I'm sure Rangers fans have been popping in and adding their .2 but regardless here's my take on Tortorella:
There was an immediate shift in accountability when Torts took the team over from Renney. Renney would never EVER bench anybody besides call-ups or young players. The team often played an uninspired brand of hockey and got pushed around often.
Tortorella came in, told the media to **** off, benched anyone who wasn't playing well, spoke his honest mind to the players and to a lesser extent the media, integrated his insane conditioning regiment and training camp, and gave the Rangers and IDENTITY. As a Ranger fan for around 20 years let me tell you, the Rangers did not have an identity since the mid 90s. This was huge, and it was done without a huge roster turnover.
About his style of hockey:
Obviously lots of shot blocking and collapsing in the defensive zone.
With the right personnel a very efficient PK with the ability to score some SHGs
Offensive zone play is heavy behind the goal line and along the boards. The D will pinch, unless the moment in the game dictates otherwise. If you have Dmen who can get quick wristers off from the point w/o getting blocked alot of offense will be generated in front of the net from deflections/rebounds.
Alot of one on one battles for 50/50 pucks. Torts always preached about battle level and expects his players to beat their man in a 1 v 1 situation (physically speaking not talking about dangling). Any player who is good along the boards with the puck (look at Hagelin for example) will get more playing time and will be invaluable to his linemates.
Alot of hitting and turnovers. Turnovers created by outworking the opposition is the definition of what the Rangers were. This is how many many scoring chances are created, in all three zones.
Players will need to have a total disregard for their physical bodies. Gaborik was blocking shots on this team....
His teams are VERY disciplined. Bad penalties = benched/scratched. He ran Sean Avery out of town (one of my favorite Rangers) even though he was still an effective player because his antics didn't jive with what he was building.
Offensive zone breakouts can be painful to watch at times. I put this more on Rangers personnel than coaching. If you have D that can consistently make an outlet pass you're good, otherwise prepare for alot deflections from the redline to enter the zone.
About his coaching methods:
Players will be accountable. If one of the Sedins aren't showing up consistently, they'll be scratched. And don't be surprised if at some point during the year Torts splits up the twins.
He juggles lines when they aren't working. Very rarely does a line play together for more than 15 or so games.
He uses a third line as a shutdown line and is not afraid to give them top minutes to maintain his match up. The Prust-Boyle-Fedetenko line played over 20min a night some nights.
His press conferences are legendary.
He is a motivator. Watch him on the bench. See how he know which buttons to push with each player. There is ALOT of backslapping when a young player makes a nice play or read. He has his fingers on the pulse of the team.
He is good with young talent. Look at Ryan McDonagh. Carl Hagelin. Derek Stepan. He give them minutes when they're hot and limits minutes to protect them when they're not. He doesn't throw young players under the bus or give them more than they can handle.
Torts and AV seem like total opposite personalities. AV is more of an intellectual and Torts is more Gung-Ho. Torts will bring immediate accountability and an improved fitness level to your club. Hes rough around the edges and doesn't take **** from refs, players, opposing coaches, the media. He's not an *******, its all calculated, and players appreciate his honesty about their game. One more note if you haven't watched the Rangers 24/7 that will give you ALOT of insight. GL I'm rooting for you guys now, unless we meet in the finals!
