2024 NHL Stadium Series: How John Tortorella's Tenacity Has Rebuilt Underdog Flyers

On October 21, 2015, Cam Atkinson received a phone call from his summer workout partner and close friend, Martin St. Louis. St. Louis wanted to warn—no, more like prepare—Atkinson for the new coach his Blue Jackets had hired: John Tortorella.

Tortorella coached St. Louis in Tampa Bay a decade prior and led the Lightning to the 2004 Cup and St. Louis to a legendary career path.

"He told me, 'If you're not going to put the effort in with Torts, you're not going to play,'" Atkinson told Bleacher Report on Thursday. "Marty said, 'He's the person who made my career for me. You're going to have ups and downs, but he's going to push you to be the best you can be.'"

Going into this season, not many expected the Flyers to even sniff a playoff spot in the bustling Metropolitan Division. But Atkinson knew a Tortorella-coached team meant a certain level of internal expectation no matter what, and now they're 29-19-7 with 65 points, tied with the Hurricanes for the No. 2 spot in the Metro.

This is a team built in Torts' image: hard working every shift and relentless to play against. This was a team expected to be battling for the top of the NHL lottery; now, Philly is two months away from playoff hockey.

And by the way, this isn't a mirage. The Flyers haven't just had good luck fall into their laps as they climbed the standings. According to Natural Stat Trick, Philadelphia ranks ninth in the league in expected goal percentage (51.93) heading into Friday. Five players have 30 points or more already this season, including All-Star Travis Konecny with 51 in 55 games.

And despite Carter Hart's absence amid the ongoing Hockey Canada investigation, backup goalie Samuel Ersson has stepped up with a respectable 15-9-4 record and a 2.55 goals-against average.

Atkinson and Tortorella spent six seasons together with the Blue Jackets before the team let go of Tortorella and traded Atkinson to the Flyers. When Philadelphia hired Tortorella ahead of this season, it was Atkinson making the calls to a team with a healthy mix of young, emerging NHLers and veterans like himself.

"I just think, everyone has bought into the ultimate goal and what we set out to do at the start of training camp. Torts expects us all to play a certain way, and if you're not gonna put the work in and give an effort day in and day out—that's one of Torts' non-negotiables—you're just not going to play," Atkinson said.

At 34 years old, 5'8" and having been selected in the sixth round of the 2008 NHL draft, Atkinson knows a thing or two at this point about proving people wrong. He epitomizes the tenacity Tortorella demands from his team.

"Listen, I think being the underdog, there's nothing wrong with being that. You control what you can control, you worry about yourselves, you don't allow the outside noise to have any effect on your play," he said.

"For the most part, any time you play for Torts, the opposing team knows it's going to be a hard night, that's just how Torts' teams play. You don't necessarily need to have all the high skill amongst each player, but we have a lot of really good players that are skilled and can make a difference.

"I think we've really bought into that—that it could be any guy on any given night that is going for us. But yeah, I've always personally liked being the underdog."

Sean Couturier, who was named captain earlier this week, admits he had the wrong impression of what it would be like playing for Tortorella.

"It's been different from what I personally thought. He's obviously a passionate coach with a lot of emotions, but he's all about team success. He does whatever he has to do to make the team win," Couturier told Bleacher Report. "That being said, he will be hard on you. But he's fair towards everyone. He's an honest coach; you'll always hear the truth out of him whether you like it or not."

You can't necessarily blame Couturier for having a certain impression of Tortorella, when the coach with 1,500-plus NHL games under his belt is notorious for his blunt soundbites, willingness to bench whomever whenever and his reputation for being a hard ass.

"Everyone always sees those little snippets of him going after people, right?" Atkinson said. "People might think he's a bad coach or a bad person. It's the complete opposite. I've known him for eight years as a coach. I've gotten to know him on a way more personal level, outside of hockey with his philanthropy work, his advocacy. I owe a lot of success to Torts."

It extends to players not currently with the Flyers as well. Who could forget Tortorella's passionate defense of Kevin Hayes last month at a press conference?

Couturier was pleasantly surprised with how involved Tortorella was in offseason moves to improve the locker room, such as the signings of Ryan Poehling and Garnet Hathaway. Atkinson said this is par for the Torts course and mentioned Tortorella has been involved in several of his contract negotiations and fought for him.

"He wants us to be a tight group," Couturier told Bleacher Report on Friday. "You can tell with the offseason we had, he made sure we made some changes with our lineup and in the locker room. I don't think our locker room was a problem in the past, but it was just a matter of finding the right group to jell and grow together. Credit to him for figuring that part out."

The Flyers first felt this vibe shift after their early-season loss to the Sharks. Instead of throwing in the towel and resigning themselves to another year of rebuilding, Couturier remembers some tough conversations, some looking in the mirror and those internal Tortorella expectations.

They all decided the emerging stars were too talented, the veterans were too hungry and the group simply liked each other too much to give up. They went on a five-game win streak featuring some of the league's best opponents in Vegas, Carolina and Los Angeles, and they knew they were onto something.

Besides, can you imagine a season full of letting Tortorella down?

"You ask any player, for the most part, 95 percent of players that have played for Torts, they wish he was their coach from start to finish," Atkinson said. "During the thick of things, he might go after you as a player, but it's one of those things where you don't really know what you have till it's gone, and he just prepares us the right way, day in and day out."

As the Flyers prepare to take the national stage Saturday night in the 2024 Stadium Series against the rival Devils, one thing is certain: They'll be prepared, and they'll bring it.