Sather Puts His Philosophy Squarely on the Line

Glen Sather has put himself squarely on the line by switching from the even-tempered defensive-minded Tom Renney to the fiery, attack-first John Tortorella in an attempt to save the team that he thought he shaped in the latter image over the past two summers. "I still think that we have a team that’s played very well, that we can get back to playing the way we played in the beginning of the year," he said this evening after announcing the coaching change via conference call. "We were a fast, puck-possession hockey club that was determined, worked hard, and moved the puck well. We’ve gotten away from that. That’s why we made the change in coaching personnel, to help this team move in that direction."

While empahsizing at every turn that he had nothing but respect for Renney, Sather downplayed his own personnel decisions, strongly hinting that Renney reverting back to defensive hockey is what took the life out of his team. "We had a lot of meetings with the players, we a lot of meetings with the coaching staff," he said. "We tried to analyze it the best we could. We spent a lot of time with the films, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. We had lost our zip at one point in time." He named two devastating third period collapses -- a 5-2 loss in Toronto and the 5-4 pre-Christmas loss to Washington. "We have to be more of an attack team rather than a team that’s going to pull back and back in."

Tortorella, he said, falls right into line with his views, contrary to the belief that his independent streak will clash with the strong-willed GM. "He has a reputation that precedes him," Sather said of the former Lightning coach who has a Stanley Cup ring to his credit. "He has a history with [Assistant GM] Jim Schoenfeld, and [Schoenfeld] thinks our attitudes and desires are going to mesh quite easily. Our philosophy is the same. I know that John works hard. He’s very demanding. I like that. He’s going to bring some of those things back to our game on the ice. We need it at this stage. Torts is certainly a lot more fiery and [has] a different approach to the game and to the players [than Renney]. He’s going to bring that fiery attitude -- a lot of games, we seemed to be missing it."

He didn't let his players off the hook, nor himself. "We all have take responsibility for this," he said. "We think we have a better hockey team than we’ve been playing the last ten games. To come out of the gate the way we did and play and perform and move the puck and control the play -- something happened, something shifted. You have to point [the finger] at everyone, the players included, to take responsibility for the way they played." But he refused to point them directly at specific players. "I wouldn’t start to point fingers and say so-and-so isn't playing nearly as well as he can play," he said. "Some of the players that I've brought in are better than they’ve performed up to date. A lot of players here have played well in the past and I expect they’re going to play well in the future." He never considered making a statement by taking action with a player rather than the coach, like Montreal did with Alexei Kovalev. "It didn't cross my mind," he said. "First of all, I'd have a difficult time picking out one guy."

He made it abundantly clear that he believes the coach was the difference. "One guy gets some players to perform really well, and another guy can come in and it doesn’t work for him," he said. "Torts is going to bring a lot more fire to his game, to his approach. f you look at some of the players on our team, the past coaches that they’ve had in their history, a lot of these guys have thrived under that kind of coaching. I felt we needed to get some more fire in there." He included Renney and his assistant Perry Pearn, also fired today, along with himself as being responsible for some of the moves that were made, specifically the signings of Wade Redden and Markus Naslund, who each had a past history with one of the coaches. "You can always second-guess any of the moves and changes we made," he said. "When we do our meetings, certainly everyone has input in these. The coaching staff have more of an input than the scouts do, but we do this as a collective group of people that analyze the players and who we're looking for. Everyone has an equal amount of input, from the coaching staff as well as the managment staff."

As for the mechanics of the process, Sather said he had been considering this move for some time, and that while he finally made up his mind while watching the Rangers' 3-2 loss to Toronto yesterday, that loss in and of itself was not a specific factor. "The overtime loss wouldn't have changed my mind," he said. "I’ve had it in the back of my mind for a few days, but winning or losing that game last night, as painful as it was to lose it, I had come to the conclusion during the game that today was probably going to be the day that I was going to do what I had to do. We've been talking for the last couple of weeks, seeing the team starting its slide. I’ve been thinking about it for probably the last couple of weeks. I could see the team starting to slide and the game just started to erode. Sooner or later, we were going to have to do something. I wish that it hadn’t have come to this, but it did. The last two or three games it was pretty obvious that we had to have something done."

