All John Tortorella

2 years ago  /  Kuklas Korner

from Adam Kimelman of NHLcom


NHL.com caught up with Tortorella to discuss several topics, including the change in mindset and standards that come with his arrival, where he draws motivation, his relationship with defenseman Tony DeAngelo, and more.

Do you think the players have an understanding of what the expectation level will be, starting with training camp?

"No, I don't. That's certainly not a criticism to them. They don't know because we haven't gone through any experiences. They haven't gone through camp, they haven't gone through some of the mental and physical tests that we're going to go through in camp. We haven't gone through any adversity when the season starts. ... I don't like using the word culture. To build to play the right way, with the right standard, you have to go through some experiences and teaching them, 'Geez, that was really good,' and then, 'Holy [cow], that is not good enough,' with video, with conversations, with all sorts of ways, and spontaneous coaching, quite honestly, when things happen, good and bad. That's how you create a standard. You and I and me and the players could sit here and talk all summer long about what the standard is. That means nothing until you start going through some of the things and then see how they react to it."

Defenseman Tony DeAngelo was the Flyers' biggest acquisition. Is the power play where he'll have the biggest impact?

"Absolutely, but he's going to add juice to our team all over the place. There's a lot of talk about how he's handled himself; I'm sure he knows he's made some mistakes. We've all made mistakes publicly with our mouths and our actions in life, but the thing I love about Tony is I may have to tame him at certain times, but I'd much rather have a player that has that intensity and that will that he shows and the competitiveness that he shows. He'll do some stupid stuff, and he's going to say some stupid stuff, but we'll work through it together. He may have to be tamed at certain times, but I think that's what this team needs. I think the team needs a little bit of personality and a little bit of that [stuff] that goes on with it. He's going to be a huge part of our power play as far as the way he can handle the puck, the way he comes across the blue line. Just the way he plays, he's a huge piece to the puzzle here."


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