“Stay the f*** off the logo.”

The Rangers team logo takes up most of the carpet in the middle of the locker room, and it’s forbidden territory again. That’s one of the changes John Tortorella made yesterday as he took over as the new head coach of the Rangers, the actual comment was made by head trainer Jim Ramsay, aka the enforcer.

“We talked about that,” Tortorella said. “I don’t think you walk on a logo anywhere.”

It’s a tradition followed by a lot of NHL teams, but wasn’t really religiously followed at the Rangers practice facility before a room full of reporters came in to ask players about their first impressions of the new coach. It speaks to Tortorella’s respect for tradition, and is indicative of other changes he made.

He took down the standings and statistics that former coach Tom Renney had in the locker room. He’s organized. He’s the guidence counselor. Paul Mara said it felt like the first day of school and Nigel Dawes mentioned the new rules outlined when he addressed the team earlier this morning.

Tortorella said he didn’t know much about the players he has inherited, didn’t know what the lines had been, hadn’t seen a lot of Rangers games this year and needed to check Henrik Lundqvist’s nickname after saying he was the best goalie in the league.

“Hank, right?”

Tortorella can call him whatever he wants, so long as the Rangers start winning again.

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“Losing knocks you down,” Tortorella said. “And listen, I am going to push them, I am going to push them, but you also as a coach have to understand when to be with them and I think this is a time to try to get them to feel decent about themselves. There’d be nothing better than a win but I think its my job to allow them to express themselves and get a little bit of confidence.

“I think they’re a little bit beat up. This reputation that I just kick the hell out of people, it takes on a life of its own. As a coach you better understand what your team is right now as far as how they feel and I think they need to get a little self confidence and we’re going to allow them to work through that and try to get a win.”

Tortorella’s assistant (and assistant GM) Jim Schoenfeld led most of practice, and the new coach said Mike Pelino was off the ice and in a new role as a scout in order to make a clean break from the old staff. Benoit Allaire will still be on the ice for practice.

He wouldn’t address Sean Avery in Hartford, saying it would be tampering.

But his arrival seems to be a relief for a team dogged by losing.

“To play in that building in Madison Square and the logo of the Rangers, are you kidding me? It’s an honor.”

Jane here with the details from today’s practice, which will be followed by an introduction to new Rangers coach John Tortorella.

It was much more uptempo, shorter drills and sprints. We got a glimpse of Tortorella’s first lines: Dubinsky, Drury and Callahan; Gomez, Naslund and Zherdev; Dawes, Prucha and Korpikoski; and Sjostrom, Betts and Orr.

Paul Mara has a right shoulder injury which will keep him from skating in tomorrow night’s game in Toronto.

Carp and I want to thank you guys for being so great yesterday. A lot of your comments were really smart and kept us digging for more before the Rangers made their official announcement on the new coach. I’ll have more from his comments later.

More from Glen Sather’s conference call tonight (again, please excuse any typos and the bold font):

“I have spoken to other people (about the coaching position) today, absolutely.”

“No, the overtime loss (Sunday) wouldn’t have changed my mind. … I’ve had it in teh back of my mind for a few days, but winning or losing that game (Sunday) 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.”

“I’m gong to speak to John about it, absolutely. But Sean has not played very many games in Hartford. He’s worked hard, his attitude has veen great, he’s done with the coaching staff have asked him to do there. He’s been a good contributor. The team has I think won three out of the four games. … Hes coming along and he’s got a great attitude and we’ll deal with that in the next week for sure.”

Here are the first batch of quotes from the Glen Sather conference call tonight, regarding the Rangers coaching change (please excuse any typos):

“I’ve been thinking about it probably the last couple of weeks. I could see the team starting to slide and, after the start that we had at the beginning of the year and the way we were playing and moving and controlling the puck, the game just started to erode and I thought 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 tohave something done.”

