On Thursday the NHL announced its initial All-Star Game picks for 2023 contest that will be hosted by the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Fla. It is usually a pretty exciting moment for players and teams when the names get announced, unless you happen to be Philadelphia Flyers coach John Tortorella.
The always quotable and fiery coach simply has no time for the All-Star Game, its weekend festivities or anything involving the celebration — and especially no time for questions about it or the players who were not selected.
“I don’t even worry about that s—” said Tortorella on Thursday when asked about forward Travis Konecny being left off the roster. “The whole team, the whole weekend, I don’t even watch it. I think it’s turned into a … well, I’ll just leave it at that. I really don’t care.”
When asked a follow-up question regarding Konecny and his All-Star snub, Tortorella again said that he did not care and walked away from the podium.
Every NHL team is required to have one player represented at the All-Star Game, and the Flyers’ selection was forward Kevin Hayes. What is hilarious about that selection is that Tortorella has made Hayes a healthy scratch at times this season despite the fact he is one of the team’s leading goal scorers.
That is the kind of season it has been for the Flyers, who sit near the bottom of the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference.
The 2023 NHL All-Star weekend will take place Feb. 3-4 with the game held on Feb. 4 at 3 p.m. ET from FLA Live Arena.
