Sabres notebook
Struggling Rangers enacted Torts law
NEW YORK—When New Yorkers saw the big-name Rangers lollygagging through games, they wanted a new coach. But not just any coach. They wanted someone to come in and take control, someone who wouldn’t go easy on the millionaires going through the motions.
They wanted John Tortorella. They got him, and it’s working exactly as planned.
The former Sabres assistant and Rochester Americans coach took over the Rangers on Feb. 23. After Saturday’s 5-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres, the Rangers are 7-3-1 under Tom Renney’s replacement.
Tortorella has earned a reputation as a tyrant. He’s outspoken with players and reporters, and he’s not afraid to confront or criticize either group.
But the 50-year-old coach said Saturday that label is a bit of a fairy tale.
“It all gets blown out of proportion as far as that I’m some sort of lunatic that’s constantly screaming at players and kicking them,” Tortorella said in Madison Square Garden. “No, I care about the players. But I’m going to coach them. I am going to coach them. Some players don’t like to be coached, but I’m going to coach them.”
Tortorella’s coaching style was validated in 2004 when he guided the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Stanley Cup. Broadway hopes he can produce a similar act with a team that was not living up to expectations.
“I have a philosophy of how a team should play, and whether they accept me or what, I’m going to put that philosophy to them,” Tortorella said. “It’s up to them to accept it.
“We’ll have conversations along the way. I’m not here for a popularity contest. I’m here to develop a team concept that I believe in, looking at the people you have within your club, and try to find the right recipe to win hockey games. If some guys don’t accept it, I really don’t give a damn. It’s about coaching and helping the New York Ranger organization win hockey games.”
Despite ruffling feathers, Tortorella wins. The Boston native has more victories than any American-born coach after passing Peter Laviolette (245) last week.
“Sometimes we may create a little bit of a conflict as you go through a long season, but I think that’s healthy,” Tortorella said. “I really do. I think if you go through conflict and you work through it like men—as long as it’s under the umbrella of ‘team concept’—I think you become tighter, individually with a coach and player, and as a coach to a team.”
Where he would not introduce conflict Saturday was while discussing Renney. The mild-mannered coach spent five years with the Rangers, going 164-121-42. But the Rangers were on a 2-7-3 skid when he was let go, and it was apparent Renney’s style wasn’t working.
Enter the short-fused Torts.
“I don’t think it’s [that I’ve] changed everything because Tom was doing it the wrong way. He wasn’t doing it the wrong way,” Tortorella said. “He did a hell of a job here. Every coach has a different philosophy.”
•••
Chris Butler didn’t get to celebrate his first NHL goal, but his friends and family did. The Sabres defenseman scored just before time expired in Friday’s 6-4 loss to Philadelphia, a result that puts a damper on every player’s dream moment.
But the calls and messages came quickly, and Butler was able to appreciate the goal Saturday.
“It’s a pretty neat accomplishment, one I’ll certainly remember for a long, long time,” Butler said.
Milestone goals are always memorable, but not for Butler’s teams. He got a smile while recalling his first collegiate goal while at the University of Denver. It came against Maine.
“That was, I think, the first goal of the game, and we ended up losing, 4-1, or something like that,” Butler said. “We got spanked.”
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