Glen Sather, general manager of the New York Rangers, arrives at the 2006 NHL Awards. (Vancouver, BC, Canada) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The New York Rangers announced on Wednesday that John Tortorella has been relieved of his title as the team’s head coach. This announcement comes four days after the Blueshirts were eliminated in five games by the Boston Bruins in the 2013 Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Tortorella became the 34th head coach in franchise history on February 23, 2009 when he replaced Tom Renny, having coached 319 regular season games and had a record of 171-118-1-29. That mark also included a 0-3-1 stint as the head coach when he closed out the 1999-2000 season behind the bench following the dismissal of John Muckler.
Here are some quotes from Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather, who discussed Tortorella and other items with the NY media in a conference call:
On why he relieved Tortorella:
“There wasn’t one specific reason that I decided to make this choice. It was the choice of how we’re going to get better.”
“After doing the analytical work….I came up with the decision that I really needed to do something to really improve our team moving forward.”
On Henrik Lundqvist contract situation:
“We plan on signing Henrik Lundqvist to a long-term contract….I am not going to make any public comments about negotiations.”
How the team judges a successful season:
“I think that if you’re not in the Stanley Cup and you’re not there winning it, your season hasn’t been a success.”
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