The Flyers fired John Tortorella with nine games left in his third season as head coach, a campaign mired with on-ice regression.

When Philadelphia Flyers General Manager Danny Brière took the podium for his press conference on Wednesday, it wasn't to celebrate a trade acquisition or a contract extension. It was to mark the end of an era—one that had defined the early stages of the Flyers' rebuild.

Flyers general manager Danny Briere acknowledged that John Tortorella's comments in Toronto were among a "series of things that have happened" over the past three weeks that led to his decision.