To Make This Tort's Team He Has to Lose Now

First off got to start this off with some clearing of the air; I do not dislike John Tortorella and I am not rooting for him to fail. What I am is Anti-Sather and the nonsense that has been repeatedly been pulled on Ranger fans during his era.

To see him say that he is willing to trade some of the young players for the "right player" should scare every single Ranger fan. Do I need to list those who Sather has considered the "right player" in the past?

Who here wants to trust the person who brought in Eric Lindros, Bobby Holik, Christian Backman, Brad Isbister, Vladimir Malakhov as those "right players"? I can not because I know from my own experience both as a Ranger fan and as someone who has covered Sather going back to his days with the Oilers.

Glen Sather is about Glen Sather, he threw Tom Renney under the bus yesterday and if I was Tortorella I would make sure that I check Sather's hands any time he wanted a hug. Tortorella has been handed a roster that is not suited to play his attack brand of hockey as there is nobody on the Ranger blueline who can play his system.

That really is the key to Tortorella's system as it starts with his defensemen. Forget Vinnie, Martin and Brad as the system flowed though the Dan Boyles, Pavel Kubinas, and Brad Lukowichs who played the kind of dependable defense with enough offense that allows the forwards to attack.

It is a system that depends on defensemen who are smart enough and steady enough not to get caught up ice on risky gambles. Defensemen who have speed as well the ability to make plays while staying out of the penalty box.

Name one Ranger defender who can offer solid defense with just enough offense to keep the other teams honest? Exactly my point why Tortorella needs losses more than he does wins.

Ranger fans know full well what kind of roster that has been handed to Tortorella and I really doubt he does not know what he is getting into. No way was he not watching teams like the Rangers as often as possible just in case.

That is why for Tortorella to become a winner as a Ranger coach tomorrow then he needs to lose today. Torts need to weed out those who we as Ranger fans already know are not the building blocks of tomorrow.

The best thing for the Tortorella era would be to begin with a huge thud like 3 losses in 4 nights especially this close to the trading deadline. Do not give the playoff chase any kind of pulse because long term goals strongly say that losing today makes for a better tomorrow.

Start with losses that push the Rangers further down the playoff picture and allow Tortorella the chance to push players off the roster that hurt the team's future. With just a week until the trade deadline, wins do more damage to Tortorella's future as he will not have the ammo to say to Sather that "this guy has to go".

Wins give Sather the false sense of empowerment that says he only needs a player here or there to lock up another first round playoff appearance with a second round exit. Why play in the playoffs if just making them is your goal?

Making the playoffs just gives this false idea that the Rangers are built to be cup contenders and only the very naive will believe that. The Rangers lack too much to make a cup run and if you are not going to make said run then you might as well not bother making the playoffs.

If the Rangers are going to change to the attack style of John Tortorella then they also need to change how they draft players as well. In the Ranger system are players who mainly are for the Sather system and drafting in the mid-teens to early twenties is not going to help you get the kinds of players geared for Tortorella's system.

Lose today and Tortorella along with Schoeny and Gordie Clark can start to bring in prospects who fit into what Tortorella wants to do. Fail to make the playoffs and you have a shot at either John Tavares, Evander Kane, Matt Duchene or Victor Hedman; players who all play the kind of game that John Tortorella wants out of the Rangers.

Heck give us Matt Duchene as we have already seen first hand the chemistry that he has for his current linemate Evgeny Grachev. Make the playoffs and you can forget getting someone of this kind of talent.

Win now and Sather gets to keep adding those players who are all wrong for the Rangers whether it is Redden, Kalinin or even Drury or Gomez. Lose now and the chance to push players out the window opens up as the best way to get rid of bad contracts is to get the players to want out.

I want to see Tortorella make it because the main thing he is trying to do is rebuild his reputation as a coach and not as a hot headed manic. That fits with my own belief that the Rangers need those who are wanting to build a reputation not live off one like a certain GM has for the last 30 years.

Lose today and hopefully we can protect the future from the "right players"