a meeting about the importance of what's next.
"Make no mistake about it, I am proud of our team," Tortorella said. "From Day 1, when you could see this room come together, I love coming to the rink and working with these guys. But it's my job to make sure they understand where we're at now. We're not regular season now. We have put ourselves in this spot. Let's not fade away and say, 'You know what, we're not even supposed to be here.' That sucks. We're here. That's where I think I've done a sh--ty job, I want to make sure we're going to go at this the proper way. I don't want regrets."
The Flyers entered Wednesday holding a playoff spot in third place of the Metropolitan Division. They're one point up on the Capitals, who have played two fewer games. The clubs meet April 16 at the Wells Fargo Center in the regular-season finale for each team.
If the Flyers are passed by Washington in the division race, they'll be battling the Red Wings and Islanders, among others, for the Eastern Conference's second wild-card berth. Detroit is one point back of the Flyers and New York two. Both teams have played one fewer game than the Flyers.
"It's about getting to another level," Tortorella said. "I do think some guys are struggling to get there and I think it can be taught. Some guys have it in them. But to get to another level, a level you don't even think you know about, that can be taught, that's part of my job. That's what I want to happen.
"Whether we succeed or not, at least we can look ourselves in the mirror at the end of it and say we tried. We're not there, we're not there now. We have time to get there but we're running out of it."
This is still a rebuilding season for the Flyers. They traded one of their best defensemen at the deadline despite their back end being depleted by injuries. Their picture in net has changed drastically over the last two and a half months.
Many will have that big-picture perspective when looking at these Flyers.
Not Tortorella. Not right now.
"If you want to win, you better not even think about going there," he said. "I'm not disrespecting the fans or you guys. We need to create our own narrative down there, we need to create our own mindset down there. That's my job, is to create that and then let's run with it. We just need to block it out. I get that, everybody has to report on stuff and everybody has their feelings and you have a perfect right to them — we need to block that out.
"To me, it's mindset. Mindset is a very important part of what we're going to talk about tomorrow as we start a six-game sprint here and find out what we're made of."
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