Flyers players can't handle John Tortorella's first practice
Safe to say that the Philadelphia Flyers players have their hands full with their new head coach, John Tortorella. Torts opened day one of the Flyers training camp with his notorious bag skate.
The long-time coach began his camp with 27 minutes of nonstop skating, which would be followed up with more...nonstop skating.
Included in these sessions would be the lengthening of the crease, as the laps would increase over 17 minutes.
''There's going to be harder skates than today as we go through camp. It's not to pound our chest and just bury them. We want to test them and it develops a camaraderie. They kind of look at you like, 'You're not going to get to me.' I think that's the attitude we're trying to develop is a will.''
Several players, including defenseman Tony DeAngelo to prospect Mason Millman, were worn out by the gruelling bag skates. After their 17 minutes were finished skating circle to the crease, Torts followed it up with 10 minutes of back-and-forth goal-line skates.
It sounds like Torts will never live down the hard-nosed coaching style that has earned him a polarizing stance across the league.
MUST READ
