John Tortorella and the 5 Most Colorful Characters in NY Rangers History

As one of the "Original Six" teams, the New York Rangers have a long and storied history.

From Hall of Famers to championships, from All-Stars to washouts, the Rangers have had it all.

Along the way, they've had some very colorful and entertaining personalities. It's part of the reason why fans are so loyal.

It's difficult to narrow down a list of colorful players and coaches to just five, but we gave it a shot.

Read on to find out who we think are the most colorful characters in Rangers history, and make your opinions known!

John Tortorella

You can disagree with his tactics, but John Tortorella is a really good coach.

With one Stanley Cup under his belt, Tortorella lead the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Finals this year. They are also one of the Stanley Cup favorites for next season.

But if you're a member of the media, you might despise him.

This is one postgame press conference, spoken after the Rangers lost to the Devils in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals:

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A number of things. I’ll keep it in the room. No. No. I answered your first question. No. You need to improve as a hockey team every game. I’m going to keep it in the room.

"

That's it. 36 words. While "Torts" is entitled to his opinion, it's very hard to write a game story with only 36 words from the coach.

Awful Announcing had a round-up of some of the reactions to the press conferences:

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@sportswatch John Tortorella's playoff non-interviews were amusing shtick for a while. Now they have become annoying and unprofessional.

@theroyalhalf I feel bad for John Tortorella's wife when she asks him what he feels like for dinner.

@Proteautype Someday we'll discover John Tortorella had his childhood sled Rosebud burned to ash by a reporter, and this will all make a lot more sense.

@Buccigross My problem with John Tortorella's "act" is that it's an act. Insensitive? Yes. Unprofessional? God, yes. The line for passive, media..

@Joey_Giordano "No." - John Tortorella

@peterhassett We aren't gonna be laughing when John Tortorella blows up a schoolbus or something.

"

Perhaps his act is tired, but for the most part, Rangers fans are behind him.

He's accountable, demanding of his players and doesn't give anyone preferential treatment. He's just doing his job the only way he knows how.

It's not just the media that Tortorella doesn't like. It's fans too. Torts, in a  2009 playoff game against the Washington Capitals, threw a water bottle at fans sitting behind him. He was suspended for one game.

He's not too fond of the league either. After the Winter Classic, Torts said [via ESPN]

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"They're two good referees, (but) I thought the game was reffed horribly," Tortorella said of Ian Walsh and Dennis LaRue. "I'm not sure what happened there. Maybe they wanted to get it to overtime. I'm not sure if they have meetings about that or what, but we stood in there."

 "That third period," Tortorella said. "It was disgusting."

 

"

He was fined $30,000 for the statement. He also doesn't like the Penguins, where he talked after a game about a Brooks Orpik knee-on-knee hit on Derek Stepan [via Yahoo!]

"

"

It's a cheap, dirty hit. I wonder what would happen if we did it to their two whining stars over there. I wonder what would happen. So I'm anxious to see what happens with the League over this. Just no respect among players. None. It's sickening.

"

"

It's one of the most arrogant organizations in the league. They whine about this stuff all the time, and look what happens.

It's ridiculous. But they'll whine about something else over there, won't they, starting with their two (expletive) stars.

"

 

"

He was fined $20,000 for that statement. 

Torts has to be a polarizing figure in the league. But to Rangers fans, he's been a very good coach. He's handled the young talent well, while managing Henrik Lundqvist's work load fairly well. 

He's been a finalist for the Jack Adams award three times, and was an assistant coach on the U.S. Olympic team in 2010.  

A press conference with Torts may be short, but there's no doubting that he's a very colorful character, maybe the most colorful coach in Rangers history. 

"

"

Sean Avery

Where to start with Sean Avery?

There may not be a more controversial player in Rangers history.

Some love him. Some can't stand him. Wherever you stand, you can't help but notice him.

Avery was traded to the Rangers in the middle of the 2007 season, where he scored 20 points in 29 games to help lead the team to the playoffs.

He played one more injury plagued season before signing with the Dallas Stars.

That didn't work out well. After his infamous "sloppy seconds" comment,  he was put on waivers where he was re-signed by the Rangers.

John Tortorella, while working for TSN, said that Avery shouldn't be in the NHL. That was a sign of an ominous tenure.

While Avery was often effective while playing, he was benched frequently and eventually sent down to the AHL.

But Avery left a mark on the Rangers. He's known for the "Avery Rule". 

In the 2008 playoffs, Avery stationed himself directly in front of New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Broduer and raised his stick in the air, moving it from side to side. The tactic was so effective, that the Rangers eventually scored.

But it came with a ton of controversy. Brodeur was not happy:

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"I've been watching games for 33 years and I have never seen anything like that in my life," Brodeur told the New York Daily News. "If it's within the rules, it's within the rules. The official came over and said it probably wasn't something that should be done.

"

Hockey commentator Don Cherry wasn't either:

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"I've known this kid since he was about 16 years old," Cherry told Toronto radio station The FAN 590.  "Once a jerk, always a jerk. You can't blame the referee, because he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Could you believe what you were seeing? I've never seen anything like that and I've been in every league that's ever existed."

"

The incident eventually led to the "Avery Rule" which states that:

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"An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty (Rule 75) will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender's face, for the purpose of improperly interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play."