“Talked to Tom this morning. I’m sure as you know, he’s a very classy, intelligent human being. It was a tough thing for both of us to deal with — emotional. But he handled it very well, very professional. He understands the coaching profession, he understands the mentality of the players sometimes and he knows that a lot of these things are out of his control. And coaches can only do what they think they’re doing is right. That’s the way Tom tried to deal with everything. He’s very optimistic, very upbeat every day.He approached everything very professional and I can’t say enough about the way he worked with us th elast three and a half years.

“Torts is certainly a lot more fiery and a lot different as a coach … I htink that he’s going to bring that fiery attitude and a lot of games we seemed to be missing it. It’s certainly not a sleight against Tom. It’s two entirely different styles.”

“I didnt know John at all at that point (in 2000). I had talked to John Muckler. I talked to John (Tortorella) a little bit, and one of the things I thought was really honest was that they’d done sucha poor job they deserved to be fired. I liked that approach, that he was honest and accepting what happened. I guess in retrospect you can look back and say, you know, that it would have been smart to keep him. But that was eight and a half years ago now. Things have a way of coming full circle. I know that he’s alwaus been interested in the Rangers and he’s always loved to be here and coach here, so I’m looking forward to getting to know him very well.”

“Absolutely. I think we all have to take responsibility for this. We think that we have a better hockey team than we’ve been playing the last 10 games. I don’t think we’ve played very well. To come out of the gate the way we did and play and perform and move the puck and control the play in the beginning of the year, something happened. Something shifted, and you can’t point your finger at Tom. You have to point it at everyone, the players included, to take responsibility for the way they played. And they have to be smarter, and play smarter and play harder. I think we all recognize that.”

“I think that some of the players that (were) brought in are better than they’ve played up to date. But I wouldn’t start to point fingers. … But I know a lot of players here have played very well in the past and I expect they’re going to play very well in the future. Sometimes, who could ever tell you about this coaching business? One guy gets some players to perform really well, and another guy can come in and it doesn’t work for him. It’s a strange business, a strange profession. We’re all trying to do the same thing. We’re all trying to do the right thing.”

“No, there was no compensation. (to Tampa Bay) These things just take time. They’re always complicated when you start dealing with different people and it just takes time to iron things out. Everything is fine.”

On the need to bring in a complete opposite personality: “Yes, I think Torts is going to bring a lot more fire to his game, to his approach and that’s not to be critical of Tom’s approach. That’s just Tom’s personality. If you look at some of the players on the 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.”

“We had a lot of meetings with the players and a lot of meetings with the coaching staff and we tried to analyze it the best we could. We spent a lot of time dealing with the films, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. There really wasn’t any conclusive answer. We had lost our zip at one time, whether it was the game in Toronto when we were up 2-0 with seven minutes to go and there was a giveaway that started that onlaught — we ended up losing 6-2; or the game against Washington that we had them down 4-0. We have to be more of an attack team rather than a team that’s going to pull back and back in.”

March 4 trade deadline moves: “That’s certainly an option that’s coming soon. It’s not far away. The telephones are very busy, certainly a lot busier than they were in the first half of the year when teams were trying to sort themselves out. SO many of us are in the position of moving up or moving down, a lot of guys have to be careful. We have to be careful after a coaching move that we start to fool around with the personnel. I think it’s going to depend on how John sees the team and sees it going forward. He’s certainly going to have input into the lineup as well as the personnel, and it’s going to take him some time to see who’s here, but I wanted to be able to give him enough time to analyze that.”

“I wanted to be able to give him the opportunity to know the team and see where he’d like to make some improvements and get his input where he’d like to see those changed occur.”

On conversations and philsophy discussions he had with Tortorella: “I think he has a reputation that preceeds him. He also has a history with Jim Schoenfeld (from the Buffalo organization, presumably). They know each other very well and Jim, of course, knows me very well. He thinks our attitudes and desires are going to mesh quite easily. Our philosphies are 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.”

“Schoeny is going to be an interim assistant coach. There was no consideration in giving him the head coaching job. He really wasn’t interested in it.” (others were considered, he said).

On Tortorella being on record as not being a Sean Avery fan: “I think you always have to be cognizant of the fact that coaches have opinions about players and people in different organizations at different times can have the history with Sean that 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 have to deal with. Sean is still part of the Dallas hockey club and we’re not really at liberty to speak about it.”

