I'd say his biggest success so far has been his ability to whip, or even scare players into shape before the season. (There will be no Albert Haynesworths here! ) Other than that I think just his preference and insistence on seeing youth is a success in and of itself. Also he's very good at calling time outs and organizing a plan at a major point in the game. He's won us a couple games this way. All in all I like Tortorella, and I like how our future looks. I see Torts as the guy who leads us to our next cup, but I wouldn't expect that to happen any time soon. I'm talking like around the 2013'-2014' season, earliest.
At the moment I'm not a big fan of his. I guess it could change. If I were to guess he's got to get the team back into the playoffs this year or quite likely he's going to be replaced. Renney was more or less 3 for 3. He's 1 for 2 if you consider his short season. As for future cups down the road I don't know. A lot of things will have to break right for us to become a contender. Players like Kreider, Stepan, Grachev, McDonagh, McIlrath will all have to turn into impact players. At least to me it seems unlikely we're going to buy our way there. As well Dubinsky, Anisimov, Staal and Del Zotto are going to have to get better. That may have more to do with us becoming contenders than whatever a coach does.
The only success Tortarella has had as the Rangers coach is making himself look like an ass in the media. You want to give this guy credit for a youth movement???? This guy would like nothing better than to fill his cubbard with guys with "jam", lmao. He's a terrible coach that can only win with a team stacked with talent, and that my friends is not your NY Rangers.
Now granted he has only been here for 100 games, so I do not necessarily blame him for anything wrong with the organization, but Staal, cally, dubi, girardi, were already with the big club, and AA and MDZ were known to be on their way.
Tortarella crushes confidence in young players and its no surprise to me that TB cut him loose when they went into retool mode. If Tom Renney had 2-3 more years to finish retooling this team, and then we brought in Torts i'd be a little more positive, because I do believe Torts is a finisher and can win the cup ala mike keenan, but he is not one to build a franchise and my biggest fear now is that I'm going to be watching a team full of average talent try and run and gun with the big dogs and before we all know it Hank will be 33 and we'll still be cupless looking in a new direction...
Put Tort's behind the Blackhawks bench last year and they still win the cup.
Even our Zamboni driver has failed us. The one in Chicago has a ring.
I don't think it's unbelievable at all. There wasn't a whole lot of happiness in last season's outcome. Missed playoffs. Wild inconsistency. Anemic offense. Pourous defense. Unprepared. Poor line matching. Restless line combos. Some of it rests squarely on the coach's shoulders. The only truly unbelieveable thing here is how deep into the barrel one is willing to scrape to find a single scrap of "success" for this team. I mean, the two successes mentioned in the OP was: 1) he's good at scaring people and 2) he knows when to call a timeout. Really? What should we chalk up to success next year if the Rangers miss the PO's again? The knot in his tie? The cut of his hair?
What seems to be conveniently ignored is the idea that Torts was supposed to take the Rangers to the next level. Renney had taken them as far as he could. Seems to me Torts has them going backwards.
Now granted he has only been here for 100 games, so I do not necessarily blame him for anything wrong with the organization, but Staal, cally, dubi, girardi, were already with the big club, and AA and MDZ were known to be on their way.
MDZ was "known to be on [his] way"?? If you don't give him any credit for MDZ's development then there is no hope.
At least you don't "blame him" yet. But wait, do you? See next quote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by DubiDubiDoo
Tortarella crushes confidence in young players and its no surprise to me that TB cut him loose when they went into retool mode.
Evidence. Where is it? We all know certain star centers making $10mil a season had their best years under Tortorella. We know he won a cup with a young Tampa team. We know his first season in Tampa was out of playoffs. His second was a second round exit. His third was the SC. He helped build it, in other words. Come on. Evidence.
How about this November 4, 2009 quote from MDZ in the Post?
Quote:
"The most important thing is the way the coaching staff and team welcomed me," Del Zotto said. "They made me feel comfortable since the first day I got here.
What seems to be conveniently ignored is the idea that Torts was supposed to take the Rangers to the next level. Renney had taken them as far as he could. Seems to me Torts has them going backwards.
Man, you have to break down a system to install a new one. Give him another year. It will move forward.
What seems to be conveniently ignored is the idea that Torts was supposed to take the Rangers to the next level. Renney had taken them as far as he could. Seems to me Torts has them going backwards.
