Brad Shaw, in his third season as a Flyers assistant, will be the coach for the remainder of the season. It’s his second time as an NHL coach; he went 18-18-4 in 42 games after replacing Steve Sterling with the New York Islanders in 2005-06.
Briere said it’s too soon to determine what the Flyers will look for in their next coach.
“We’re not there yet,” he said. “This happened really quick in the last few days. It’s not like we have anything prepared. We haven’t started looking or making lists or anything like that. We have bigger things to deal with right now, making sure the mindset is in the right place, helping out Brad and his staff, addressing the team, all these things. The focus has been on the team and on the players. There’s nine games left. We’re not going to bring in a different coach. Brad is the coach to finish the season. We’ll be evaluating him and our coaches the rest of the way, that’s going to be part of it. I’m not sure exactly what we’re going to be looking for as a coach.
“One thing I can tell you is, we have a young team, so a coach that can teach is going to be important to start with. But as far as all the traits, I think it’s a little too early to really dive deep into that.”
Tortorella went 97-107-33 in three seasons with Philadelphia, missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs in his first two seasons. Last season, the Flyers were in position for a playoff spot as late as April 5 but finished four points behind the Washington Capitals for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference.
Despite the struggles, Briere credited Tortorella for establishing a foundation that the next coach will be able to build on.
“You’ve seen this team play hard over the years, they show they have a no-quit attitude ingrained in them,” Briere said. “‘Torts’ is a very big reason for that, and that standard that he set back in place and over the last three seasons.
“When I look at the team now, I feel good that those are the guys that will help us moving forward. It’s a young team, and it shows at time, that lack of experience. But the excitement of icing a young team and the prospects that are coming, makes it very exciting for me. I’m not saying that next year we’ll take a huge step forward. It’s going to be small steps. The patience part is the hardest part of a rebuild, but I feel at this time, it’s rock bottom.”
In 23 seasons as a coach with the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vancouver Canucks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Flyers, Tortorella is 770-648-165 with 37 ties. He’s ninth all-time in wins and second among United States-born coaches, after Peter Laviolette (841). On Jan. 30, Tortorella became the seventh coach, and first born in the U.S., to reach 1,600 games. He’s sixth in NHL history with 1,620.
Tortorella won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004, is 56-64 in the playoffs and a two-time winner of the Jack Adams Award voted as NHL coach of the year (2004, 2017).
At 66 years old, he was the oldest active coach in the NHL.
“Torts is a complicated man, he’s a complicated coach,” Briere said. “He’s a blast to work with because he challenges you. I truly believe he made me a better GM. I loved working with him, and I think he loved working with me. He’s not a yes-man. He had opinions and he’s earned the right to share his opinion, and we listened to him. But again, myself, Keith Jones, [Flyers governor] Dan Hilferty, we felt that at this time, it was time to move in a different direction.”
