Tortorella: Flyers Goaltending 'Scares the Crap Out of Me'

The 2024-25 NHL season hasn't even started yet and Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella is giving us all content. Tortorella met with the media earlier this week and admitted he's very unsure about his goaltending situation and frankly, it scares the crap out of him.

Torts talked about his team's biggest wildcard and had this to say about his tandem, "We have a whole new goaltending situation this year. It scares the crap out of me, because ... it's (Samuel Ersson)'s first time really being the guy. As much as I love him mentally, I don't know how that all works out.

"So we can't get ahead of ourselves here. I love where the organization is going, I think guys have improved, but we've got some hurdles to figure out here, especially with our goaltending, because it's a whole different landscape to start a new regular season."

While Sam Ersson and Ivan Fedotov are expected to share the load, there's also been 2021 third-round pick Aleksei Kolosov, who has performed well throughout camp. When asked about how Kolosov fits in, Tortorella admitted he has no idea. 

"I have other things to worry about than that," he said. "That's why we have (goalie coach Kim Dillabaugh). I'm more concerned about (Ersson) and Fedotov as we get later in exhibition to make sure they're ready to go."

Tortorella then decided to give his team absolutely no chance at raising the Stanley Cup this season, as he tried to keep the expectations very low. "We are still building. ... It's hockey speak, 'We're here to win a Stanley Cup.' I don't believe in that. We have so much shit to do with our team before we even start talking about that stuff."

"I don't give a shit what people think. Everybody thinks you need to say, 'This is the goal,' and that's where you lose sight of how to build a hockey club as far as I'm concerned."

Hot start to the season in Philly.

Photo credit:  Eric Hartline-Imagn Images