Agreed 100%. Remember all those arguments after Renney got fired, and how Tortorella was the one to take this team to the next level? At its core, from a personnel standpoint, Renney had a top 5 goaltender and an elite scorer and was able to guide those teams to the playoffs every season....Last season, Tortorella had a top 5 goaltender and an elite scorer and missed out, with a 60 game swoon in the middle of the season. Im leaving out the 2008-2009 season on the resume of both because, simply put, that was one of the worst Ranger rosters I've ever seen.
But beyond personnel, I just dont think Tortorella is the right coach for this team. Theres just simply not enough talent, and he doesnt strike me as the kind of guy with the know-how and patience to bring a team along. Hes the kind of guy you bring in to kick the ***** of underachievers....not so much the case here...this team just isn't very good.
I like Torts' no nonsense, blunt approach, but I think he takes it too far sometimes... for instance.. if someone (i.e. Dubi) messes up in the first period, I don't think the player should be benched for the REST OF THE GAME.. maybe skip 2-3 shifts and that's it.. it impacts the other players' stamina.. Torts did it quite a bit since he took over.
Never been a Torts guy and doubt I ever will be. I just don't think that he is what the team needs and nothing he has shown in his antics make me believe in him.
Agreed 100%. Remember all those arguments after Renney got fired, and how Tortorella was the one to take this team to the next level? At its core, from a personnel standpoint, Renney had a top 5 goaltender and an elite scorer and was able to guide those teams to the playoffs every season....Last season, Tortorella had a top 5 goaltender and an elite scorer and missed out, with a 60 game swoon in the middle of the season. Im leaving out the 2008-2009 season on the resume of both because, simply put, that was one of the worst Ranger rosters I've ever seen.
But beyond personnel, I just dont think Tortorella is the right coach for this team. Theres just simply not enough talent, and he doesnt strike me as the kind of guy with the know-how and patience to bring a team along. Hes the kind of guy you bring in to kick the ***** of underachievers....not so much the case here...this team just isn't very good.
A lot of the mindset was (and maybe it was misreading the situation) was that the team was close. That Renney's system was stifling untapped offense. Safe is death was indeed death. So the made the change to the complete opposite type of coach and they have not seen the same degree of success.
I don't want to turn this into another Renney v Torts thread, but I don't recall Renney making all the excuses that Torts has in a shorter amount of time. "Let's take buses" "I don't like the room" "We need to get younger".
Personally, I think Torts' tenure has been tainted by the act he pulled in the playoffs.
I like Torts' no nonsense, blunt approach, but I think he takes it too far sometimes... for instance.. if someone (i.e. Dubi) messes up in the first period, I don't think the player should be benched for the REST OF THE GAME.. maybe skip 2-3 shifts and that's it.. it impacts the other players' stamina.. Torts did it quite a bit since he took over.
Devils advocate:
What if it was Wade Redden who messed up? Would you still think being benched for the rest of the game was too extreme?
People (not saying you personally) called for accountability. That needs to be a team-wide thing. Not just for the scapegoat du jour.
Never been a Torts guy and doubt I ever will be. I just don't think that he is what the team needs and nothing he has shown in his antics make me believe in him.
I think the antics would be seem differently, or at least be easier to swallow, if the team was better.
Having Jokinen, Kotalik, Higgins, Lisin, Boyle, Brashear and EC as a 1st line center and still battling for a playoff spot at the end of the season - how can you say there was not at least some success? Not to mention three rookies on the squad.
What if it was Wade Redden who messed up? Would you still think being benched for the rest of the game was too extreme?
People (not saying you personally) called for accountability. That needs to be a team-wide thing. Not just for the scapegoat du jour.
I h8 Redden and Drury with every fiber of my being, but I would be mad if they were benched for the rest of the game depending on when it happened... if early in the game then that means more minutes for everyone... not a fan of that.. or if it's midway through the game and we're losing.. again more minutes for everyone bad... but if it's somehow a blowout in our favor or if we're winning with 10 min left in the 3rd.. i wouldn't mind a benching.
Also as much as I h8 Redden, he can play 20+ minutes.. not that he'll be GOOD, but he can do it.. the youts like MDZ and Gilroy (please become a fwd) can't play that many minutes like Redden or Rozsival.
) Other than that I think just his preference and insistence on seeing youth is a success in and of itself. Also he's very good at calling time outs and organizing a plan at a major point in the game. He's won us a couple games this way. All in all I like Tortorella, and I like how our future looks. I see Torts as the guy who leads us to our next cup, but I wouldn't expect that to happen any time soon. I'm talking like around the 2013'-2014' season, earliest.