He said other candidates were considered, others were contacted today, but that Schoenfeld himself was never one of those. "Schoeny is going to be an interim assistant coach," Sather said, presumably to smooth the transition process. "There was no consideration in giving him the head coaching job. He really wasn’t interested in it." The transition process will include getting to know the team so that Tortorella can lend his input to any personnel decisions that have to be made as the trade deadline nears. "We have to be careful after a coaching move [when] we start to fool around with the personnel," Sather said. "It’s going to depend on how John sees the team going forward. He’s certainly going to have input into the lineup as well as the personnel. I wanted to give him the opportunity so that he'd know the team and see where he’d like to make some improvements, get his input on where he’d like to see those changes occur."

Whether young players are traded to make immediate improvements is something Sather would not rule out. "Do you want me to state that we're not interested in trading any young players?" he said. "Absolutely -- we don't want to trade any young players. But if someone came along and offered us an opportunity to make the team better with another young player, I'd have to say, 'Yeah, that's certainly a chance I might be willing to take.'" He said he would also consider sending players to Hartford to clear up salary cap space, but that that's not an immediate concern. "There are possibilities," he said. "We're not up against the cap, so there are lots of things that can happen in the meantime." True, in the strictest sense of being up against the cap, but there is certainly no room to maneuvre in a major way without shedding some existing contracts.

Finally, there is the question of Sean Avery. Tortorella has spoken in the strongest of terms about his distaste for "The Grate One", now working his way back into shape in Hartford hoping for the Rangers to claim him on re-entry waivers before the March 4th deadline. "You always have to be cognizant of the fact that coaches have opinions about players," Sather said. "He has no history with Sean like we do. I think that, over time, you learn to love him just like I have. That’s going to be something we’re going to deal with. I’m going to speak to John about it, absolutely. He’s worked hard, his attitude has been great, he’s done what the coaching staff have asked him to do there," Sather added about Avery. "The team has won three out of the four games. He's got one assist in those four games. He's coming along and he’s got a great attitude and we’ll deal with that in the next week for sure," he concluded.

To read more about the changes, see Blueshirts Blog, Blue Notes, Ranger Rants, Rangers Report, Slap Shot, Game On!, the Record, Times, Daily News, and NYR.com. As noted in In the Crease, this move now completes the cycle of all four coaches who started the season in Europe and all three coaches of Staal brothers having lost their jobs. [Note: This article contains quotes that may be slightly imprecise -- they will be corrected and expanded later this evening. But the gist of all quotes is accurate.]

Comments

[dwbgamer]

Well at least this coach has some grit and it would be great to have Schoney back there with him.

[alan]

Repost from prior thread:

Well, Dubi, you were right that they wouldn't do it before Sunday's game. While no one obviously knows how this will play out, and while I feel sad for anyone to lose their job, I'm just glad the Rangers did something with the intent to salvage this year, as the status quo wasn't gonna cut it.

The only thing I worry about immediately is the new system that is to be installed and how these players, who didn't seem to adapt to any system this year, will take to it. For more years than I can count, I used to think the players we would pick up just weren't very bright, as evidenced by their play on the ice. Unfortunately we picked up a bunch more these past two seasons. Maybe Renney was TOO smart for this bunch?

And I also wonder whether Torts will be on a shorter leash under lord and master sather and how that will affect his demeanor. I want that Torts from 2001 on, as accountability will finally come to the Rangers after way too many years without it.

I can't wait to see what this new era will look like Wednesday night.

[i]

DUBI looks like Schonefeld will be the next GM, right after this season is over.

