from Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun,

Mostly quiet since he was fired by the Vancouver Canucks last summer, the controversial John Tortorella popped up the day before an Eastern Conference final between two other teams he has coached.

Appearing on ESPN, “Torts” was asked about the current struggles of Martin St. Louis, his captain when they won the Stanley Cup together with the 2003-04 Lightning.

“Don’t you dare count him out,” said Tortorella. “When it gets to a bigger stage, and it’s getting bigger and bigger … Marty was sat out the last game, missed a few shifts … I just know him too well. He is chomping on the bit.

“I think he is going to make a big difference here. He always plays better on the bigger stage. With all the things going on around him, he’s going to have questions asked about him, he sat out a few shifts, the Tampa-Stevie Yzerman thing, his age, all that … he thrives on that. I think he’s going to be a wild card for the Rangers, as far as stepping up his play.

continued plus more ECF talk...