Flyers HC Defends Player Who Didn’t Wear Pride Jersey: ‘Just Because You Don’t Agree With His Decision Doesn’t Mean He Did Anything Wrong’

Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella stood up for Flyers’ defenseman Ivan Provorov after he elected not to wear a Pride Night jersey.

Provorov was noticeably absent during the Flyers’ pregame warmup before their game against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. The Flyers hosted Pride Night at their home arena, the Wells Fargo Center. Players wore a version of their regular jerseys that had a rainbow color flag through their numbers. Provorov decided against wearing the jersey, so he was not on the ice for warmups. After the game, he met with the media in the Flyers dressing room and explained why he was not on the ice before the game.

“I respect everybody, and I respect everybody’s choices,” Provorov said. “My choice is to stay true to myself and to my religion. That’s all I’m going to say.”

On Thursday, Tortorella was at his press conference after the team’s practice and was peppered with questions about Provorov and if it would affect the team’s chemistry. The head coach defended his player.

“As I said, Provy did nothing wrong,” Tortorella said. “Just because you don’t agree with his decision doesn’t mean he did anything wrong.”

Tortorella explained how he changed his stance on players kneeling for the national anthem. In 2016, he said, “if any of my players sit on the bench for the national anthem, they will sit there the rest of the game.” He reversed course in 2020 and said, “I have learned over the years, listening and watching, that men and women who choose to kneel during this time mean no disrespect toward the flag.”

He used his own experience as an example of how people can change over time.

“They asked me if a player sits, what would you do? And what did I say? I said ‘the player would sit the rest of the game,'” Tortorella added. “I was wrong. I learned a lot through that experience. My feelings towards any type of protest to the flag during the anthem, it disgusts me, to this day. It disgusts me. It shouldn’t be done.”

“Those are my feelings; I can’t push those feelings onto someone else,” Tortorella continued. “So I was wrong in saying that back then.”

The Flyers’ head coach felt the same situation surrounded Provorov.

“Provy’s not out there banging a drum against Pride Night,” Tortorella said. “He quietly went about his business. Him and I had a number of conversations to how we’re going to do this. You have the team; you have him. You have all of this going on.”

“He felt strongly with his beliefs, and he stayed with it,” Tortorella continued.

He emphasized that he would not bench Provorov for the silent protest. An analyst on the NHL Network said he thinks the Russian defenseman should get on a plane and go fight in the war in Ukraine.

Watch above via Philadelphia Flyers.