[Rich]

I have been one of the Tom Renney critics for quite some time now. I fully recognize that the make up of this roster was not all of his doing, but he must have had some input into its makeup. Rennney is the teams former Director of Player Personnel after all. Renney is a good man, too good in some respects in that many of his veteran players took advantage of him and he didn't have it in him to repay them in kind. That is why he was fired today.

John Tortorella is only part of the solution. The players have to pick it up, but one thing we know for sure is that Tortorella could care less what name is stitched onto the back of the jersey. He will bench the players who will not work hard. Just ask Vinny Lecavalier. That is one of the things that this group needs at this point in time. A big winger who can skate and a banging defenseman wouldn't hurt either.

[Ted]

Three things to look forward to this season

1. Improved power play

2. more ice time for overacheivers (prucha, callahan, korpi, etc.)

3. More up tempo style of hockey that isn't so boring!

[Jess]

"We were a fast, puck possession team and we got away from that. Moving forward I'd like to think we have a chance to return to that."

No they were not, this is why I believe that this is nothing more than another Sather sham. The Rangers built their early season record by beating the bottom of the NHL.

Read his words, Sather thinks that this team is better than what we have seen. Yes Renney lost this team but Sather is trying to sucker Ranger fans into believing that his moves were good.

[ant (the other one)]

Not to mention: "Everyone has an equal amount of input, from the coaching staff as well as the management staff."

Input's nice, but Slats makes the deal. I'm sure Renny, given his past position would have balked at the Redden contract as it was signed. He seems too smart to offer that kind of money, but then again... Rosy's contract I can almost understand due to the history, but Renny didn't negotiate that either. Nor Drury or Gomez. That's squarely on Slats. Tortorella has an opportunity to make him look good, and in his current position you can't blame him for wanting to save a little face.

NYR does have the ability to be a puck possession team, but they aren't 'fast'. That however will change. Torts likes speed and aggressive, and I would think you'd see a few of the 'not so played' players getting a chance to use their speed now. I'd also expect to see some AHL call ups or a deadline deal to bring in a few more.

I bet Colton Orr is glad he took skating lesson now...

At least there's good odds the PP won't suck any more.

Rest up boys... the end is here.

T

[gravey]

Like everyone else, I'm just delighted that SOMETHING finally happened. And like many, I'm ready to see some chairs thrown around -- it promises to give me a release for my frustration and a feeling someone may give a damn, finally.

That said, signing Torts feeels like everything other decision Slats has made:

1. Gives a guy who tends to to wear out his welcome 4 years, I hear. Another too-long contract.

2. Seems to hardly consider other options. Just like so many of his free agent signings.

3. Calls in from wherever and never puts his face in front of reporters. I suppose he really has been at the garden, but who knows?

4. Guarantees us no major personnel changes this year as Torts will obviously get more than a week to get the walking dead to perk up a little.

5. "Takes responsibilty" while saying things like "they were good players before, they'll be good players again". Redden has stunk for 2 years and was run out of Ottawa. Everyone knew he was done but Perry and Slats. Apparently, Slats still has not gotten the memo. He's justifying everyone one of his stoopid decisions and laying it all off on Mr. Nice Guy. No matter how sweetly he's framing it.

6. States that we have plenty if cap space this year (Really? For the changes we need? Really? Think he knows where Cam Hope's office is?)

7. Highest aspiration: first round playoff loss. And we're right back where we started with the same group of unmoveable contracts and no goal scorers. And no superstars coming up through the system about whom we can get really excited.

Well at least the entertainment value should rise somewhat through the end of the year. And he did wake us all up, didn't he? And Torts will wake up at least some Rangers, so there's that to look forward to.

Fannies back in the seats. An embarrrassment that the place was half empty for Bathgate/Howell night and tics were on sale the day before.

He did his job, I guess, depending on how you define his job.

[Bob Merchant]

Going to be tough on Torts to tap someone on the shoulder tonight to go over the boards. He does not know his players and capabilities or weakness.

