from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

Hockey is a slippery game, as Emile Francis once observed. It is played on ice. Mistakes are part of it. Tortorella often speaks about wanting players who are not afraid to make a difference. But too often it seems as if players are afraid to make mistakes. It is impossible to win that way.

If coaching’s most direct impact is on the specialty units, then Tortorella and assistant Mike Sullivan earn themselves an epic fail there. The power play, Sullivan’s province, was a disaster. The penalty kill, middling all season, collapsed against the Bruins.

The Rangers need a power play instructor, whether Tortorella agrees or not. Joe Girardi certainly knows more about pitching than Tortorella knows about the power play, but the Yankees manager isn’t his team’s pitching coach, is he?

The Rangers need to improve the roster. That’s clear. That need more bulk up front and they need to bulk up the back end. But they do have some talent on the come. And talent still wins games.

It is on Tortorella to maximize that talent. He needs to coach the roster he has, not the one he wishes he had or the one he used to have.

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