NHL NOTES . . .

RANGERS 3 NEW JERSEY 0

Last night’s mismatch at New York’s Madison Square Gardens was for the Rangers a coming out party so to speak grabbing a massive two points in the Eastern Conference in the process.

John Tortorella was on fire on the bench last night as every move he made including line match ups seemed to stymie the Devils. Torts who if you call a spade a spade got the Rangers job from GM Glen Sather because of his past years history with the Rangers and the fact that he is a known coach that pushes the players extremely hard.

Sather let go Tom Renney because the players coach approach didn’t seem to be working anymore on the Rangers roster. In comes Torts with rep in tow of being a knowledgeable son of a bitch coach that is just beside himself miserable when the team loses. Not to mention every player no matter what the talent level gets called out on the carpet over play.

Torts is still that demanding coach that holds players accountable and wants the game played to a tee his way or the highway and his approach with Tampa Bay worked for a while but then he hit a wall and ran out his tenure for being in the players faces.

Pat Burns, Mike Keenan and Torts have that rep that you can only take so much of them as coaches then they have to move on because it’s just too much after whatever amount of years especially if you don’t have success.

Torts got a few more years out of Tampa because he won a Stanley Cup pushing and pushing his players to the max that season.

Last summer after Torts was fired he figured he wouldn’t be out of coaching work long with so many openings in the NHL. But he never figured that his hard ass reputation and the fact that the players got sick of him really wanting him out when it finally came to it last season with Tampa.

He couldn’t get a job it really is as simple as that in the NHL with all those job openings and closing last summer he settled on working in television in Canada for TSN to at least stay in the face of hockey management.

Well, it worked when the Rangers started to play poorly Sather came calling for the tough but smart Torts. Now in New York the moral of this story is I have seen a difference in Torts coaching style.

Yes, he still is very clear that his team will play his way or else and that the team will follow his team concept every shift of every game. But Torts who has not softened since he was hired to come in and change the culture of stroking players that would have been a mistake.

But Torts is far far more encouraging than he ever has been in the past at least 4 different times Torts came down the bench to pat the players on the back. Sean Avery was among those players who was really involved skating extremely well last night creating things for the Rangers.

After doing what Avery does stirring the pot with aggressive forecheck and play Torts came over to Avery on the bench and gave him the old that’s the way to do it Sean. Maybe just maybe Avery and Torts are a match made in hockey heaven.

But Torts cannot really be happy with what Avery did late in the game with Jersey tough guy Dave Clarkson basically pretending to start a fight dropping a glove and then pulling the shoot getting thrown around by Clarkson.

The game was over, the extra penalty Clarkson got meant nothing to the game so Avery would have been better off win or lose standing up with honor and fighting Clarky. This was pure bullshit and typical Avery, the Avery that makes you want to rip his head off if you are playing against him.

BURKE BRINGS “SLAP SHOT” HANSON TO TORONTO

Leafs GM Brian Burke has really made his team “tough rule” with Toronto a reality with this move as GM. Burke if nothing else knows how to grab headlines in Toronto.

Christian Hanson has signed a three-year entry level contract with Toronto.

The son of Dave Hanson of the famed Hanson brothers from the move “Slap Shot”, Hanson plays forward with the NCAA’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

At 6′4″ and 225 pounds, Hanson is considered to be a sturdy two-way centre who scored 16 goals and 15 assists for 31 points in 37 games for the Fighting Irish this season.

PANTHERS BATTLE FOR PLAYOFFS

Florida Panthers play Ottawa Senators to begin the first of the three in a row at home tonight. The team in the sunshine has six games left in the NHL regular season.

Pete DeBoer who has done an outstanding job in his first year as Head coach in the NHL said “There’s no doubt winning and losing streaks are about confidence. From your goaltender, to your power play, to everything. When you’re on a losing streak your not getting a big save, your power play not cashing in”.

The Panthers are now about to battle it looks like with only the Montreal Canadians as the Rangers seem poised to set themselves apart from the pack.

DeBoer will have to continue to push all the right buttons for the wet behind the ears Panthers who have for the first time in a long ass time been involved in meaningful games at this time of the season.

DeBoer’s ballsy move of throwing Craig Anderson in the net in place of number 1 G Tomas Vokoun worked in Philadelphia and Dallas and they’re back to within one point of eighth place Montreal in the Eastern Conference.

For Hockey God I’m Dave Frost

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