The last words that John Tortorella said in his press conference after what turned out to be his last game as coach of the New York Rangers ring as true as anything he ever said on the job.
You go to the conference finals and everybody thinks the next step is the Stanley Cup Finals Tortorella said Saturday after the Rangers were eliminated by the Boston Bruins in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. We're a different team. You may not like it you may think it's an excuse but we are a different team. But we still are one of the top eight teams playing at this time. We've gotten to play 30 playoff games the last two years. Some teams would lick their chops to do that.
If the Rangers decide to push the pace Rick Nash would be a good place to start. (AP Photo)TORTS OUT Fired after playoff loss Lack of depth hurt
So I know you always look for that end goal to get to the Finals and get that opportunity. We didn't. The responsibility falls on me. One of the big things in this series is I could not and it does it falls on me it's a big part of my job is to get your top players to play consistently and I couldn't do that. We tried. So I need to take some responsibility to try to get them in those spots to help us here. I thought that hurt us a little bit.
Tortorella routinely spoke about the process with the Rangers whether it was in reference to the team as a whole or individual players. Part of the reason that he lost his job is that New York's run to the Eastern Conference finals in 2012 led to a belief that the Rangers were further along in their process than they may actually have been.
The 2011 12 Rangers finished first in the Eastern Conference aided by a 21 5 7 record in one goal games and the fact that Sidney Crosby played only 22 games for a Pittsburgh Penguins team that finished one point behind New York which was blessed with remarkable health. Seven Rangers played all 82 games last season Brian Boyle Marian Gaborik Dan Girardi Ryan McDonagh Brandon Prust Brad Richards and Derek Stepan the most full season stalwarts of any team in the NHL.
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A team that had squeaked into the 2011 playoffs skipped a step in the process and that led to thoughts that they were better than they really were. Were they one of the eight best teams in the league Yes they have gotten that far. But they are not one of the top four let alone the top two. Playing a similar style to the Bruins the Rangers did not measure up and while some of that is on Tortorella some of it has to do with roster construction Boston simply has a deeper team better suited to play the grinding four line game that got a Stanley Cup for Claude Julien's squad in 2011 and for the Los Angeles Kings last year.
The Bruins and Kings are in the conference finals now as are the Penguins and Blackhawks two teams who have taken the NHL's other path to success. Where Boston and Los Angeles thrive on physical play dominant defense stellar goaltending and players with a nose for the puck around the net Pittsburgh and Chicago favor forwards with flair smooth operating defensemen and role players who fill in the gaps.
New York stands at a crossroads because the Rangers' roster could be tailored to either style. Tortorella tried to play the grind game but it did not work because he did not have enough depth even with Henrik Lundqvist the best goaltender on the planet on his side. The Rangers might not have the kind of flashy firepower of the Penguins and Blackhawks but Rick Nash is a fine player to build around with Stepan still waiting to celebrate his 23rd birthday in June after leading New York in scoring this season.
If the Rangers buy out a declining Brad Richards they can afford to add the sort of player who might give them a chance to trade goals with the league's elite offensive teams knowing that they have the advantage with Lundqvist. Playing a more up tempo style also would allow the Rangers to get more out of defenseman Michael Del Zotto who is sorely miscast on a grinding team while New York's best young blueliner McDonagh has only begun to scratch the surface of the offensive talent that could make him a Norris Trophy contender in years to come.
This is the challenge for general manager Glen Sather in naming a new coach. If he hires Lindy Ruff he is basically saying that Tortorella got canned because of his personal style not his hockey style. It will then be incumbent upon Sather to add depth to the roster the kind of depth he stripped away in the trade to acquire Nash then scrambled to try to replace when he traded away Gaborik.
The better move for New York would be to bring in Alain Vigneault especially if the former Vancouver Canucks coach applies some of the Northwest Division giants' zone matching principles. By maximizing the offensive opportunities for Nash and Stepan and by using Boyle in the mold of Manny Malhotra (which is something Tortorella occasionally did and it was where Boyle was at his best) the Rangers would be able to get the most out of a hybrid roster by accentuating their strengths and minimizing their weaknesses.
How good of a fit is Vigneault He already has gotten to the Stanley Cup Finals with a star American two way forward named Ryan (Kesler he'd have Callahan in New York) and an Olympic gold medal winning goaltender whose last name starts Lu (Luongo/Lundqvist).
The most important thing though is that whoever he names as coach Sather has to build a team that fits that coach's style. He's always had the inclination to go with flash and maybe that's what he thought he was getting when he hired Tortorella the proponent of safe is death hockey with the 2004 champion Tampa Bay Lightning. He didn't get it and now it's time for the Rangers to bring bright lights back to Broadway. Bright red lights.
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