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NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: DEVILS v RANGERSMay 13, 2012John TortorellaNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Practice Day Q.  You had some experience with it with the first round, but today, to turn around, start looking ahead, does it wear on you at all or is it behind you and you pick up the next one? JOHN TORTORELLA: We're ready to play. Q. Is it almost better just to stay in that rhythm? JOHN TORTORELLA: Yep. Q. Do you feel it gives you any kind of an advantage, just being‑‑ JOHN TORTORELLA: This is fine for us. We'll be ready to play. Q. Did you have any pre‑scouting at all of the Devils? JOHN TORTORELLA: Yes. Q. During the last series? JOHN TORTORELLA: Yes. Q. Obviously you had Vinny in Tampa. How does Cally compare to Vinny as a captain going through his first playoff as a captain? JOHN TORTORELLA: I don't even know how to answer that. Q. Do you want these guys to feel that they've accomplished something by winning two rounds, two tough rounds, or do you want them to say we haven't done anything yet? JOHN TORTORELLA: Well, I think when you get into this, it's not about winning two rounds. It's about trying to finish up, trying to do the things you need to do to get your ultimate goal. Q. So do you think there should be a sense of accomplishment, or is this just part of it, just keep going? JOHN TORTORELLA: Well, we have to learn as an organization, this is part of it. They should feel good about themselves, how they've handled themselves. But you've got to be really careful not to just feel this is what it is. This isn't what it is; this is halfway. And this is part of the growing that we need to go through, especially some of the younger guys, on how long this tournament is. So we're just going to continue to do our thing and keep on playing. Q. I asked Brad about it. He's obviously been through the whole two‑month marathon. Some of the younger guys who have never gotten past the first round, do you think they can conceptualize just how long a stretch this is and how they have to stay focused the whole time? JOHN TORTORELLA: I don't think they need to look at it that way. I think they need to look at what today was, and I thought we had a good workday today. This is just a crappy setup. I can't stand this setup. (Laughing.) And then worry about tomorrow, take each day at a time. I don't think you look at the big thing. You look at one day at a time. That's the way we go about our business, and we're going to continue doing that. Q. The way that you manage Henrik's playing time throughout the year to keep him fresh and rested, is this now where you feel like it can pay some dividends? JOHN TORTORELLA: Oh, sure, sure. This is why we did it. I don't want to hear players saying they're tired right now. If we're tired right now, then we haven't‑‑ we don't have the right mindset as far as what you have to do, and that goes through the whole team. This is why we give our team rest during the year. This is why we try to find days to rest instead of practice for where we're at right now, Henrik included. Q. Do you learn any more about him as you go along? JOHN TORTORELLA: Henrik? Well, like I said before, I think he's still improving. I think he has improved tremendously mentally as far as the maturity, as far as how he goes about it, and again, I stay away from Ben and him, but he‑‑ I thought through last year, there were times in the middle of the year I didn't think his game was dead on. I thought the last quarter of his season, and as he keeps on going right now to this day, I think he has improved, and I still think he will improve as a goalie because he's beginning to get it mentally. Q. And does that success also build that‑‑ JOHN TORTORELLA: Absolutely. For him to win another series is a step in the right direction, but as I answered Larry's question, that isn't the end‑all. That's not the way we should be thinking about this, and that's not the way he should be thinking about it, and I know he isn't. Q. You made a comment after the game yesterday that you're still in the process, the Rangers are, of learning what it is to be an elite team. JOHN TORTORELLA: Absolutely. Q. You're in the final four. JOHN TORTORELLA: Yeah. Q. By definition you're an elite team in this league right now. JOHN TORTORELLA:  Yeah. I don't think we are. You guys can‑‑ I don't think we are. I think we have a lot of things we need to go through to become that. Being an elite team is doing it consistently year after year after year. I like where we're going, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to put this in a negative vein. I like where we've gone this year, and I think we've taken steps in the right direction. But we still have quite a bit of growing to do as we continue in the organization here. Q. But getting halfway is still a pretty good thing, right? JOHN TORTORELLA: You can say that. Q. I was going to say, can you point out specific areas where they've gotten better in the last two weeks or three weeks? JOHN TORTORELLA: No, I'm not going to put specifics‑‑ Q. Mentally? JOHN TORTORELLA: Sure, that's a big part of it. That's a big part of playoff hockey is a mental toughness of handling surges and situations like that. Sure, we're growing. This is the first whack for some of these kids that we have. Q. Is that the biggest part more than the physical or the Xs and Os? JOHN TORTORELLA: I think the mental part of all sports is probably the most important part. I think that's‑‑ and I think that's where we're growing. Do we have all the answers?  No, we don't. We still have a number of things we're going to go through and hopefully learn from and get better at as we continue going. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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