Tortorella sets the tone
In his first day as coach of the Rangers, John Tortorella has quickly set the tone for the remainder of the season.
“Stay the f*** off the logo.”
The Rangers team logo takes up most of the carpet in the middle of the locker room, and it’s forbidden territory again. That’s one of the changes John Tortorella made yesterday as he took over as the new head coach of the Rangers, the profanity was thrown in there by head trainer Jim Ramsay, aka the enforcer.
“We talked about that,” Tortorella said. “I don’t think you walk on a logo anywhere.”
-Source: Rangers Report
It seems that Jim Schoenfeld will be in charge of the PK and the defense while Tortorella will take control of the power play and offense.
I think it’s important that the head coach has the power play. You’re dealing with a lot of your top people and I think that’s an important aspect of a head coach, getting the most out of your top people. You get to converse with them, they see the game differently than the coach does. Obviously if we’re going to win it’s going to have to produce.
On how he will run the offense:
I have always liked the pressure game. We’re gonna try to pressure… We’re not trapping. Everybody thinks it’s a defensive system; it’s a transition mechanism. But I’ve gotta be careful; I made a major mistake last year with our team in Tampa where I was too aggressive and our D couldn’t handle it and it cost us. I made a huge mistake in not changing that a little bit. I waited too long.
Mike Pelino’s new responsibilites:
Mike is going to help me in pre-scouting and tape work, hand-in-hand with Jerry Dineen. I talked to him about this and I think we need a clean break. It’s nothing to do with Mike. I think it’s good (for players) mentally to wipe the slate clean. I’ve had the trainers take down the standings and all the stats, we’ll clean that up and start over. There is going to be a philosophical change here, but there’s a couple of good guys who are out and I just don’t want them blamed.
The lines during practice:
Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev
Dubinsky-Drury-Callahan
Dawes-Korpikoski-Prucha
Sjostrom-Betts-Orr
Rozsival-Staal
Mara-Girardi
Reitz/Kalinin-Redden
Although Mara practiced with the team, he is still out for at least a few more games.
All quotes and info after the jump from Blue Notes.
About the author: Eric is an engineering student originally from Long Island, NY, currently studying at Drexel University in Philadelphia. His all-time favorite Rangers are Mike Richter and Petr Prucha. Currently, his favorite players are Henrik Lundqvist, Ryan Callahan, and Marian Gaborik. Related posts:
i think the only thing rangers fans can be at this point is optimistic, so i’m really looking forward to tonights game. hopefully this was the change they needed to get their game back but we’ll see.