With the New York Rangers being knocked out in five games by the Boston Bruins this evening, there is no doubt that many Blueshirt fans will be clamoring for head coach John Tortorella to be fired.
These fans will claim that it was his fault that the power play did not work, that it was his fault they were overmatched and that it was his fault the team’s offence was not consistent enough. While Rangers fans can obviously feel the way they want to, this kind of thinking does not solve anything.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at why the Rangers should keep Tortorella behind the bench going into next season.
Defensive play
With Tortorella behind the bench, the Rangers have become one of the league’s best defensive teams in the league.
Since the 2010-11 season, the Rangers have finished fifth, third and fourth in the league, respectively, in goals against. While a lot of that has to do with the play of their star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, it also has to do with the style of the team as a whole.
In his four-plus seasons as the team’s head coach, the Rangers have become a defence-first hockey club and because of that, they are in more games than not. They block a lot of shots, deflect a lot of passes and create turnovers with their aggressive forechecking.
Some playoff success
While the Rangers were knocked out in the first round in the 2009-10 and 2011-12 seasons, Tortorella has been able to find a way to have some success in the post-season with the Blueshirts.
Last season, Tortorella was able to get the Rangers to within two wins of their first Stanley Cup final since 1994. He was also able to help his team survive two tough Game 7s against the Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals.
This season, the Rangers came back from both a 2-0 and 3-2 series deficit to beat the Capitals in seven games. In Games 6 and 7, his club was able to shut out the Capitals and during the series, did a great job of shutting down Capitals all-star Alex Ovechkin.
Sticks by his team
Based on what he said regarding Brad Richards being scratched in Game 4 against the Bruins, it is apparent that Tortorella has his team’s back.
Tortorella is a guy that coached Richards for a long time, won a Cup with him in Tampa and helped make him one of the best players in the game and yet put the interest of his hockey club ahead of his relationship with Richards. It ended up paying dividends as the Rangers went on to win Game 4 in overtime.
It was also easy to see that the Rangers responded to Tortorella by buying into his system. They went out and played physical, blocked a ton of shots and more often than not, were unselfish with their style of play.
Right man for the job
It may be tough for Rangers fans to see and believe this right now but Tortorella is the right coach for this hockey club. He may have to adjust his team’s style of play a bit to fit the makeup of his roster but if he can do that, the Rangers will have success and win more than they will lose.
