Hot-headed Tony DeAngelo takes high road after John Tortorella benches defenceman following Flyers’ 6-2 loss to Leafs

<strong>Hot-headed Tony DeAngelo takes high road after John Tortorella benches defenceman following Flyers’ 6-2 loss to Leafs</strong>

Tony DeAngelo and John Tortorella [Image Credit: Hockey Feed/Sports Illustrated]

Both Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Tony DeAngelo and coach John Tortorella are hot-headed players, but it seems Tony’s time with New York Rangers has calmed him down a bit. Following another disappointing loss to Toronto Maple Leafs, Tortorella burst out benching the defenceman for 40 minutes.

Tortorella mentioned how it’s been a while since a team has “spanked” the Flyers down a notch to bring them to reality. The team’s thunderous fall to the Leafs snapped the Flyers’ season-best winning streak to 4 games. Currently, the team is running with a total score of 15-18-7 while the Leafs carry a 25-9-7 score.

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Though Flyers forwards Travis Konecny and Nicolas Deslauriers scored for the team, they weren’t powerful enough to stop the incoming Leafs’ force. The Flyers served the whole 2022-23 season with one after another disappointing match only to find steam in the last few games against lesser competition. It was until the Leafs squashed them recently.

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Related: “It’s a young, dumb league” – John Tortorella’s classic reply keeps media and fans on their toes

Tony DeAngelo voices after John Tortorella benches defenceman

Tony DeAngelo [Image Credit: Bladeofsteel]
Tony DeAngelo [Image Credit: Bladeofsteel]

According to NBC Sports, John Tortorella commented, “We self-destruct the s— out of ourselves”. “You just can’t overcome some of the things we give them for free. And I’m not taking anything away from Toronto. They played a good game. But just too many things for free.”

Leafs’ alternate captain Mitchell Marner cut off the Flyers’ ability to soar as he got ample time to dish out assists in Leafs 1st and 3rd goals. Although he wasn’t the only player who uplifted the team, Calle Jarnkrok and John Tavares had 1 goal and 2 assists, and Conor Timmins with 1 goal and 1 assist.

Tortorella said, “Our structure defensively, time and space, sticks, they made a lot of plays through us”. “We weren’t sharp. We weren’t. We haven’t gotten spanked like that in a while — and we deserved it. Not only through self-destruction, but our positioning, just everything about our game defensively, we just weren’t on it.”

During the game, Torts benched Tony DeAngelo for 40 minutes at the game at Wells Fargo Center. When asked during a post-game interview how Tony felt, he replied, “Nothing was good. Everyone gets sat, but I respond trying to get ready for another game and try to get better.” 

Torts refused to reply to interview questions regarding Tony, only stating, “You know im not going to discuss this”. Considering both of them are hotheads, this is a significant change in Tony. his high-road take has been discussed and praised by fans. Nevertheless, the Flyers’ disappointing loss is sure to stink for a while. 

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