It’s official. John Tortorella is en route to NY to take over for practice tomorrow. Not available tonight for comment.

Glen Sather said there is no compensation headed to Tampa Bay, and that Tortorella signed a multi-year contract.

Assistant GM Jim Schoenfeld did not want the job. He and Pelino will be assistants, Schoenfeld on an interim basis.

Tom Renney is welcome to stay in the organization if he chooses, Sather said.

Sather said he had this in his mind for a few weeks, and he was going to make this move even if the Rangers had won Sunday night. He knew he was going to do it today no matter what. He said he considered other candidates, as well. He also very pointedly said much of the decision was based on how the Rangers got away from the way they played the first 10 games or so this season, and that it was basically the system of backing up that he felt needed to be changed. 

More later.
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There may be a resolution in the compensation case. A media conference call with Glen Sather is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Will update or re-post after the conference call.

Hey, it’s Carp.

We’re still awaiting the conference call with Glen Sather, and presumably John Tortorella, which now looks like it will be in the early evening.

Obviously there is some compensation issue, although it’s hard to imagine how Tampa Bay can be entitled to anything after firing the coach last June.

We were going to wait to post until after the conference call, but I just want to get a few things out there.

For one, Tortorella is the opposite of Renney in personality and in philosophy.

The man the Rangers (and Glen Sather) should have hired when he was already under contract as their interim coach in 2000 (for the last four games of that season) is fiery, ferocious and at times profane. MSG Network better assign somebody to keep a finger on the “bleep” button for its rink-side microphone.

Here, for example, is a reel of Tortorella highlights.

And if you think this man will want Sean Avery on his team, well, there’s this clip from his most recent job as a TSN analyst.

In terms of on-ice, Renney was safe-safe-safe, whereas Tortorella is a “safe-is-death” guy. So expect more goals, finally, but we won’t know for a while if that will translate into wins or into 7-5 losses. Let’s not forget, Tortorella isn’t bringing any 30-goal scorers with him. He’s stuck with the same roster. So Henrik Lundqvist might want to get ready for some extra work.

But what I liked about Tortorella (who won an AHL championship with Rochester and a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay, and who was John Muckler’s assistant before Muckler and Neil Smith were fired with four games to go in ‘99-00) is how he holds people accountable. He will. He did it in wars with Vincent Lecavalier in Tampa. I remember when he took over for Muckler, how he hollered about the pride an Original Six team should have, how players should take more responsibility when they wear the Rangers uniform, and about how disgraceful he thought the performance of that team had been before the firings.

Renney’s biggest fault wasn’t his system. It was his unwillingness to hold his high-priced stars accountable. That is all about to change.

I’ll be back later with any news on the negotiations with Tampa Bay, and/or Sather’s comments from the conference call.
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SORRY, THAT SECOND VIDEO HAS BEEN REMOVED … but you can read the quote on that page anyway. It pretty much says it all about Tortorella’s feelings for Avery.

The Rangers have fired coach Tom Renney and assistant Perry Pearn. Heading to interview players now. More later.
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It’s true. Renney is out, along with Pearn. Jane is at the rink. She and I will both have more shortly.

UPDATE 12:34

Jane here again. The new coach will almost 100 percent certainly be John Tortorella, but here’s how the morning unfolded. The Rangers scheduled a 10:30 workout this morning, but didn’t let reporters in until 11:30—late enough to have a lot of us thinking something was up. One of the media relations people came in and told us Renney and Pearn had been let go, the other assistants will stay, and then let us talk to the players.

The locker room was pretty subdued by the time we got in there. Chris Drury said Renney was fired at the end of the workout and addressed the players.

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“I just think everyone right now feels for Tom and Perry and all the effort they put in to win here,” Drury said.

Several players said they felt responsible in part for the firing. Defenseman Paul Mara said that the possibility had been in the back of his mind, and that pro teams make changes when teams aren’t winning. The Rangers have lost (or not won) 10 of the last 12 games.

