New
York Rangers coach John Tortorella is not typically one to mince his words and
he certainly did not last night when he opened his post-game remarks with two
simple words, “We sucked.”
Recently
in each loss the Rangers have suffered Tortorella has taken the upbeat approach
choosing to focus more on the things that the team did well and how they were
close, but just not getting there. On
this night there was nothing to cling to.
Sure the Rangers gave up some fluke goals off deflections and bad bounces, but that was not the difference in the game. The effort, if you can call it that, was one of the worst of the season
for a club that has prided itself on playing hard every night regardless of the
results. Losing is one thing and while disappointing it can be stomached if the effort is there. Last night was something completely different and with only 13 games remaining on the schedule it must be corrected immediately. It was not just one player, it was an epidemic problem last night.
"We
had some passengers and some guys testing the water,” Tortorella said. “We
haven't played that way too often and we'll bounce back, but it's a tough way
to play at this time of year."
This
team simply is not talented enough to put in the effort they did against
Anaheim and beat anyone in this league.
They have a style they must play and with a level of energy and effort
they must play at to beat people and when it does not produce they will get
blown out by anyone.
Full Video of Tortorella following the game:
