Pure Entertainment

There are probably a vast number of media personalities who don't care for him or his interview skills much, but I am a fan of John Tortorella. The man is pure entertainment when he's fired up. While he's not quite as belligerent as former Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight, when Tortorella is stewing about something, I cannot help but laugh at his responses and reactions to questions.

Last night, the New York Rangers played a game that they would like to forget in a hurry as they dropped a 3-1 decision to the Buffalo Sabres in a game in which they appeared to not want to play. Of course, this wouldn't sit well with any coach, but John Tortorella's temper magnifies the situation that much more. Check out the post-game press scrum with Tortorella.

How great were some of those retorts, if you'll excuse the pun? He didn't think the Sabres were the hungrier team, and refused to give Buffalo any credit because of how poorly the Rangers played. I'm not sure that's entirely accurate as the Sabres did win the game but his interactions with the surrounding reporters were starting to become intense.

He stated that Buffalo's third line was better than the Rangers' top line, and you could tell he simply wasn't interested in any other questions. He quickly shifted the focus off him to his players, asking the reporters if they had spoken to any of the players in the dressing room. After hearing the reporters feed back a few of the same questions that he was asked, you could tell Tortorella was done.

But he summed up his team's performance in one sentence: "We sucked and we sucked at a time that you can't suck."

If you're a Rangers player, you know you're going to have your butt chewed out the moment he got back in the room. Following that, practice on Wednesday would be one where anyone not gasping for breath would be in the cross-hairs. And then there's the long flight to Winnipeg to play the Jets.

I'd hate to be on the Rangers' team plane with that angry bear onboard.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!