Quote: Prust Turned Team Atmosphere Around

It won’t take long to find out that I am a Brandon Prust fan. All you have to do is read a few of the articles from the past week.

Apparently I’m not the only Prust fan either, the New York Rangers had a pretty good couple of quotes about the feisty winger on their website this week and I thought I’d share them:

Head coach John Tortorella on how Prust changed the locker-room atmosphere: “I’m going to be honest with you, I knew nothing about Prust when we got him except that he was a tough kid who was willing to fight,” said Tortorella. “But that was a great deal for us because when he got here he began to change our locker room with his personality, and he played great for us down the stretch.”

Prust on playing in New York: “It didn’t take long for me to feel comfortable here and to make New York my home,” said Prust. “Playing at Madison Square Garden for the Rangers, an Original Six team with a lot of history, it was fun. Coming here rejuvenated my passion for the game. It’s one of the best things that ever happened to me.”

Prust on liking his role with the Rangers: “In Calgary I was put in a role as a fighter, a fourth-liner, and I never got out of that,” said the 24 year-old Prust. “I like being able to play, first, and worry about fighting, second. Other teams know I am willing (to fight) for sure, but here I was more focused on the game.”

Thoughts: Prust wasn’t a huge difference maker, but he was the sort of small upgrade on the back-end that really makes a difference. Having him around really seemed to help and it sounds like we owe some of the credit to Tortorella. Torts had him focused more on his game than ever before and it seems to have paid off.

I’d like to see what Prust can do next season.

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• April 10, 2010—It All Comes Down to Their Last Game (0)