Flyers vs. Devils 2024 Stadium Series: Sights, scenes and Tortorella’s trust originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — John Tortorella has said it before and he reiterated it again Friday.
He trusts his team.
With the Flyers in the stretch drive of a surprise playoff push, they’re breaking away from the norm this weekend.
The 2024 Stadium Series, an outdoor event and the festivities that come with it, a venue lit up with attractions and national promotion.
The Flyers square off with the Devils in prime time Saturday at MetLife Stadium (8 p.m. ET/ABC).
And Tortorella isn’t worried about reining in his players.
“I’m leaving them alone,” the Flyers’ head coach said Friday after his team’s outdoor practice and family skate. “We had our practice, we probably won’t meet tomorrow. I’m thankful we were able to get them out there for a half hour with their families to let them enjoy it. I trust our team. I want them to enjoy the experience. They’ll be ready to play. I don’t have to worry about that because I know they’ll be ready to play.”
‘The word belief is huge for us’
Sean Couturier echoed his head coach.
Named the team’s captain just two days ago, Couturier doesn’t anticipate making a pregame speech.
“I trust every single guy in the room,” he said. “I think we’ve done a great job all year of handling ourselves and growing as a team. I haven’t really had much to say all year, to be honest, because guys are on the task and ready to go.”
The Flyers have flipped a rebuilding narrative into a postseason run. They’re in third place of the Metropolitan Division and entered Friday with a 78 percent chance to make the playoffs, according to Hockey-Reference.com’s probabilities report. At 29-19-7 and with 27 games left, they’re only three wins away from surpassing last season’s total (31-38-13).
“The word belief is huge for us,” Tortorella said. “We’re not a team full with stars, we certainly don’t have things figured out here at the beginning of our process of rebuilding this, but belief brings in a lot of good things. If you have the effort and you have the mindset that we’re going to do this together, you can stay competitive in this league.”
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