“We’ve still got a lot of games left. We’ve still got a chance to get into the playoffs,” Scott Gomez said. ”…It’s a business. You hate to see a guy get fired, but you’ve got to keep going. You’ve got to find a way.”

At least one player alluded that this was the right change to make.

“You have to accept that you need a change,” Henrik Lundqvist said, “and this is the way we have to do it.”

No official confirmation on Tortorella, although Lundqvist said he expected to meet the new coach tomorrow, indicating that the front office has their man. The next game is in Toronto on Wednesday, so this is upheaval that the players will have to work through if the season is to get back on track.

There will be more answers on the coaching situation this afternoon with president Glen Sather scheduled for a conference call.

I’m going to try to not be too negative here. Why? Just because I’m sick of being negative, and because I’m sure there are going to be plenty of chances to be negative the rest of this season.

So the Rangers had too many men on the ice twice last night. For a lot of the game, they had too few. And I kind of agree with Chris Drury that the last few losses (and the win) haven’t been wrecked by a lack of effort. I think they’re trying. Drury was trying to make something happen—a breakaway for a team so desperate for offense—when he got burned for a goal last night.

I know, I know. He needs to score. Period. And I’m sure he would pay out a chunk of his salary for the answers to the problem’s he’s had.

Before we go any further, I just wanted to welcome back Jane from her week off. She is at practice today and will post this afternoon. Also, Sam Borden filled in last night and did a terrific column on Andy Bathgate for The Journal News and LoHud. com today.

Some thoughts:

1) Scott Gomez, for the third game in a row, got better, I thought. I kind of liked him with Brandon Dubinsky on the wing. And those who watched on TV know that Joe Michelleti called the Gomez 4-on-4 goal. Nice going, Joe.

2) Those were the Maple Leafs, right? The Leafs who have now surrendered a league-high 219 goals? What does that tell you about the Rangers’ offense? And they get to meet again Wednesday in T.O.

3) If Aaron Voros is going to play, then, in my opinion, he needs to stay away from useless fights and just play tough. I mean, fighting a guy at the drop of a puck for no reason is not what this team needs right now. It serves no purpose, and in fact can backfire if you lose the fight. What he needs to do is to play hard, to hit people, to aggravate people, and then if challenged, drop the gloves. Not some staged fight. That’s not helping in any way.

4) Petr Prucha: scratched. I do see that the kid has some defensive deficiencies, but, wow. No explanation from me. I have no idea. I am not on that bandwagon that thinks Prucha-over-Voros is going to solve anything major with the Rangers. But I don’t see why it’s Prucha sitting night after night. I just don’t. And now the Rangers pretty much have to trade him at the deadline and get something for him, because he’s not in their plans.

5) The ceremony. Too bad there were so many empty seats. But the ceremony itself was wonderful. It really was, for two absolute gentlemen who played and played hard, and were legit all-time greats. Both of them came off a little nervous, which was also endearing. It occurred to me when all the retired-numbers guys posed for that photo at the end of the ceremony that it might be a long time before they all get together again. I don’t foresee any more retired numbers for a while, unless the Rangers plan to right some wrongs and honor Bun Cook or Lester Patrick or guys from that era. And it could actually be the last time ever that all the retired numbers players are together on the ice. Too bad, because these annual gatherings the last few years had been really awesome. Maybe they’ll have a Gretzky night.

Jane will be back with an update later.

Hi all, Sam Borden here. Sorry I’m not the Sam you guys (rightfully) loved for so long, but I just wanted to drop in with a few thoughts and a fresh thread for tonight’s goings-on.

First, I put the subject of this post as “A Night to Remember”  because the pre-game ceremony was memorable but also because I wonder if another loss tonight will spell the end for Tom Renney. The win over the Islanders was welcome, obviously, but another poor performance yesterday in Buffalo put the crosshairs squarely back in place.

Second, I spent some time with Andy Bathgate and Harry Howell on Friday afternoon for a column that you’ll see in The Journal News and LoHud.com tomorrow. These guys are total class acts and really enjoyable to chat with. Howell broke up the room talking about playing for a New Jersey franchise in the WHA that played in an arena that was, literally, condemned.

