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Despite having been around since it was first pulled off in 1996,  the “Michigan Move” — in which a player scoops the puck onto the blade of their stick and sticks it into the top corner of the net — has only been a semi-common sight in the NHL over the last few years.

While most fans enjoy it, Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella absolutely hates it and has said many times that he doesn’t think it belongs in the game.

However, he’s now admitting that he has lost this battle, and it looks like it’s because of Flyers rookie sensation Matvei Michkov.

Michkov loves to try the Michigan move, and he tried it again on Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings and nearly made it happen.

That was as close as the 20-year-old rookie has gotten to making that move work in a game, but I think everyone who saw that play thought to themselves, “What is Torts going to think about this one?”

Well, we know.

“I’ve lost the battle. I don’t think it should be in our game, but I’ve lost that battle,” Tortorella said when asked about Michkov’s latest attempt to pull off the move.

“I have talked to him earlier in the year when he was doing it every time and it was just turnovers,” Tortorella said. “The thing I want him to understand is he’s just such a good player at moving the puck and passing the puck, when he’s behind the net he’s dangerous to make plays.”

Tortorella said that he wants Michkov to recognize that there are other plays he can make from behind the net, and he’s right. As fun as the Michigan move is, it’s a high-risk play. If it doesn’t work — and the overwhelming majority of the time — you’re coughing up the puck.

I don’t think we’ve seen the end of Matvei Michkov trying the Michigan move let alone a bunch of other players in the NHL, and it looks like Tortorella has come to terms with that.