Some Explanation from Tortorella

Andrew Gross of Ranger Rants spoke with Head Coach John Tortorella after this morning's practice, when Torts elaborated on the recent transactions of Hobey Baker Award winner Matt Gilroy being sent down to the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) and defenseman Ilkka Heikkinen staying up with the Blueshirts.

First, Tortorella discussed Heikkinen, who has obviously impressed with his willingness to hit.

“It’s not like the other guys are absolutely dead on with their game right now,” Tortorella said. “I see a player that has a little bit of jam to him and is willing to hit. We’ll take a chance with some of the mistakes because the guys that aren’t hitting are making mistakes, too.”

So the coaching staff is prepared to deal with positional mistakes as long as they get the hitting. Heikkinen was definitely a physical force against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. He will be replacing Matt Gilroy, the next topic of discussion among Torts and the media.

“With Gilly, this is part of the process. Don’t confuse this that he was on the ice for the last goal. Honestly the last goal wasn’t really his fault. We had a horse(bleep) backcheck by one of our top players (Marian Gaborik). Even the tying goal, we’ve got Boyle and Reds picking their (butts), too, on that play. We’ve talked for probably two weeks now on Gilly and what is best for him. There’s one part of his game we feel he needs to be consistent with, at least try to make an effort at, is the competing part of it. We’ve explained it to him, we’ve shown it to him. We still don’t think he totally understands and there’s not a better place in the world than the American League, where everybody chases you around there, chases the black puck, to figure out how to play in traffic and be involved in those type of situations. This is a good thing for him and where we have the availability to send him down without having to worry about waivers and allow him to go through process. And that’s the way it was explained to Matt, that this was part of the process. I know he didn’t want to go but, really, I don’t care if he wants to go or not. This is how a young player is going to be handled when there’s some bumps in the road. I just don’t want you guys to think this is a bad thing with Gilly as far as it’s a punishment. This is part of the process of trying to make him a better player, he’s got a bright future.”

The way Tortorella explains this is the way I laid it out for you last night in my evening post. This is a way to build Gilroy's confidence and to better establish an all around game. I am still not too sure if this is the way in which I would have handled things, but I am not a part of the coaching staff nor the front office, so I do not have a say. Ryan Callahan was dealt with in a similar manner when first entering the National Hockey League. Cally was clearly off of his game, so Tom Renny thought it would be best if he spent some time in the AHL. The plan worked perfectly as Callahan returned to the Rangers and had an immediate impact during the regular season and in the playoffs. Hopefully we see comparing results with Gilroy.

Also, noticed how he mentioned, with an interesting choice of words, the poor backcheck of Marian Gaborik on the winning goal in Chicago. I called him out for it in my postgame the other night, and am happy to see that Torts did the same. Just because he leads the league in scoring does not mean he is off the hook for lack of effort on the defensive end of things.

And lastly, Tortorella touched upon the current back-up goaltending situation, which he labels "a mess".

“It’s a mess. Let’s call it what it is, it’s a mess. Honestly, I talked to Valley (Steve Valiquette) at the beginning of the year, we were looking to get him 15-17 games. That’s what I like to do, especially that Hank’s going to be there in the Olympics and all that. Would I still like to do that? I don’t know if I can. Johnson’s going to get a game here along the way, I think that’s going to determine how we go about this. Has it changed? It had to change. We sent a veteran backup down and he’s still struggling down there and we don’t even know what we have with Johnson as far as a backup. I’m not trying to paint a lousy picture but that’s the picture it is. It’s an ongoing thought in my head what we’re going to do. That’s the best I can do.”

I believe that the solution to this problem is for GM Glen Sather to step up here and acquire a veteran back-up. At such a young age, Johnson should not have to fill in occasionally for Henrik Lundqvist-- he needs all of the playing time he can get, and the best place for that is with the Wolf Pack, not here with the Rangers.

As a side note, Chris Higgins has been moved up to play on the left wing with Vinny Prospal and Marian Gaborik on the first line. The search for the missing piece to the puzzle continues.......
(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)