But putting aside his prickly manner, Tortorella was his own worst enemy. As Larry Brooks correctly observed in Monday's New York Post, you coach the team you have, not the one you wish you had. All season long, the Rangers looked like the proverbial square peg trying to fit into their coach's round hole. The power play was abysmal, the penalty killing only remotely better and, worse, their arguably best two-way forward, Brad Richards, looked lost. Not even exiling Marian Gaborik to Columbus righted the ship.
Consider this: had it not been for a mistake by Bruins' goalie Tuukka Rask in game four the Blue Shirts would've been swept in the second round. That they barely squeaked past the Capitals in the first was telling.
Indeed, even last year's team struggled to make it to the conference finals, needing a full seven games in each of its first two rounds to advance. Teams with championship aspirations don't get that extended that early in the postseason and survive.
The addition of Rick Nash was supposed to add to the team's scoring balance. Instead of helping, the team continued to struggle offensively. The entire shortened season was ripe with starts and stops. The team was never able to put together a sustained winning streak and, as a result, flirted with missing the postseason. Only a late-season surge prevented the unthinkable.
So now, the Rangers are shopping for a new coach for the third time in eight years. Tom Renney lacked discipline, so he was canned. Tortorella was a 180 and now he's gone. But lost in all this was the fact that both men were hired by Glen Sather.
Since taking over for Neil Smith, Sather has hired and fired his share of coaches and made a number of trades, some good, some bewildering. It is hard to imagine that Sather didn't know about Tortorella's style of coaching before he hired him. If he didn't, then what does it say about his vetting process?
Reports that player dissatisfaction with their coach was a factor in Sather's decision are erroneous. Sather made the move to save his ass, period. The core of this team is still relatively young, with the defense among the youngest in the league. But his all-star goalie will be 31 next year. The GM knows the clock is ticking on King Henrik. At best, he has another four to five seasons at peak capability before time catches up to him. Whoever Sather gets to fill the coaching vacancy will need some time to get his system in place.
And then there's the matter of what to do with Brad Richards. He is owed $12 million next season and, with the league salary cap going down, the Rangers will most likely use their last exemption and cut him rather than risk a cap hit. In other words, Sather will be shopping for a replacement.
Bottom line, next season is far from set. The Rangers' new coach will probably want some input into player personnel. Sather will likely acquiesce and we can expect some more shuffling of the deck. And the spinning wheel will continue to go round.
Yes, John Tortorella is gone, but his ex-boss is alive and well and very much in control of the helm.
