John Tortorella in midseason form with latest fiery rant

There's absolutely no two ways about it. Fiery National Hockey League coach John Tortorella pulls no punches and tells it how he sees it - regardless of how literally anyone else feels about it. 

He's once again back behind the bench with the Philadelphia Flyers, and immediately began his rule in the City of Brotherly Love with an iron fist with his first impressions of the overall health of the dressing room. What followed was an absolutely brutal training camp in which Tortorella began whipping his guys into shape.

But, in classic Tortorella form, he's right back at it again by throwing his players under the bus with his latest comments. This time, he's calling out the attention span of today's average player.

“I think people make a big deal out of systems,” Tortorella told The Athletic's Charlie O'Connor. “There might be slight details, you may have a different philosophy of man-on-man defense versus a zone defense. But it isn’t a huge change. …I don’t think the game’s that difficult. I think we make it more – it’s not that hard to think how to play. It’s such a reactionary game, and I think that’s the most important thing, to get out of their way half the time as a coach.”

“Our systems in this game are just not that difficult,” Tortorella said. “And I’m gonna say it to you again: I was that guy. I had a book, and it was like, ‘OK, if the puck’s there, you go here. If the puck’s moved…’ It was like I’m programming you. “I feel totally opposite about the game right now. Especially with today’s athletes, and the attention span of an amoeba, as far as just getting a couple minutes out of them. And I mean that. You can’t give them that. So what outweighs the X’s and O’s is the will. That’s what you coach, is the will.”

The Flyers kick off the regular season next Thursday night with a visit from the New Jersey Devils.