John Tortorella was supposed to change everything for the Rangers.
Where previous coach Tom Renney coached with a conservative, defensive posture, Tortorella is all about risk and offense.
Where Renney believed players should always be skating backwards, keeping their opponents in front of them, Tortorella demands his skaters always move forward.
Conceptually, the two coaches could not be more different. Yet, realistically, they're both getting the same results.
During the 2005-06 season, the Rangers pushed their way into the playoffs, breaking a seven-year playoff drought, mostly on the strength of Jaromir Jagr, who scored 54 of the 250 Ranger goals that season. In other words, one player accounted for almost 22 percent of the goal production. The combined goal production of Petr Prucha and Michael Nylander, that season's second and third-leading goal scorers, did not equal Jagr's output that season.
Renney funneled the entire offense through Jagr. Everything was about getting him the puck and shutting the other team down. Renney rolled four lines and counted on Jagr to do his damage every four shifts or so.
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Article written by Steven Ovadia
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