I wish him luck. I also wonder if this is just a symbolic move as the team does not posses any offensive talent.

Hope for the best but don't expect a savior and a miracle.

[i]

JESS Sather is not that dumb. Did you expect him to say Redden, or any others were mistakes and have to go? Let's see his actions. Just hiring Tortarella and putting Schonefeld behind the bench are BIG moves. He'll see if he needs Avery, and try to make deals by the deadline to get the dead wood out. I think he's out as GM now or right after this season with Schonefeld getting the full title.

[Adam S.]

Definitely some good posts all around. I have to say, obviously I've been screaming for Renney's head for over a month now, and frankly if Sather acted most desicively, the team would'nt be this close to missing the playoffs. He stuck with Renney too long, we all knew this was coming and it was a mistake that cost them a lot of points over the past few weeks. After that Dallas debacle, it should've ended Renney tenure here.

Torts is going to liven this team right up. He wont need more than 1 to 2 games to realize Naslund and Redden are done.

What I imagine is something like this...Guys like Dawes, Korpo and Z are going to have an opportunity to score some goals and get some quality ice time on PP. Torts wont put up with the floating that's gone on with our vets. I'm also excited for him to point out individual players who think getting a paycheck and not performing is ok here. And to be honest, Hank better be ready as well, because when he has his fall apart type periods, Torts is going to blast him. I'm just so happy this finally happened. I have never witnessed such a dead team before. Renney had opportunities to coach for his own job, and didn't do it, just kept along the path of no return.

Sather really pissed me off with a lot of what he said. He did everything to take himself off the hot seat and everyone can see right through his garbage. It's definitely at the point where he has nothing left in the tank and couldn't even muster up the courage to face the media in person. He's such a joke.

[Jive]

This was posted in the press release recap over at Howlings:

"4) From the way it sounded it's almost a forgone conclusion that Redden is headed to Hartford since his is the worst contract of the bunch and that the team is prepared to do that if they have to"

Dubi/Jess/Anyone: Did anyone get that impression? Is that actually being talked about in the organization?

I mean, we were all hoping it would happen but I always figured it was a pipe dream, nothing more.

[Joe T]

Before we start blaming Sather for everything lets not start practicing revisionist history. The acquisitions of Drury and Gomez were applauded by almost everyone. Rosival and Redden are another story, but it was one of the off season major complaints that the power play needed a quarteback (Redden), and a big point shot(Rosival).
Everything and everyone looks bad right now but it wasn't always so.
As for our fast start being only a result of a weak schedule, what do you call our inability to beat Buffalo and Toronto, and look really bad doing it?
I have zero love for Sather, but must give him credit for hiring a tough guy who very few posters here said had any chance of happening.

[Denver Frank]

Well, Slats finally got off his butt and did something. I like the Torts signing and called for it a few weeks ago. Will it help this season?? Who knows? However, let's all get behind him and support Torts as much as we can. It will certainly be a different atmosphere, much like the Keenan days of yore. He was obnoxious and disliked but, in the short time he was here, HE BROUGHT US THE CUP!!! What a long strange trip it's been this year, I look forward to the rest the trip. LET'S GO RANGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rangerbill94]

Sather said: "First of all, I'd have a difficult time picking out one guy." Boy, is that the truth!

Dubi said: "He said he would also consider sending players to Hartford to clear up salary cap space,..." What a concept!

Sather said: "Schoeny is going to be an interim assistant coach," Stability for the youngsters!

All this says to me that this team will look a lot different in a week or so. We all see that there are more than two players that have stunk up the joint and Sather sees that, GOOD! Hartford is a good place to dump salary, GOOD! Schoeny knows the kids, both here and in Hartford and should be a boost to Torts if the Rangers are planning on bringing up the likes of Anisimov & Potter, GOOD!

As for tomorrow night, I don't expect to see big changes. I sure hope Torts takes a look at the PP and begins to make some changes there. Also, I would like to see a 2-1-2 system put in place, but that may not happen tomorrow.

