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Ek on the Flyers.. Is Tortorella Confusing Michkov? Is that dangerous? |
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Last night’s win was big for one reason only. Samuel Erson got his game back, and that is important on so many levels for this team. Sam’s game is a kind of simpler game, and you could see him getting back to the basics last night. He’s got an interesting stdance,the kind of stance we really haven’t seen since the late, great Pelle Lindbergh. Sam is not a true butterfly goalie and instead goes down on his knees and moves his feet to the side once he’s down, which does protect the five-hole way more than usual butterfly goalies…
Tonight we will see Koilsov back in net, and he’s almost exactly the opposite of Erson… Kolisov is much more “early Bobrovsky-like” and he feeds off of his quickness and acrobatics… his Achilles heel is going down too soon. NHL players are gonna figure that out and it’s gonna be trouble. He has to be upright longer. Honestly, this is still the problem with Bobrovski at times..
But that’s not a big question for today.
The big question for today: Is Tortorella handling Mihckov properly… the previously hot Russian star has gone ice cold in the last six games. He’s watched his ice time fall and his power play time disappear… and has even lost his linemates that saw him get 10 points in the previous five games before this slump…
Don’t get me wrong, I believe Tortorella’s done the best coaching of his career while he’s been in Philly. And I really mean that. I think he’s learned from the past and I think he’s actually found ways to get a lot more out of some players than coaches usually do. I mean Owen Tippett and Noah Cates, both who have seen their careers thrive under Torts at this point, owe Torts a ton of credit. Many other coaches and many other teams would not have given them the ability to break through and raise their game this much. Very few would have had. the patience to get their game going like Torts has.
However, talking to players he’s coached over the years, I know John Tortorella can be a bit confusing (probably on purpose) and it can be frustrating to understand the method to his madness at times …. And you can only imagine that’s even more confusing for a guy like Matvei. Very young, new country, new language, and suddenly being benched…. I thought Matvei showed this best and could be summed up when they asked him what it felt like to be in the press box when he was benched for two games in Florida? He essentially joked, “Florida is a nice place to not have to work.”
As an aside, I’ll tell you Russians love Florida. For obvious reasons.
So my question to you is this:
Is Tortorella handling Michkov the right way?
Is what John is trying to teach getting through to him with all the language barriers and youthfulness, the kid has?
Is Matvei in a slump or fading away?
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