Last season, John Tortorella coached Matvei Michkov during his debut year with the Philadelphia Flyers. On Saturday, Tortorella shared a funny insight about Michkov’s unique penalty box strategy.
Matvei Michkov has not had a great start to this season, even being benched from time to time by the Flyers’ new head coach, Rick Tocchet. Through five games, he has one goal and zero assists on a Flyers team that has two wins and three losses so far this season.
READ MORE: John Tortorella once tried to fight one of his own players
John Tortorella NHL analyst
John Tortorella signed on as an NHL analyst for ESPN ahead of this season, sharing insights on the game and—of course—dishing out a few funny stories about players. Last night, it was Matvei Michkov’s turn.
During the game between the San Jose Sharks and the Utah Mammoth on Saturday, the Sharks were given a two-minute penalty for too many men on the ice, which was served by Will Smith. That reminded Tortorella in the studio of something about Matvei Michkov.
Funny Matvei Michkov story
“Michkov, with me in Philly, every time we had to put someone in the box for something like that—a delay or whatever it may be—he’d be burning a hole through me. He wants to go in the penalty box hoping to get a breakaway when the power play’s over,” Tortorella said.
Time will tell if Michkov’s penalty box strategy will get him and the Flyers going.
You can watch Tortorella tell the story below.
READ MORE: Matvei Michkov’s hilarious text to former coach Tortorella