The trade deadline is next week, so I expect a lot of discussions between the new coaching staff and Slats. He will not make a deal that is not benificial to the Rangers, so nothing may happen. I do agree that this team has played well from time to time. The problem with opening up the offense is our defense. A couple of key changes there, like a defensive defenseman (Exelby) for one thing, could be a big help to the attack game Torts may want to put in place. I still think Renney was very much aware of the defensive shortfalls this team has and was concerned that a wide open attack would put Lundqvist hanging out to dry. Fix the blueline and then attack...I think that will work.

[Chris QCT]

Sather definitely does deserves a lot of the blame here. In the same way though, Renney deserved what came his way yesterday. And as much as some of you hate him, at least Sather had it in him to make a drastic change. God knows Renney did not have the guts to do anything about the situation. I mean c'mon... Renney was finding "positives" in every game of a 12-game slide where the NYR were falling out of the playoff picture. Two straight seasons of pitiful offense and 2 straight seasons of an utterly disgraceful powerplay. He lost this team when he convinced them they could not score and they could not skate with other NHL teams.

It's like Christmas Day with Torts in there now. This team needs someone to light a fire under this group. If there is anyone who will go into that lockerroom and say exactly what we have all been posting on here for the past few months, it is Tortorella. And to everyone who thinks he cannot fix this "flawed roster"... he does not have to. All he has to do is fix the powerplay and this team will be much, much better. Add in a little more attack, and a little more passion and emotion and I think we're all going to be pleasantly surprised...

[wildplaces]

I was sorry Sather didn't keep Tortorella on when he hired Muckler...I think that was one of his biggest mistakes since becoming GM, and I think deep down he regrets it. Tortorella was in a similar position to Renney, having coached the up and coming youngsters in Hartford. He may be trying to make up for that now. Whether it will work at this point is debatable, but it could light a fire under the veterans.

Renney was one of the classiest coaches the Rangers have had...but his downfall seems to be his subborn insistence on defense when they needed offense. To treat an offensive-minded player into a defensive-minded player takes time and persuasion. While the team as a whole seemed to respond to a point, Renney didn't appear to develop the players' defense talents, but tried to force square pegs into round holes as far as talent is concerned.

At the end, Renney seemed to be completely unable to communicate effectively with his veterans. Jagr did this for him during the Jagr tenure, and he seemed clueless without the leadership of Jagr to inspire the troops.

In some ways I am sorry to see Tom Renney go...in my view, he was brought down by stubborn adherence to his flaws.

[marty from rfc]

Will be interesting to see if Tortorella can improve the focus of this team. Just my opinion here but I feel this team has lacked a crispness/sharpness for quite some time (perhaps even most of the season). Despite the "one agenda" feeling in the room, on the ice they've seemed out of synch, not on the same page. RB94 hit on it time and time again here - the Rangers have trouble stringing together 2-3 good passes and I think he is right on. Clearly a sign that their heads are not in the game.

Perhaps it was Renneys system or maybe its just that the talent level is not that good. One of the reasons the Rangers are so easy to play against (in addition to lack of an edge) is that they just cant complete a lot of passes in a row and become so easy to defend against. This leads to too much time in the defensive zone and the inevitable defensive breakdowns. Hopefully JT can get the boys much more focused and raise their competition level. We'll see...

[Bones]

Well, if I can't have Messier, I'll take Tortorella who is the closest thing to Iron Mike we can get. Hopefully he can get the Ranger D, esp Rosy, to move the puck faster. Be interesting to see how he handles Zherdev.

[ThisYearsModel]

Frankly, I am surprised at Sather's candor and his willingness to be accountable for the mess he has created. He appears to have been paying more attention that I thought he was. Still, the Redden signing cannot be excused. I am now excited to watch tomorrow. I think Torts is a good coach....and I think he has learned from his prior experience as well. he cut his teeth in Tampa.