"

On a personal note, I was actually at that game (The arm that's above the woman in this picture is my right arm). One of the things I remember most was that Chris Drury was stationed next to Avery. While the puck left the zone, Drury pushed Avery away from the net, and barked something at him, probably telling him to stop. Avery didn't, and he eventually scored.

It was an unbelievable scene that summed up Avery. If he was on your team, and he was doing what he does best —agitating opponents, drawing penalties and helping score goals—you loved it. If he was crossing the line, you hated it. Either way, he goaded opponents into often unnecessary penalties. 

The Sean Avery saga is a complicated one. I know a lot of fans who swear by him, even wishing he was not sent down during the Rangers run to the Eastern Conference Final, saying that he was the missing piece. I also know of fans who were happy to see him go. 

Personally, I think he's effective when he doesn't cross the line. Unfortunately for Avery, he crosses it way too often. 

Avery is not currently signed by an NHL team, and there's no indication that he'll return to the league anytime soon.  

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Esa Tikkanen

"Hey, atta dinnin stick a who!"

Huh?

If that quote, via the Washington Post, sounds unintelligible, well it probably is. It's also known as "Tikkanese" the language of Finnish born player Esa Tikkanen.

Tikkanen, who played with the Rangers from 1992-1994, 1996-1997 and 1998-1999, is one of the more colorful players in Rangers history.

Tikkanen was a key cog in the Rangers run to the Stanley Cup in 1994, scoring 22 goals and 32 assists in the regular season, along with eight points in the playoffs.

Tikkanen was a pest on the ice, often trailing the opponents best player. 

We're not sure what "Tikkanese" is, but it's a combination of Finnish, English and something that's just purely "Tik".

You can't take Tikkanese in school, and there are no online classes. 

Even teammates are confused. Mike Richter was asked what Tikkanen said to him after a victory. As he told Sports Illustrated: 

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Don't ask me. I need a dictionary with English, Finnish and Tikkanese.

"

If only they made one, Mike. If only. Tikkanen, in his 14-year-career, scored 244 goals and had 386 assists, along with five Stanley Cups. 

Not bad for someone who made up his own language. 

Ron Duguay

That hair! That talent! Ron Duguay, with model looks, took New York by storm, scoring 20 goals in his rookie season.

He was as popular on the ice as he was in the gossip columns. He might have been one of the first real "rock star" Rangers.

He was also pretty good on the ice. Duguay scored 274 goals and had 346 assists. He scored 40 goals in 1981-1982.

Duguay also spent time with Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings.

Duguay is now a studio analyst for the MSG Network, where he helps to break down Rangers contests.

He was a sex symbol and ended up marrying a model.

Duguay began to fall out of favor with coach Herb Brooks, leading to his trade [via SI]:

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Duguay was a problem child for Ranger Coach Herb Brooks; he enraged Brooks with his habitual lateness to practices, and the almost daily sight of Duguay's mug in the gossip columns drove Brooks batty

"

Perhaps luckily for the Rangers, they haven't had a star player be a sex symbol quite like Duguay. Henrik Lundqvist might be, but he is not in the gossip columns as much as Duguay was. 

Nick Fotiu

Nick Fotiu was the first New York City born player to play for the Rangers and he quickly became one of the most popular players on the team.

Fotiu was a great fighter, and was always quick to come to his teammates' defense.

He also liked to throw pucks up to the famed "Blue Seats" where he sat as a child.

Fotiu was also a pretty good player, scoring 60 goals  and adding 77 assists in his NHL career that spanned 14 years. He amassed a whopping 1,362 career penalty minutes. He also played some in the World Hockey Association.

He was a gritty player who was a fan favorite.

Fotiu also worked to intimidate the opposition. As he said {via Ross Bernstein's "The Code"]:

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I used to love intimidating the opposition; it was a lot of fun. I remember when the Flyers would come to Madison Square Garden in New York to play us. I knew exactly what time they were going to arrive and what door they were coming in. So I would do like 200 push-ups right before they got there and would tape my wrists and get my arms all pumped up. Then I would put on a tank top and position myself right by the door where they came in. I would stand there looking just sweaty and pissed while I was sawing my sticks for that night's game. Well, when they walked in and started heading to their locker room, I know that they would look over at me and see me all pumped up with my muscles all bulging out.

That had a psychological effect on their tough guys for sure. They would come in tired from a long trip and then start thinking, "Oh man, look at this freaking guy!" Then, when they were getting dressed, I would go run a lap around the concourse and dump water all over me to make it look like I was sweating like crazy. I would then go down by their locker room while they were getting dressed and talk to the trainers. They would say real loud, "Oh, you're not playing tonight, Nick?" and I would say "No, I just felt like running three miles before the game to really get warmed up."

I know their guys could hear it, and I wanted to plant that seed. Then, and here is the kicker, I would buzz around like crazy during warm-ups, real fast. Finally, when
the game started and I got my first shift, I would come out like a bat out of hell, just banging guys and scaring the crap out of them. You just knew that they were over on their bench thinking, "Man, this freaking guy is nuts. He just ran three miles. Look at him!

"

Fotiu has also dabbled in coaching, and was an assistant for the Rangers minor league affiliate. 

He's a fan favorite to this day and is no doubt a colorful personality.