from Jeff Z. Klein of Slap Shot,

It doesn’t happen often, but a kinder, gentler John Tortorella emerged after practice here Wednesday afternoon, as he walked back the paint-peeling criticism he leveled at his Rangers following a 3-1 loss to the Devils Tuesday night.

“We have some guys that look scared to me, and tentative,” Tortorella said immediately after the defeat at Newark. But on Wednesday Tortorella softened that criticism considerably, and even did something he rarely does: accept some personal responsibility for the Rangers’ inconsistencies.

“I’m not trying to threaten them,” Tortorella said at the Rangers’ practice rink here. “Not to pound my chest, you know, and be this guy who’s a heavy.”

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