John Tortorella's reign on Broadway will begin tonight, albeit on the road, when his New York Rangers take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. It's part of a four-game slate in the NHL and you can get the lowdown on Tort's debut in the live blogging; along with the line combos, key ice time stats and general impressions.
And if you were wondering how the poolie values of Scott Gomez or Nikolai Zherdev or Markus Naslund would fare under a new coach, let the new bench boss's own words tell the tale...
"I'm not a four-line guy," the always-blunt coach told the New York Post yesterday after conducting his first practice. "Your best players need to be your decision-makers."
Big minutes for the big guns. If they work hard.
Good stuff, although it's not like the top two centres for this team weren't scoring because of lack of ice time before the coaching switch.
Gomez was already averaging 21:18 per game, while Chris Drury was at 20:31.
Zherdev (16:50) can definitely stand to benefit from more minutes. If he can take everything he's learned from both Ken Hitchcock and Tom Renney over the past few years and use it with more ice time, his progress as a player can continue. Naslund (17:57) could likely use at least a small bump up in ice time too.
Brandon Dubinsky (16:31) is a guy that Tortorella should love if the forward plays like he did in that last game vs. TOR, so maybe the new coach can get that effort more consistently than the more laid-back approach of Renney was able to accomplish. Dubinsky's the sort of guy that can get both points and PIM for fantasy leaguers and lighting a fire under him should help him realize that potential.
Zherdev and Gomez were put together at practice on one line, while Drury was centring another line with Dubinsky on the wing like we've seen at times this season under Renney.
What about Henrik Lundqvist though?
If Tortorella can invite a more inspired performance from this team then that alone should benefit the stud Swedish goalie. Lundqvist represents a significant step up from any goaltender the coach had in Tampa Bay, aside from the post-season magic during Nikolai Khabibulin's Cup run.
But does an up-tempo attack help a goaltender if his team is continually getting caught up ice by pressing too much?
"I have always liked the pressure game," he told Newsday. "We're not trapping. Everybody thinks it's a defensive system; it's a transition mechanism. But I've got to 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."
That sounds like a man with some reflection who's more than just hot air and bluster, which is a positive sign. You know what they say about those who don't learn from their mistakes...
And this guy did guide his team to a Stanley Cup, after all.
If he's able to use his "blunt force trauma" method to shock the system of the Rangers, he may be able to get that 60-minute effort that has been lacking too often in recent months.
Just please look after Hank.
Far too often he's been treated like an abandoned orphan dropped off on the front steps of a church by his teammates: careless turnovers on the power play, creating short-handed breakaway after short-handed breakaway; obvious missed assignments on an opposing team's rush, leading to wide-open spaces with which the Dixie Chicks could score and a general lack of battle toughness along the boards in the NY zone, which allowed too many quality chances against the goaltender.
The key word with Tortorella seems to be accountability though.
"I think the biggest challenge is going to be the culture shock for management," Tortorella's former boss Jay Feaster told Newsday by phone. "The guys there will find out real quick you better be on Tortorella time - if there's a 1 p.m. bus, a 1 p.m. charter, you better be there or he'll leave without you.
"And that goes for Mr. [James] Dolan, [Glen] Sather and the last guy on the roster. He holds everyone accountable and he doesn't have a politically correct bone in his body. No one, from the owner on down, is above the team."
Feaster also believes this coaching change could be good for Wade Redden, who has had a hugely disappointing season since signing that six-year, $39M contract over the summer. He has three points in his past five games, but just 20 on the season with one power play point since mid-November.
"He'll find ways for Redden to maximize his game," Feaster said. "The biggest thing for Torts is that he has a goaltender he already loves. He doesn't have to worry about where his next save is coming from."
If you're looking for John Tortorella in a nutshell, this last quote says it all...
"In Tampa, we'd get new players in and after a couple games, they'd ask to meet with me and say, 'I don't know what it is. Torts hates me,'" Feaster said. "I'd say, 'Don't worry - he hates all of us equally.'"
