Freedom can be a beautiful thing. It's something the New York Rangers players have known for a while, but they are about to find out firsthand when training camp opens and Alain Vigneault takes over behind the bench.
Vigneault was hired earlier this summer when Rangers president and general manager Glen Sather decided that John Tortorella had outlived his usefulness as the Rangers head coach.
Vigneault is all about giving his players freedom on the offensive end. He told the CBC that those who play without restrictions have a much better chance of being successful than those who are constrained by their defensive responsibilities.
Tortorella was a seemingly earnest man who coached out of fear. He was afraid of his team getting embarrassed on the ice and his players were afraid of attracting the ire of their coach. Instead of operating in a creative environment that led to offensive development and opportunities, Tortorella wanted his team to play a suffocating defensive style.
Body checking, shot blocking and takeaways were his life blood and offensive hockey came after that. Tortorella believes defense is the ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Steve Silverman
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September 6th, 2013 by Steve Silverman Leave a reply »
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