John Tortorella Discusses His Team Post All-Star Break
We are obviously all quite focused on the eagles this week with them playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday. But there are two other teams still playing in the city right now. And the head coach of one of them, John Tortorella, joined us today to talk about his team. How does he feel about the way his team is playing right now? What is he looking for the rest of the way? See what Coach John Tortorella had to say right here.
On the loss in the first game back from the All-Star break
“In the first period, we had it fed to us. They were stronger, more physical, and won more battles. To try to find something good out of the game, I thought in the 2nd and 3rd periods we found our way and played our game. We had a lot of almost offense. Just couldn’t make the final play. Missed a couple of tap-ins. Not a great game, but I like the way we rebounded after a god-awful first period.”
On what is looking to still learn about his guys
“I respect how they have gone about their business after that 10-game losing streak… They found a way to get it to .500. To be looking up instead of down… We want to play as many meaningful games as we can in the next 30…This is where it really ramps up… We have to be ready to bring our level up. Can we? I don’t know. We are going to find out. I think we have played some really good hockey, but we have to bring it to another level. This is the test for our guys. To see if we can keep it competitive, and stay in the hunt for the last 30.”
On the team approach at the trade deadline
“We are rebuilding. And we are on the ground floor of rebuilding. But I have to show my team respect. They have kept themselves in it. I am not going to lose sight of the rebuild. But as an organization, you have to have respect for your team when and if they keep on playing those meaningful games… No matter if you are in a rebuild or not, if you have a chance to keep on playing meaningful games, you stay with it. You don’t short-circuit your team.
I am sure there are going to be some calls about our players. But as we get there, those are the conversations we have as a management group. Do we stay with it? Or is this too good of a deal to help us in the future? But I say again, we have a ways to go here. We have to be really smart here not to get carried away here, and not think about the future.”
And you can listen to the full conversation with John Tortorella below…
