|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: DEVILS v RANGERSMay 15, 2012John TortorellaNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Practice Day Q. Was there any common theme in the two Game 2 losses that you're concerned about going into tomorrow night's game? COACH TORTORELLA: No. Q. Has no connection at all? Whole new series. That has no connection at all? The two losses from the other series? COACH TORTORELLA: Yes. Q. Can you talk about the opportunity this presents in terms of being able to possibly take a two‑game... COACH TORTORELLA: We're not even looking at it that way. It's another game in the series. And we're just trying to‑‑ we're trying to be better each game. Q. When did you make shot blocking a core part of your identity? And why was that? COACH TORTORELLA: Forever. Q. This wasn't the same way in Tampa, right? COACH TORTORELLA: Yes. Q. Different type of team? COACH TORTORELLA: Yes. Q. That team blocked shots like this one? COACH TORTORELLA: Yes. Q. But wasn't it the same depth, though? It was a different style of hockey, wasn't it? COACH TORTORELLA: No. No. That same depth is ‑ no, I'll leave it at that. You have to play defense to win. Blocking shots is playing defense. That team in Tampa played defense. Q. I understand that. But I don't remember it being‑‑ obviously you know it better than I do. COACH TORTORELLA: I do. Q. What do you think of the comparison between blocking shots and the neutral zone trap and other ways? COACH TORTORELLA: I'm not getting into any of that stuff. Talk about the game. Q. Did you see anything else on Game 1 as you viewed the tape today? COACH TORTORELLA: Plenty. Q. Mostly the second period? COACH TORTORELLA: Plenty. But it will belong to the team in the locker room. Q. How do you feel Artem Anisimov has raised the team during the course of this postseason if at all? COACH TORTORELLA: No, he has. I mean, he makes hell of a pass there to Kreider. And, I mean, that's why he was on the fourth line at a point in time. That's why he's been moved up. He's done some good things away from the puck. A lot of people don't realize some of the things he does. He's improved. Q. When Marc (Staal) was out the first half of the year and you had paired Danny (Girardi), was that a decision where it accelerated his need to grow, because he was being moved up so quickly? COACH TORTORELLA: McDonagh? Q. Yeah. And rather than if Marc had been there and Sauer stayed there‑ COACH TORTORELLA: You never know. It's funny how it works out when you end up with injuries. We always talk about when there's injuries, another guy gets an opportunity. You never know where it's going to lead you. So with Mack (McDonagh), the amount of time he got so quickly in key situations because of that injury has accelerated his process, where that may be a year down the road if we didn't have an injury. So you never know how this works out. I'm not sure if I'll ever split those two guys up. That's just the way it works, and that's the interesting part when you have injuries, how things work out. Q. As a follow‑up to that, what makes them work together? Because sometimes you see defense players work because they represent opposite skill sets in different spectrums and they become one together. These guys are ‑ they have a fairly similar attributes. Why do you think they work so well together? COACH TORTORELLA: It just does. It's just like when we put lines together. I don't know if the line's going to work. You try to put some guys together. You don't know if it's going to work. You just have a feel. You watch it and you see if it does. And that's what happened with Mack and Danny. It certainly was out of necessity. We talked about Michael Del Zotto. But Michael Del Zotto was still in the process of coming out of the minors and starting to play again. So you never‑‑ and if any coach tells you that he knows this will work, he's lying. Because we don't. You try it and you make a judgment and hopefully your judgment is the correct one, keeping them together or splitting them up. Q. How quickly did you see that it was working and how long did it take to... COACH TORTORELLA: I don't remember. I don't remember how long it took. Q. Was it quick? COACH TORTORELLA: Yeah, yeah, it accelerated and we thought they did some good things right away, not only defensively but Mack, especially this year, is really trying to work on his offense, along with Danny doing the same thing. It's been pretty important to us. Q.  Now, we tried to ask Ryan yesterday about his individual plays, but he said I don't want to talk about individualism. Team matters. And I know all the players talk about that. You yourself don't like to single out individuals. And I know you've had that process for a long time. Have you always had that? COACH TORTORELLA: This isn't golf. This is a team sport. It has to be. I don't think‑‑ you push as a coach. You push every individual within the team sport to be the best they can be. But you have to combine that within a concept, in a team concept. And especially the team since I've been here in New York, especially the group of people we've had and we've involved to, that's how we end up staying consistent and have any chance to win a hockey game, is to play as a team. Q. And if I could ask, where did you learn that, that concept? Does it go all the way back to when you were young? COACH TORTORELLA: I don't know. I mean, it's just the‑‑ that's just what it is. It's not learning it. It's what it is. That's how you're going to be successful within a team sport. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|