One of the more interesting exchanges, at least for me, was when both men talked about the way the game is being officiated nowadays. I’m a referee/umpire/any-kind-of-official buff, and it was terrific to hear them give their thoughts on how tight the NHL has become with the rules. “I don’t really appreciate how the referees are now,” Howell said. “I don’t even think they need two referees. We could get away with a lot more stuff.”

The refs back then had a great sense of humor, Howell added, mentioning a time when he was called for a penalty he thought he didn’t deserve. “The referee called a penalty and I threw my stick up in the air,” he said. “The referee said, ‘Howell, when that thing comes down, you got 10 (minute misconduct).’”

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the ceremony – I thought it was fantastic – and I’ll try to check in a few times during the game.

The Rangers have a way of messing up these things (see: Adam Graves Night, followed by a loss to Atlanta).

Too bad. Harry Howell and Andy Bathgate deserve for this to be a great night at the Garden. First of all, it’s well overdue, having their numbers go to the ceiling. Second, most fans at the game probably never saw these guys play. They aren’t the darlings of ‘94, so this will be a comparatively low-key night.

But they also deserve a place that’s not angry with its team, and I imagine MSG will be somewhat angry tonight.

Why? How about Buffalo 4, Rangers 2. How about a 2-9 record in the last 11 games (we’re not giving credence to those two skills-competition points; if we’re counting the shootout win as a win, then we’re counting the shootout losses as losses). Or we could say it this way: The Rangers have one regulation win in their last 11 games, and that was over the Islanders, at home, in a 2-1 game with an empty-netter.

Not to mention that they have scored 11 goals—total!—in the nine non-wins.

Some thoughts:

1) Did anybody else notice that just about everybody behind the Rangers in the standings won yesterday, which means they fell from fifth to eighth and in danger of falling further. In other words, it now looks as if the Rangers will have to play over-.500 hockey the rest of the way to get into the playoffs, and that may not even be good enough. And we don’t know if they can do that.

2) Scott Gomez ran into Buffalo’s goalie and it was a borderline cheap shot. But this is what Gomez used to do in New Jersey. That’s probably another good sign that he’s morphing, at least to a degree, back into the Good Gomer. We’ll withhold judgment.

3) The rest of the top-money guys—and you know their names without me mentioning them—continue to sleepwalk through a season. Makes you wonder if anybody would want any of them if/when the Rangers put out the “For Sale” sign before the trade deadline. I mean, could they beg a team to take one or more, pay half their salary, take the cap hit, in exchange for young players or draft picks? Probably not.

4) Jim Schoenfeld (former Buffalo legend) was at the game last night. I don’t know how much he usually travels with the team, but it strikes me that he’s been at a few games lately. Hmm.

5) The MSG Network guys stole the nickname “Korpedo” which I am quite sure was first coined on this blog (and before I got here). They not only used it, but they claimed credit for it. That ain’t right.

6) Joe Michelleti scolded the Rangers for their soft forecheck, for making life easy on the Buffalo defensemen, and for making it easier on the two Buffalo goalies. Good for you, Joe. 

7) Marc Staal really did get unlucky on the first goal, when he stepped up to anticipate a pass—correctly—only to have it deflected out of mid-air (mind you) by Nigel Dawes, and past Staal for a 2-on-1 for the Sabres. That’s a huge goal against a team so fragile. And a team so incapable of scoring goals.

8) If Slats is going to make a move … and I mean a coaching move … as they say at weddings, speak now or forever hold your peace. It’s now or never. But it’s also a good time to decide exactly how important it is to just make the playoffs and then go out quickly. Because I don’t think any move (coach firing, big trade, Sean Avery) should just be made for a short-term prayer of making the playoffs. Although Jim Dolan surely wants the extra home gates, future be damned.

9) Oh, add Buffalo to that growing number of teams who have more skill up front than the Rangers.

10) Now the Rangers’ team defense and goaltending are failing too. Can you spell D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R?

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