The Underrated Charm of John Tortorella

It’s been about 24 hours since the news of Tom Renney’s dismissal as head coach of the New York Rangers hit the wires, and I don’t have much more to write about the subject than I did last week over at FanHouse. ↵↵Put simply, Renney is the only coach who managed to get the Rangers into the playoffs during the nine-year reign of megabucks GM Glen Sather. For the most part, the team’s struggles this season can be directly attributed to Sather’s failure to replace the scoring and grit he let get away when he declined to return Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan, Martin Straka and Sean Avery to the lineup, while saddling the franchise with what may very well be the worse contract in professional sports with the signing of defenseman Wade Redden. With all that to overcome, it’s clear that it won’t be long before Renney gets another shot behind the bench elsewhere.↵

↵↵That being said, Sather’s decision to replace Renney with ex-Tampa Bay head coach John Tortorella is going to be an interesting one -- and that’s before you even talk about what changes Tortorella might have in store for the team on the ice. Tortorella is a notorious straight shooter, and his nightly parrying with the New York media is certainly something to look forward to:↵

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↵↵In this vein, Tortorella is probably best known for a postgame confrontation with the New York Post’s Larry Brooks following a 2007 playoff game between the Bolts and the Devils. But even Brooks doesn’t seem to hold a grudge, as he’s enthusiastically endorsed Tortorella’s call to Broadway. Stay tuned.↵

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