There is no questioning the fire of New York Rangers coach
John Tortorella. It is that fire that
makes him entertaining in a number of his press conferences both in
confrontation with reporters like Larry Brooks and many appreciate the blunt
nature to which he will discuss a number of topics. However, last night following the 2-0 loss to
the Edmonton Oilers, Tortorella came out to fulfill his contractual obligation
to meet with the media by stating off the bat that there will be no questions
and calling out his team.
"This is going to be quick. I'm not taking any questions. We sucked from head to toe. And we need to move by it. So I'm not going to dissect it with you guys. I know you guys have to do your job, but I'm not answering any questions. Okay?"
The blunt assessment of the team’s performance is something
that all fans appreciate because there was no attempt to insult their intelligence
by trying to make the effort seem like it fell just short. Few will take umbrage with the assessment
because of the honest nature of it and the obvious disgust in his tone/body
language as he delivered.
The part that leads to some divide is the immediate
dismissal of any questions which had split reactions across the fan base. While the press conference that should have
followed would have done nothing to change the results of the game that just
completed and little to impact Monday’s game against Winnipeg, part of
Tortorella’s job is to stand there and take questions from the media. That is part of being a professional, which is
exactly what Tortorella expects his player’s to be each time they step on the
ice or have to answer for what went on there.
Tortorella loves to preach about accountability and taking
responsibility for actions, but he dismisses the media’s ability to stand there
and ask him questions about the product he helped facilitate putting on the
ice. Where is the accountability in
that? Why is he above standing there and
being asked why Mike Rupp gets benched for taking an offensive zone penalty
while Marian Gaborik doesn’t? Is it inexcusable to him that he be asked why Gaborik and Richards were separated during
the game? Or any other question the
media would have asked him for that matter?
He may view the media as a nuisance that he has to put up
with as part of coaching the New York Rangers, and he might even be right, but
that doesn’t make him shunning that part of the job description okay. Following the loss to the Islanders I
praised Tortorella for taking accountability for his coaching decision in
regards to Brad Richards being left out at the end of the power play and
leading to the Islanders winning goal.
There is no reason that his actions following the game last night should
have been any different.
As I said, answering the questions, whatever they might have
been, changes nothing about tonight’s game nor does it truly prepare for
Winnipeg on Monday, but you can be both professional and accountable to answer
the questions anyway. Take the
responsibility for where you screwed up and then move on to get better.
