The Philadelphia Flyers head coach wasn’t in the mood to talk too long with the press. Reporter Andrew Gross wrote the coach “made it clear several times what a rush he was in” while talking to the reporters. Who could blame him? Losing two back-to-back matches isn’t something any coach would be stoked about. However, the fact the New York Islanders signed Tony DeAngelo may have also contributed to the coach’s reluctance to talk.

Unfortunately, that meant the head coach, John Tortorella, had to face questions about the signing, amidst their loss. Unsurprisingly, Tortorella wasn’t too keen on divulging his thoughts about their rivals signing an ex-Flyer who didn’t have a particularly smooth relationship with his former coach. So the 66-year-old tactfully sidestepped talking about the $775,000 signing.

“I’m glad Tony is getting another chance. There are a lot of good things about Tony DeAngelo,” said the Flyers coach, according to beat reporter Stefen Rosner. However, the coach didn’t have anything bad to say about the player; he avoided saying anything at all. “Just text him. I’m happy he’s getting a chance. But other than that, I’m not getting into a conversation,” the coach added.

Although the coach refused to give any opinions about Tony DeAngelo, he was happy that the former Flyers star found his way back to the league. After leaving the Flyers in 2023, the 29-year-old signed with the Carolina Hurricanes but played only 31 games before moving to KHL in Russia. Now, after playing 34 games with SKA Saint Petersburg, he is back in the NHL.

DeAngelo will play the rest of the 2024-25 season with the Islanders with a minimum salary of $775,000. If you’re wondering why the New York Islanders chose the former Hurricanes players, it’s probably because they wanted to fill the void Noah Dobson has left. Dobson, also an offensive defenseman, is on a week-by-week consideration basis after sustaining a lower-body injury.

However, surprisingly, even Islanders coach Patrick Roy avoided talking about their newest signing. “I’m not gonna talk about him right now,” Roy said during a press conference. Yet, there’s a good reason why John Tortorella avoided talking about Tony DeAngelo.

Tony DeAngelo and John Tortorella shared a lot of friction

Although it’s been over a year since the 29-year-old left the Philadelphia Flyers, what the ice hockey veteran said after his dismissal revealed the fit that the NHL player had with his coach. “Obviously the coach and I wound up not fitting together; I guess that would be the main reason for leaving the team and being a free agent again,” DeAngelo said in 2023.

Yet, this wasn’t the only time the player had voiced his disapproval at the Flyers coach. Tony DeAngelo also voiced his disapproval when John Tortorella benched him during the final five games of the 2022-23 regular season. He called it a “ridiculous” move. However, the former Flyer did mention that he didn’t have anything personal against the coach.

“It was kind of just a mutual disagreement on a bunch of things that I won’t get into,” DeAngelo explained in 2023. However, Tortorella’s latest comment on DeAngelo seems to indicate that there was no love lost between the pair. And while the defenseman has had his troubles on and off the court during his time with the Flyers, it seems coach Tortorella simply wanted to let bygones be bygones.