At the dawn of the Dan Hilferty, Daniel Brière, Keith Jones, and John Tortorella era, transparency was a key identifier that separated this regime from the one before.
A letter sent to the season ticket holders stated a message along the lines of the players that if they do not leave it all on the ice, you will not see that player very much. Sometimes, the finger has to point back at the coaching staff.
Last night, Tortorella pulled Ivan Fedotov after the first period versus the Florida Panthers. The Philadelphia Flyers (12-11-3) were down 2-0. Fedotov did not react well on the Evan Rodrigues scoring play, but the next by Niko Mikkola found the back of the net with traffic on the crease. A pair of goals on seven shots is not a good start, but the message of pulling Fedotov makes it seem like the deficit is squarely on him. It is not a fair message, and pulling Fedotov does not help confidence.
Alexei Kolosov replaced Fedotov. Did the decision light a fire under the Flyers? Possibly, but a debatable point is an increasing deficit to 3-0, followed by an eventual answer by Tyson Foerster on the powerplay, did the trick. Kolosov was unsettled versus the Panthers.
What was the point of pulling Fedotov? Where was Sam Ersson, an option per Tortorella in a post-practice press conference two days ago? The transparency fell through when Tortorella did not answer those questions in the postgame press conference following the loss to Florida.
The Postgame Press Conference vs. Florida Panthers
In fairness, Rocky Thompson spoke to the media in the pregame press conference versus the Panthers. It is not as if Tortorella disappeared suddenly after the result. He never addressed the media before or after Philadelphia hosted Florida.
But, when there are as many questions left on the table, you question why Brad Shaw takes the podium.
When asked if benching Fedotov was due to his play or if it was to wake up the bench, Shaw answered:
“[A] combo. For both reasons, it was done. It didn’t immediately help us, but it ended up being something that got us back into the game eventually.” – Brad Shaw; 12/5/2024
Following up on that question, Shaw answered about starting Fedotov after Tortorella said Ersson ‘was an option’ on Wednesday, and if Ersson is healthy:
“I’m not sure. I’m not in on those meetings on who’s in and out for goaltending. I’m not sure when he’s one hundred percent cleared. Again, I’m not in on those meetings.” – Brad Shaw; 12/5/2024
Okay, so let’s unpack this.
Not only is it debatable that benching Fedotov got the Flyers back into the game, or even if falling behind 2-0 is on his performance alone. In addition, there is no uniform clarity that Ersson is healthy to return. This matters because Tortorella, again, mentioned Ersson as an option to start.
If you are keeping tabs on the time frame for how long Ersson is supposed to be out of the lineup, the original report was one-to-two weeks. Ersson would have been available for three games, per that timetable (at NSH, vs. NYR, at STL).
Certainly, some other variables played a hand in the 7-5 loss to the Panthers at the Wells Fargo Center. Philadelphia had their worst penalty-killing performance of the season. Kolosov matched Fedotov in his performance; he did not look any more confident, played tiny in the crease at times, and let in a soft goal.
Was it necessary to pull Fedotov? It is likely a discussion that would stay in the locker room anyway, which is respectable. However, transparency would be facing a line of questioning and leaving it at that. Instead, Shaw opened a new can of worms about the health of Ersson, the unquestioned starting goaltender for the Flyers.
We will not know why Ersson did not start versus Florida. We have to settle for the answer Shaw provided about Fedotov. Frankly, when those two elements could directly correlate to Philadelphia not earning two points in what looked like a comeback versus the reigning and defending Stanley Cup champions, transparency is deserved.
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