John Tortorella comments on taking Jay Woodcroft under his wing
Former Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft is unfortunately out of a job for the upcoming NHL season, but a legendary coach has taken him under his wing.
Flyers coach John Tortorella has allowed Jay Woodcroft to attend Flyers training camp to observe and learn from Tort's coaching. Earlier today, Tortorella commented on his relationship with Woodcroft.
- John Tortorella on Jay Woodcroft
It's cool to see Tortorella, a coach famous for his temper and intensity, welcome in a coaching brother into training camp and earnestly try to teach him something. Tortorella has routinely been able to get great results out of subpar rosters and is a Cup Champion himself, so Woodcroft is smart to seek his knowledge.
Jay Woodcroft made his pro coaching debut with the Edmonton Oilers after taking over for Dave Tippett in the 2021-22 season. He coached the team to a good record of 79-41-13, but after the disastrous start to last season, needed to take the fall for the team's failure. It didn't look great on Woodcroft that Knoblauch was instantly able to turn the team around into a contender, but Jack Campbell's poor goaltending to start the year arguably cost Woodcroft his job. After a brutal loss in San Jose, Woodcroft knew he was about to be fired.
For his coaching style, Woodcroft could be described as a mix between elements of old-school hockey and analytics based decisions. It could be tough to get a job when teams usually want to commit to either direction, but Woodcroft will surely be back behind an NHL bench in time. Hopefully this endorsement from John Tortorella helps that process.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 21 | 81 ANSWERS John Tortorella comments on taking Jay Woodcroft under his wing Do you think Jay Woodcroft will be an NHL coach again soon? | ||
| Yes | 62 | 76.5 % |
| No | 19 | 23.5 % |
| See Results | 0 | 0 % |
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