What seemed for a long time this season as inevitable finally came down Thursday, as Flyers head coach John Tortorella was fired with only nine games left in another sad season. Tortorella’s Flyers, who were apparently on their way to the playoffs last year until spinning through an eight-straight losing streak amid the final weeks of the season to drop out of contention, have appeared to lose more than mere games in the final weeks of this season. By losing 11 of their last 12 games, the Flyers went from a team that harbored dreams of a late run to get back in the playoff race at the start of March to a team that appeared to lose all interest in playing games before the month was out. They had a head coach who literally spelled out that team mood. “This falls on me,” Tortorella said Tuesday night after a 7-2 disgrace of a loss in Toronto. “I’m not really interested in learning how to coach this type … in this type of season where we’re at right now. But I have to do a better job. So this falls on me, getting the team prepared to play the proper way to get to the end.” The Flyers’ losing has spun out of control this time around. While “tanking” is a media-hyped tag in sports that doesn’t often apply to NHL teams, the Flyers’ drop out of sight certainly invites such labels. They are now 28-36-9 for 65 points. That point total is next to last in the entire Eastern Conference, with the Buffalo Sabres the lone trailing team at 64. But the Sabres had played three less games than the Flyers through Tuesday. Suffice to say the Flyers can look forward only to Draft Day, which has been a common characteristic for them in the 2020s. This year will mark the fifth straight season they’ve missed the playoffs, a streak of incompetence they last attained in the pre-Eric Lindros era of 1989 through ’94. At least during that five-season stumble they were usually in contention for a playoff run most of the season. Not so this year, where the hopes of early March seemed empty ones even then. What has happened since can be related to the trades of Joel Farabee and Morgan Foster, two young veteran players, and team leader Scott Laughton in the days leading up to and including the trade deadline. Without getting much in return, the team has swan-dived into the league dumpster, with many league observers figuring Tortorella was coaching his final season. There were even some thoughts that he’d be given a front office position while overseeing the new coach next season. As it turned out, whether it was his wish or not, he managed to get shown the door a little earlier. Assistant coach Brad Shaw, a longtime league assistant, will be an interim head coach the rest of the way. “John played a vital role in our rebuild,” said general manager Danny Briere. “He set a standard of play and reestablished what it means to be a Philadelphia Flyer. John’s passion on the bench was only equaled by his charitable work in our community. As we move into the next chapter of this rebuild, I felt this was the best for our team to move forward. I’d like to thank John for his tireless work and commitment to the Flyers.” Briere and team president Keith Jones are supposed to have the ability to find the lost key to the organizational purse strings this summer and actually play at least a modest role in free agency. Before that they’ll be players in the NHL Draft. Not only will they have a premier spot early in the first round by their own accord, they also own two other first-round picks via deals with Colorado and Edmonton. By then, they are likely to have another new coach and staff in place to see if there’s a way to escape what has become an embarrassing period of time for a once proud franchise. ...read more read less