The most compelling team in town right now is the Philadelphia Flyers, and for what I think is the first time in history, we have a team official clarifying a response that included zero words:

Tortorella was asked about Sandstrom Sunday night and responded by saying absolutely nothing.

He put his hands up twice, then dropped them on the podium:

Taken at face value, the gesture equated to “what the hell do you want me to say?” We all watched Sandstrom give up 3 goals on 14 shots. The Carter Hart charges forced Sam Ersson into the starting role and threw the backup goaltender situation out of whack. So by saying nothing at all, Torts was essentially giving us some sort of “it is what it is” and “what do you expect?” combination, delivered telepathically into our brains.

This could be a new public relations technique. Just have the player or the coach go up there and stand in total silence, like Markelle Fultz back in the day, when we asked him about his shoulder and he just stared into the abyss. Or like Fletcher Cox on that Zoom call, just looking into the screen with an empty gaze. Then a flak comes out the next day and says, “what Markelle really meant is that he’s working hard to get back into game shape, and he’s excited about being back with the team.” It’s a bold strategy Cotton! Let’s see if it pays off.