Bruce Boudreau hits back at John Tortorella after latest fiery rant

Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella, never one to shy away from speaking his mind and holding all players accountable, has raised more than a few eyebrows this season by scratching captain Sean Couturier for two straight games. 

Additionally, he was at it again this week, throwing his entire team under the bus after an overtime loss at home to the New York Islanders, ripping them as "soft" and saying that only goaltender Ivan Fedotov showed up to play; the towering Russian goaltender replaced Samuel Ersson in net after he allowed two goals on six shots.

“There are certain people who don’t have a clue how to play, or just don’t have it in them, to play in these situations," Tortorella said. "That’s why I’m glad we’re playing in them, because we have to figure things out as far as what we’re going to become as a team. 

“That was embarrassing in the second period for the Philadelphia Flyers uniform. High marks how we came back in the third, for some guys.”

But are his antics becoming too much? Former NHL head coach Bruce Boudreau, currently serving as an analyst with TSN, had this to say: 

"I'll get into this, but who am I to critique, quite frankly, one of the most successful coaches in the League? But I'll say this. I played for 18 years, and after a while, to me, it starts to go in one ear and out the other.

I looked at the game last night ,and what I saw when they tied it up to make it 3-3 on the bench and ice, these guys care and give it all they have. I'd hate for that to happen and to come off, you're disappointed that you didn't get the extra point. But to say that nobody on the team except for one player was any good, if that's the way I read it wen I was listening, I just don't think that's the right way to go about it.

You've given them crap, you've scratched your captain, and to hear that the coach said nobody played well and there was only one guy; and the only reason he said the one guy, the big goalie, is because he just got there and doesn't want to come down on him too early.

On the other hand, no one knows the room like he does. He knows how far he cam push these guys, and he thinks he can push them further. From an outsider looking in, I think they've been pushed enough.....I think it was too much last night. When I watched that, I said, 'Oh no, here we go again. What's he doing?'" 

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