The Silly Game Outside the Game

You're not an asshole. You're just trying so hard to be.

That little gem, which comes as the final piece of dialog in "The Social Network," pretty much sums up my feelings about Rangers Coach John Tortorella and his handling of reporters during these playoffs.

Yes, it is considered to be part of the job to meet with reporters after emotional moments like a 3-2 loss to the Devils on Wednesday night. And he has fulfilled that requirement. But it does not say he has to be forthcoming with them. He doesn't have to improve upon his "I didn't get my ice cream" facial expression. Nor does he have to tell reporters/readers/viewers anything of substance.

In fact, he has given headline writers and reporters the perfect opening to state, in small and large type or pixels, that Tortorella has no answers for the Devils or for his team's play. That may be true, or not. The whole thing is nothing but a sideshow. And it helps deflect some of the heat off of the Rangers. Instead of large headlines and extended video time on Marian Gaborik's inability to be a star in critical situations, we get pouty reporting on why Tortorella will not tell us anything about Gaborik.

That sort of thing gets tired after a while. Enough already. On the "NHL Tonight" final late Wednesday, Craig Button said it was time for Tortorella to let someone else come out and talk with reporters. Stop the sideshow.

And Dave Shoalts of the Globe and Mail offered a meandering defense, or perhaps a non-explanation explanation, of the coach in these stressful times known as the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Tortorella's main priority is getting his message to his players. If his players can translate that message into positive results, then the fans will notice as will reporters. But the fans, reporters and bloggers are not his immediate concern. I would be nice if they/we were, but whatever. I can settle for getting answers from another precinct.

At the end of "The Social Network," the lawyer Marylin Delpy, played by the actress Rashida Jones, is trying to be sympathetic to the Mark Zuckerberg character, played by Jesse Eisenberg, who is told that he will have to pay a settlement for his actions during the formative years of Facebook. Mark feels this is an injustice; Marilyn says that in the big picture, it's an annoying speeding ticket.

Maybe that's the lesson for all of us. Tortorella should be more conversational and less confrontational. Petulant reporters should not provide daily word counts (yes, you, ESPN.com. You're better than that) regarding just how reticent the Rangers' coach is. And maybe if we all settle down, lower our figurative fists and concentrate on the game, and not the post-game scrum, we'll get our focus back.

We're not outraged. We're just trying so hard to be.

Forward Thinking Puts Rangers Behind

Five Rangers forwards on the ice for the power play. Good news: The puck goes in the net, which was the intent, right? Bad news: Breakdown, and the puck is in your net.

Rangers Coach John Tortorella took a risk in the second period of the Rangers-Kings game on Tuesday night in Los Angeles. The coach was trying to get his team going. Zeros on both sides of the board. Here was an opportunity to silence a few critics and a large crowd at Staples Center.

It sounded like a plan, that is, until the Kings' Anze Kopitar glided past the forwards-turned-point men Olli Jokinen and Chris Drury to beat Henrik Lundqvist for a short-handed goal and a 1-0 lead.



Tortorella takes a soft one from MSG's Sam Rosen in the postgame scrum after the Rangers' 2-1 loss to the Kings. Yes, the five-forwards no-defense scheme was a plan, the Rangers' coach tells Rosen. Come on, Sam. (Either that, or the inmates are truly running the asylum.)

And that's it for the discussion. A pretty quiet night for Tortorella.

(Note to reporters at the conference: SPEAK UP!!! If your question is worth asking while the tape is rolling, let the audience in on your thoughts. I haven't heard that much mumbling since I was 10, when my mother quizzed my father and I as to the identity of the person who kicked the basketball through picture window one early spring Saturday morning in northern Colorado.

And if you said that it was my father who badly missed his trick shot into the hoop, you are right. That shot cost him $500 for the shredded curtains, $150 for the glass and $400 for the plumber. Plumber? Indeed. To make up for the trick shot fiasco, my dad decided to work off the shame by turning on the hose and giving the patio slab the first cleaning of the early spring. Too bad he didn't drain and disconnect that hose in the fall. Ice jam. Popped pipe. Water cascading in the basement, where my mom was working off her disgust by folding the laundry on a Saturday afternoon. Dad, this whole episode still does not look good on your permanent record.)

Back to Tuesday night's action in Los Angeles. Perhaps feeling unsatisfied about Tortorella's discussion of the blown power play, reporters turned to Kopitar, who was more than happy to tell you, in words and in facial cues, that Jokinen and Drury were quite generous in their spacing on the ice.



It was a late night in the Lounge. A 10:30 pm Eastern start. Stayed up to watch the postgame show on MSG and then watched the full hour of "On the Fly" recap on the NHL Network. At 3:30 am, I went to bed with a smile on my face. I was thinking of that ABA red-white-and-blue ball going through the picture window.

Nothing risked, nothing broken.

Tortorella and Brooks Put the Act Back Together

I love the feisty approach that the New York Post brings to its sports coverage. It gets to the point, comes out swinging and isn't afraid to take a punch or two. On the hockey beat, Larry Brooks gets in there. Gets in deep. Irritatingly deep, a team might say.

But as a reader, you know Brooks was at the game or practice. And the coaches and players do, too.

So the little set-to he had with Rangers Coach John Tortorella after the Rangers took a 2-0 beating in Philadelphia was no surprise. In fact, I'm pretty sure there would be video of the two every night, if possible.

The next clip comes from the 2007 playoffs. Tortorella is running the Tampa Bay Lightning, which lost to the New Jersey Devils on this night to fall behind, 3-2, that playoff series.

Brooks has a question. Tortorella is sticking his chin out in full knowledge that most of the reporters in the scrum aren't going to take a poke. Guess who takes a poke?



The two are made for each other. It's a win-win situation for New York readers. Here is Brooks' game story in The Post this morning. Some background: Brooks and others in the reporter scrum want to know why no other Ranger stepped in when Marian Gaborik, the team's scorer, was getting a thorough pat down from the Flyers' Daniel Carcillo. For more of the story line, here is Puck Daddy's breakdown of the disconnect between the two.



Spot anyone who could have helped out Gaborik? It was old-time hockey in Philadelphia last night, from the drop of the puck until well after the last word was set in type or committed to pixels on your screen. Good stuff. Can't wait for the next round.

THE SCOREBOARD
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Columbus 3, at Boston 2
At Ottawa 3, St. Louis 2
At N.Y. Islanders 2, Florida 1 SO
At Philadelphia 2, N.Y. Rangers 0
Carolina 5, at Atlanta 2
At Tampa Bay 3, Toronto 2 OT
Washington 6, at Pittsburgh 3
Detroit 4, at Minnesota 3 SO
At Phoenix 4, Nashville 2
Chicago 3, at Calgary 1
At Vancouver 4, Dallas 3
At Los Angeles 4, Buffalo 3 SO
At San Jose 3, Anaheim 1
The standings are here.
Recap by Sportsnet.
Three stars by Puck Daddy.

QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Acadie-Bathurst 6, Shawinigan 3
The standings are here.
The recap is here.

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
At London 3, Kitchener 2
Owen Sound 4, at Peterborough 3
At Windsor 2, Brampton 1 SO
At Barrie 5, Kingston 2
At Niagara 2, Mississauga 1
Guelph 5, at Sarnia 2
The standings are here.
The roundup is here and the Kingston/Barre recap is here.