New York Rangers Will Be on Thin Ice Unless John Tortorella Stops Blame Game

The New York Rangers are in a battle to make the NHL playoffs and their coach John Tortorella just started another battle with the NHL and its on-ice officials.  

Following his team's 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden yesterday, Tortorella used the postgame press conference to blast the officials that he believes cost his team a chance to win the hockey game. 

Tortorella was extremely upset over a boarding call on Dan Girardi early in the third period. Less than a minute later, Brian Boyle was called for a delay of the game penalty, which lead to a Vinny Lecavalier 5-on-3 power play tally, which proved to be the game-winning goal for the Lightning.  

Tortorella said, "We took some stupid penalties but Danny Girardi’s is not a boarding call. It is a simple guess. We gave them nothing five on four, and we get beat five on three and it starts with a bad call."

The Rangers coach didn't stop there. When asked how he felt about the loss, he responded, “It’s a tough one.We gave them (expletive) all night long and they beat us five on three on a horse (expletive) call."

The frustration for Tortorella was evident. When asked about how he felt the team played as a whole, he quickly responded:

"We defended. We had problems with their speed early on but then we finally got our forecheck going. They sit back, they want you to dump it in. They have that defenseman sitting back in the blue. We knew how they were going to play. And we got around the puck as the game went on. We had some chances, we didn’t score, right to the bitter end."

It didn't go long without one last verbal jab at the officiating.

"As the game went on, it was one of those games. Both teams were grinding. I just wish the league would stay the hell out of it and let the teams decide it. It’s bull(expletive). There’s too much at stake here."

There was no denying that the officials made a few questionable calls. Brandon Dubinsky received a penalty for interfering with Randy Jones in that third period. Replays showed that Jones clearly just lost his balance. There were a few other calls during the game that you can deem as questionable as well, but Tortorella should not be using that as an excuse for his team's loss.  

He did say that the Rangers took some stupid penalties, but those comments were directed more as a side note. It was clear that Tortorella wanted to blame the officiating as the main reason for the loss.

Being the head coach, Tortorella has to know better than to blame bad calls as a reason for a loss. No matter what you think, it is in the coach's best interest to bite his tongue, key on what his team did wrong, and turn the page. Putting blame on the a referee's poor call will never do anything positive.

Along from a probable fine by the NHL, you will not gain any friends within the NHL offices, or the on ice officials, and it makes the head coach look like a whiner. That also gives the team in general a free pass.  

You never want a group of players to make excuses as to why they lost a game. It takes attention away from what they as a team should be doing in order to win on a regular basis.

There is also a bigger issue here. John Tortorella does whine after every loss. He is far from a gracious loser. In fact, he gets downright rude with reporters if they ask a question he doesn't want to answer. In fairness to the reporters, the majority of the questions asked would be answered by at least 95 percent of the coaches in the NHL. The coach also had a run-in at one point with Larry Brooks, a longtime reporter from the New York Post.  

Let's not forget the incident after a loss when Tortorella said to a reporter, "get that microphone out of my face."

Tortorella has a Stanley Cup ring. There is no questioning his credentials and ability as a head coach. What does need to be questioned is his social skills with the media.  

Remember, the media in Tampa Bay is the minor leagues compared to the New York media. It is very possible that he doesn't have the maturity to handle the Big Apple. You wonder if he has those social skills with the media, what do the players in the locker room think about him?

The Rangers must concentrate on making the playoffs and then winning a few rounds, and that will be with Tortorella behind the bench.  

The question does remain, if the Rangers somehow miss the post season, or don't have a very long stay in that same post season, might Tortorella's stay be just as short come April?

That's for management to decide. Stay tuned.