Matvei Michkov has nothing but good things to say about John Tortorella

It’s no secret that Flyers rookie and Russian heartthrob Matvei Michkov is beloved in the city of Philadelphia. On the contrary, it’s well known that his former coach, John Tortorella, is widely regarded as a bad coach/terrorist by many fans.

However, Matvei Michkov recently pushed back on that characterization, calling Torts one of the best coaches he’s ever had in a recent interview:

Matvei spoke candidly about his relationship with Tortorella.

"If you worked hard in practice,
if you played hard for him, he trusted you"

Also funny stories about Zamula, Kolosov, Fedotov, English and many other things. pic.twitter.com/fMnAiwrazP

— Uggg (@Uggg_uggg) April 26, 2025

I’m far from a hockey expert, but I share a pretty similar stance on Torts. Was he the right guy to lead this team into the future? No, I don’t believe so. That said, I think he was perfect for Michkov’s first year.

If you can get in Torts’ good graces and play for him, you can play for anybody. Matvei got a taste and is now ready to take the next step in what is sure to be an incredible career.

At the same time, though, calling Torts one of the best coaches he’s ever had is a low bar, at least at the pro-level. His coach at SKA St. Petersburg was Roman Rotenberg, who appointed himself coach without any previous experience and basically refused to play Michkov.

There’s actually a passage on him in a book I’m reading called Putin’s Kleptocracy by Karen Dawisha, and the dude is genuinely nuts. But that’s another story for another time.

At any rate, the full video is worth a watch. Matvei Michkov is wise beyond his years.

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