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Give This Win to Tortorella |
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The American Heritage dictionary defines time-out as:
1. Sports - A brief cessation of play at the request of a sports team or an official for rest, consultation, or making substitutions.
2. A short break from work or play
3. a. A corrective measure or punishment for young children in which they are separated from others for a brief period.
b. The place, especially a chair, used for such a measure or punishment.
For those of us with children, we realize that #3 is as much for us so that we can calm down as it is for them. On #2, it can be a simple as a walk around the office, movement from your current location or just a mental break to clear your head.
In sports, time-outs take many forms. To slow another team's momentum (usually in basketball), wake up your own team (hockey and basketball), call a play (all spots) etc. The move by Torts falls into that middle category of waking up your own.
For Monday's game, there were several heroes:
- Henrik Lundqvist's play in net as he seems to always make the big save when needed
- The Rangers power play, carried by blasts from the Alex Kotalik, broke an 0-for-9 early season slump to score twice. Kotalik had been complaining about the lack of ice time playing on the third line with Anisimov and Lisin, but he stepped up when given the chance.
- The skating ability and hockey sense of Matt Gilroy. He still uses his wheels rather than solid positioning to get back into position, but his offensive ability is special.
- Michael Del Zotto's goal and assist and sense where to go on offense to get free. Like Gilroy, he is rough defensively and needs to be better in puck battles, but that inate hockey sense as to where to go to get in scoring position can't be taught.
However, in my view the time-out by Torts was the key. He used the time to settle down an out of control team, though settle is a bad word as he lit into them, challenging the team to wake up and stop playing back on their heels. The break had the desired effect as the effort was much better going forward, helping lead to the win.
Yes, the Rangers still are a team in transition, breaking in several young players that are getting their feet wet, some more successful (Gilroy and Del Zotto) than others (Anisimov), and we need more defensive help (though Redden and Rosie have played well paired with Gilroy and Del Zotto, as the veterans need to play back and be smart as to when to pinch and let the rookies rush the puck) but they say a good coach can be worth several games in the standings.
Monday night's win was one of those that rest largely on Tortorella.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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