Get ready for Torts NYC
 

Things are going to get interesting at The Garden. It was a rocky road here in Tampa. Those high priced pampered their whole life players will not like being called out. The NY media will have a field day. Dude has some awesome meltdowns and they will bait him every night.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3928145

"He will make everybody accountable. It's brutally ugly at times, but it's also the right cause."

He makes Mike Keenan look like the Dhali Lama..I think hockey players as a group are about the only athletes who have any chance of responding to that style...NBA, NFL and MLB would tune him out quickly

IMO Tortarella is a terrific head coach and his record speaks for itself. That being said, guys with his temprament rarely last in NY.
With my team in the crapper, my only joy for the rest of the NHL season is watching the Rangers crash and burn. Here's hoping the Dolan's keep Slats as GM and I can look forward to another 50 years of Ranger futility.

That there is the problem in a nutshell. The players stopped responding to Renney so he probably had to go anyway. But the cast that Sather has put together is awful. They can't score, too slow, not tough enough and maybe the worst defensive corp in the NHL. Not one of them can skate the puck past center ice. But Sather will probably be there until he wants to leave. They sell out the building and have made the playoffs the last few years. That's much more than what could have been said about the Garden's other tenant. And look how long it took them to get rid of him (Isiah Thomas). Maybe Torts will lit a fire under their asses. But when you are short on talent and have a roster of mostly 3rd liners it probably won't matter that much.

Doc, just curious which team do you like? I'm guessing the Islanders from the level of disgust you show towards the Blueshirts. You are right, if things keep up like this, it will be at least 50 years until they make another cup (let alone win it). But I will always have 1994!

Math, you guessed right, I am a disgusted Islander fan. (thank God for 1980-83). I feel bad for Renney too because he is a pretty nice guy who was dealt a pretty crappy hand. The Rangers are lucky they have Lundquist otherwise they really would be in a world of trouble. Sather has been mailing it in for years and is getting a pass now because he lucked into playoff berths after the lockout. Remember they were one of the worst teams in the league before the lockout and managed to become competitive in the "new" NHL with Jagr getting a new lease on life with the calling of restraining fouls. Add Lunquist and there you go.
All that being said, at least Sather isn't Mike Milbury or Garth Snow and the Rangers aren't moving to Kansas City anytime soon. KC Islanders has a nice ring to it.:mad:

You are right about Lundqvist, he is the single reason that they still even have a chance to make the playoffs. And once your in, you could ride a hot goaltender for a while. I always think back to the North Stars riding Jon Casey to the cup final against the Penguins. Then the Pens exposed him as a fraud by lighting them up for like 8 goals a game.
As far as your Isles go, I don't even know where to begin. Millbury really was very Isiah like during is tenure there. Garth Snow isn't much better. I'm not sure who gave DiPietro the contract. But it might go down as the worst contact in sports history. But I will say this for the Isles, they seem to have some good young talent. They play hard and they are more fun to watch then the blueshirts. But the bottom line is will they be able to keep and afford all this talent down the road and attract primere free agents to Strong Island.
I really would hate to see them move, that would be a shame.

Torts' first practice
 

I don't think you have to worry about Lundqvist getting torched by anyone like Jon Casey. He is just simply in a very elite class of goaltender. I'm sure you've heard of his off the ice "shenanigans" ("the King" likes to party hard) which sometimes leads to a clunker but he always seems to bring his "A" game when the money is on the line.
While I'm not sure I share your optimism for the Islanders future, three positives have emerged. Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey seem to be very nice players, with them and a likely top 2 pick this draft should put down a strong foundation, until the front office screws the pooch. The team has played hard for this coach. There have been very few "mail it in" games despite the dismal record. Third is I can't say enough about Bill Guerin who busts his butt every night when he's in a situation to not even give a crap. Unfortunately I think he's going to be traded by the deadline and God only knows for what.
The old Coliseum is a dinosaur and without the new building it is going to be very hard to attract and afford the kids and top free agents, unless Bailey, Okposo and (hopefully) Jon Taveres turn into Crosby, Malkin and Staal overnight.
Lastly, I think Charles Wang's heart is in the right place, but his head is up his a$$. The DiPietro contract, Milbury's extended tenure and the decision to fire Ted Nolan and keep Garth Snow doesn't give me a hopeful feeling that good hockey decisions are around the corner. All in all I'm not too optimistic I will see another Cup any time soon.:wf

I totally agree, but the man has absolutely no hockey sense at all.