2012 NHL Playoffs: Why Rangers Fans and Media Need to Lay off John Tortorella

If you follow the New York Rangers on a regular basis, you know that head coach John Tortorella is an intense individual.

From dusk till dawn, the man known as Torts brings a level of seriousness and passion to his coaching that his players feed off of and respect while also being successful (he won a Stanley Cup in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning).

Tortorella also brings with him a cantankerous, stern approach to dealing with members of the media before and after games—something he's done his entire head coaching career. New York isn't Tampa Bay—you're bound to have several reporters in your face asking tough questions on a constant basis. 

For anyone—fans and media members alike—that believes coaches have to be "pleasant" in their press conferences or owe it to fans to explain their decisions are fighting a battle they will never win, especially with Tortorella. The man isn't changing anytime soon. Expecting him to would be futile. 

Take, for instance, last night's Game 6, in which the Rangers dropped their chance to advance to the Eastern Conference finals against the New Jersey Devils and instead have a date Saturday night with Washington for Game 7. 

Visibly upset with his team's performance, Tortorella was once again short with his answers to the media, even going so far as to tell a reporter to "stop coaching" and replied to another about how the team's power play "sucked."

Short, but bluntly honest. That's exactly what Tortorella is all about. 

Bear in mind his philosophy is to keep everything related to the team in-house. If a player had a rough game, he's certainly not going to air it out to the media. What message would that send?

If he believes a particular player isn't giving full effort, Tortorella takes care of it during the game or behind closed doors.

What credibility would Tortorella have with the team if he called out every single player to the media that made a mistake or suffered a poor performance?

The answer is zero.

While he may not call anyone out specifically, Tortorella does give you enough honest insight about how good or bad his team performed. He's called out his star players to send the message they need to play better.

His job is to coach his team and manage their highs and lows. He's not being paid by owner James Dolan to conduct post-game hockey colloquiums.

Arthur Staple of Newsday summed up Tortorella's press conference behavior rather well after last night's game via his Twitter account:

"

I prefer prickly honesty to outright lying, which one of the coaches here engaged in tonight. And it wasn't Tortorella. #NYR

— Arthur Staple (@StapeNewsday) May 10, 2012"

The lying reference was to Caps bench boss Dale Hunter, who before Game 6 said there was no way Jay Beagle wouldn't play, only to be scratched last minute for Jeff Halpern.

I don't recall a time in Tortorella's three-year tenure where he outright lied.