[alan]

Jess-I always go back to this because in so many ways it's defined the season up to this point, but go back and look at the Detroit game and the San Jose game. In both, after a bad start, we dominated, and i mean dominated, two elite teams by doing exactly what sather speaks about and what renney foresaw for this team entering the season.

What has defined this year causally to those games is, one, that we didn't do it for 60 minutes, and, two, we hardly if at all did it since. Torts should use those games to define what he wants this team to play like for the remainder of the year. If the players buy into it, I can see success. If they don't, I hope Torts says bye-bye real quick and bring up or in some players that will.

Hope we get some updates from practice, Dubi, later???

[Joe T]

When you play scared (of making mistakes) you play poorly. It might look unfocused, or it might look like you don't care. It can get so bad that everyone holds their stick so tight they become paralyzed.
I think this is partly because:
!.) The media in this town can be tough.
2.) Renney's system left no margin for error.
3.) With no real go to guy (Jagr, Shanny) they just looked helpless.
Maybe a guy like Tortorella can make them feel better about themselves by taking the pressure of a totally defensive system off their shoulders.

[Sioux-per-man]

I hope this move breaths new life into the Rangers Power Play. I'm excited for the new move. I hate defensive hockey, it is by far the most boring thing to watch. Check out a Wild game and you will fall asleep.
This should be the "wake up call" everyone on here has asked for. I don't think they were going to make the playoffs without this move.

[NYR2thecore]

I am cautiously optimistic. Certainly, with what we have witnessed in the last few months, Torts cannot do much worse. However, we will see if the Rangers situation is more like Chicago (this year) and Washington (last year) or more like Ottawa. The horses, after all, remain the same. Only the jockey has been replaced.

[Wicky229]

So I have been busy for a few days anything exicting happen in rangerland?

[Wicky229]

“Stay the f*** off the logo.”

Love it!!!

[Dubi]

Actually, the guy said Get the Hell off the logo, not f, and it wasn't Torts who said it -- one of the equipment guys came through and said it.

[Wicky229]

Thanks Dubi, I think you are right, might have been ramsey that said it. The fact that it is "news worthy" makes me think there is a serious attitude change going on.

[Matty]

Other beat writers reported it as Wicky did, methinks they were just trying to be more dramatic by posting it like that even though that's not how Ramsey said it ...

So did you guys noticed the D pairings in practice???

Rozsival-Staal
Mara-Girardi
Reitz/Kalinin-Redden

Oh look at that ... of course Mara is injured but contact is no longer restricted but he is at least 1 to 2 weeks away from playing but Redden fell to the last D pairing?

I think Torts does want to give the struggling vets a clean slate and see what they show him to see if they deserve to get the ice time ... the Daily News reported that Torts took Redden aside on the ice and had a long talk with him ...

[Wicky229]

I liked renney as a person (not that I really knew him or anything) and he was a good coach (still is), but like I had posted before some teams need a kick in the pants and I still think he should have just lost it and thrown sticks on the ice and went berserker during a game. Instead, he lost his job and some players regressed it seems (staal and girardi come to mind immediately). Torts will provide the kind of fire renney did not (I think he will) and motivate guys. That being said, without a big rugged winger with scoring ability and and big banger on d, this team still does not have the correct pieces so I am cautiously optimistic at this point.

I really wonder what this does as far as trades, benchings and call ups. I mean if he doesn't use the 4th line a lot, are betts and sjo on the block (i wouldn't think so because of their pk ability) so do they become the 3rd line and guys like dawes and pru and voros see less ice time and just ride the pine most of the game? Torts likes an aggressive style, offencively aggressive, so does a big banger become less of a priority for the blueline now and maybe a better puck mover is more of a priority now, ie morris from phx?

It will be interesting for sure.

Thanks for all the great coverage Dubi and all the great posts everyone! Let's go rangers!!!!