RAGS FIRE TORTS

[DetDannyWilliams]

Rangers general manager Glen Sather announced Wednesday that Tortorella had been fired four days after his team was eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a five-game Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Boston Bruins. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=6...d=nhl:topheads

[mightysimi]

Re: RAGS FIRE TORTS

Possible landing spot for Vignault?

[Skooby]

Re: RAGS FIRE TORTS

Ruff might end up there:

http://m.nypost.com/f/mobile/sports/rangers/rangers_coach_john_tortorella_fired_o3QSNv3vysfM6ujifN1MWI

[gebobs]

Re: RAGS FIRE TORTS

I'd take Tortorella. I like him. He has Sabres cred. He's a damn good coach.

[The Jokeman]

Re: RAGS FIRE TORTS

I'd take Tortorella. I like him. He has Sabres cred. He's a damn good coach.

I doubt he'd come here to be an assistant head coach to Rolston. This is why we should have waited until the playoffs were over to find a HC. As guys always shake free our there might be a promising assistants etc.. One name am shocked the never linked to the Sabres in our HC search was Doug Houda's who's played for the Sabres, been an assistant coach for the Amerks and an assistant for the Bruins the last few years and seems to me a better pick then keeping Rolston. Of course it seems like we've been "developing" Rolston for the job so only fair he keeps it but maybe we can lure Houda away to replace Patrick/Adams but it seems only one spot be open as it would seem almost a given that Chadd Cassidy is going to get one spot.

[swiper]

Re: RAGS FIRE TORTS

I'd take Tortorella. I like him. He has Sabres cred. He's a damn good coach.

He was just fired for not taking a talented team far enough into the play-offs. He gets the same old criticism. The players don't like him and tune him out. The players were all complaining about him.

[gebobs]

Re: RAGS FIRE TORTS

He was just fired for not taking a talented team far enough into the play-offs. He gets the same old criticism. The players don't like him and tune him out. The players were all complaining about him.

Sure, I'd hate my coach too if I was one of those hotshot players and did absolutely nothing. Don't look at me! Not my fault! ;-)

The Rangers are built like the Sabres of a decade past. Smooth, swift, and full of chinks. Built for the regular season and came up against a team that is custom built for playoffs. You could have put the Briere/Drury team out there and the result would have been the same.

This round will be different and I for one will watch every game. It's going to be a great series.

[OpIv37]

Re: RAGS FIRE TORTS

you mean, coaches can be fired for one or two seasons that were decent but didn't live up to expectations? You don't have to wait for 8 or 10 underachieving seasons in 16 years to fire them? When did this happen?

[The King]

Re: RAGS FIRE TORTS

This was a move to save the GM's ass. They take on Richards and move Gaborik? They're in cap hell. Tortorella isn't the one who should be on the cutting block IMO>

[Skooby]

Re: RAGS FIRE TORTS

you mean, coaches can be fired for one or two seasons that were decent but didn't live up to expectations? You don't have to wait for 8 or 10 underachieving seasons in 16 years to fire them? When did this happen?

Torts was there for 5 seasons, not 1 or 2:

21	12	7	-	2	26	4th in Atlantic (95 Pts.)	3	4	.429	Lost in First Round (WSH)
82	38	33	-	11	87	4th in Atlantic	--	--	--	Missed Playoffs
82	44	33	-	5	93	3rd in Atlantic	1	4	.200	Lost in First Round (WSH)
82	51	24	-	7	109	1st in Atlantic	10	10	.500	Lost in Conference Finals (NJD)
48	26	18	-	4	56	2nd in Atlantic	5	7	.417	Lost in Second Round (BOS) (fired)

Though a valid point made about cutting bait in a relatively short time if someone can't get it done.

[OpIv37]

Re: RAGS FIRE TORTS

Well, the point was that it only took a couple of underachieving seasons- really just one, which wasn't even that bad- to get the boot.

[OpIv37]

Re: RAGS FIRE TORTS

This was a move to save the GM's ass. They take on Richards and move Gaborik? They're in cap hell. Tortorella isn't the one who should be on the cutting block IMO>

Rangers are in cap hell? I'll believe it when I see it.

Off the top of my head, since the last lockout they got burned on Jagr, Drury and Gomez. Yet, somehow they manage to sign Richards and Gaborik, and they've had a core group of guys like Shanahan and Lundqvist that never seem to be in danger of going anywhere.

I just don't get it. Other teams pay the price for those mistakes in terms of the cap, but the Rangers always seem to have money available somehow. It's infuriating.

[The King]

Re: RAGS FIRE TORTS

http://www.capgeek.com/rangers/

That Richards deal is going to kill them.

[gebobs]

Re: RAGS FIRE TORTS

Though a valid point made about cutting bait in a relatively short time if someone can't get it done.

How do you insert that table?

Anyhoo, as a Sabres fan, I would love to have a coach that can't get it done like that. Four appearances in five years including a conference finals sure as heck would be an improvement.

[rbochan]

Re: RAGS FIRE TORTS

Lots of folks piling on Torts; league-wide... I still like him. A great deal.

He took a very soft and entitled NYR squad to the playoffs, 4 out of 5 seasons. He finally rid the league of Avery. AND he convinced the higher-ups to shed Spotty Gomez and Wade Redden. That he managed to do what he did (after the softie-toffee Tom Renney era) with Slats at the helm? Nothing short of a miracle.

People have derided his defense-first, shot-blocking "all-in" coaching - But, this was a team that was repeatedly knocked off the puck, with Lundqvist facing nightly barrages from opposition teams. He made them more responsible - A "bread and butter" team. And when they peaked, last season, everyone had good reason to take them very seriously.

It comes down to having too many chiefs and not enough Indians - The additions of Richards AND Rick Nash were wholly unnecessary (either/or would have been fine) and typical of Sather's repeated efforts to buy superstars in an effort to win a Cup, while ignoring the need for any team to gel properly. Losing Dubinsky and Anisimov (and their scoring-contributions and chemistry) certainly hurt the Rags - Character guys; especially Dubinsky.

That analysts have speculated that Tortorella drove Gaborik out of town is not necessarily true, and if it were? So what? Gaborik's been as useless as tits on a bull since forever - Sure, he's shown flashes, but he's like Marty Havlat in the respect that he just can't stay healthy. He's been an injury-magnet his whole career. No great loss, really.

I think too many people have mistaken Torts' dealings with the media as those he has with his own team - He demands accountability, but it gets translated as though he's in some way disrespectful. He's not - He's simply a straight-shooter who's taking the fall for a team of underachievers - And he's never been one to play favorites, or allot ice-time according to cap-hit. That, in a nutshell, was the root of his downfall. The best players not being the best players when it counted most - And his response to their inability to perform.

The Brad Richards' benching (though fairly justified - We've seen other coaches do it successfully, to spark a player) was greeted with indignation; and served as the final nail in his coaching-coffin.

Unfortunately, he'd been saddled by a team built of "too-much-fancy" that too often chases the highlight-reel goal and passes up the "dirty business". And that, again, is on Slats.

I would have loved to have seen Torts in Buffalo - It would have been an interesting experiment. And I'm sure many fans would have grown fond of his no-nonsense presence. He won a Cup with a mongrel of a team, in Tampa - And they (all) still rave about how they all would have taken a bullet for him and their teammates. That's something rare and very special.

Maybe he's just too old-school for this newer generation of thin-skinned "supah-stahs". Hope he lands on his feet.