Playoff journal: Covering John Tortorella is great—with a degree of difficulty

Published Monday, May 6, 2013 at 11:47 pm EDT
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NEW YORK—I used to cover the Rangers for the New York Daily News, and I still live here and work a lot of Rangers games, so one of the things I'm most often asked about is what it's like dealing with John Tortorella and his legendarily gruff nature with reporters.

People ask, and I tell them the truth: I love it. Tortorella is a challenge for a reporter: if you don't ask him the right questions, you're not going to get a quote worth using. Would it be easier if he filled a recorder with pearls of wisdom? Sure, but I enjoy the challenge, and I also enjoy the fact that Tortorella doesn't bother with overwrought coach-speak and BS. Plus, the fact that he's a challenging interview subject makes it that much more satisfying when things go right and he delivers a headline-grabbing line. The payoff is there, but Tortorella also plays much tighter defense in the playoffs.

John Tortorella is a challenge, and that's more than OK. (AP Photo)

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Beyond simple phrasing of questions, there's an element of strategy to it. On Saturday, for instance, the Rangers had lost 1-0 in overtime on a power-play goal after a puck-over-glass penalty. I was writing about that, and wanted to ask Tortorella about his thoughts on the rule, which I did. But I didn't want that to be the first question of the press conference, which it was, because somehow the microphone wound up in my hand. It was a doomed mission and I knew it as I asked the question—which, now that I listen back to the tape, was not actually a question.

Me: "John, that rule, I just want to know what you think of it—the delay of game rule—and to see a game end that way."

Tortorella: "It's a rule."

Tonight, after the Rangers' win, I was writing about their penalty kill at the end of the game. The goal here was to get Tortorella to say something a little more substantial than "the PK did a good job," so I tried to spin him in that direction.

Me: "What's the degree of difficulty in not allowing a shot on goal in 1:54 of 6-on-4 play at the end of a game?"

Tortorella: "What's the degree?"

Me: "Yeah."

Tortorella: "How do I answer that? I wouldn't have an idea how to answer that, Jesse."

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It's about at this moment when you remember that these press conferences are televised. Fortunately, there's time to scramble.

Me: "Well, what does it say about the guys preventing a shot there?"

Tortorella: "They did a great job. That's what you should ask me. I thought they did a fantastic job, yeah. Blocked shots, they did a really good job."

"Probably got a little too cute with it," was how Capitals coach Adam Oates had described his team's last sequence with the power play. He could've also been describing asking John Tortorella about the "degree of difficulty" for a situation like that.

Blocked shot, Torts did a really good job.

Game 4 is Wednesday night. I'll go home, watch some tape, and come back fresh.


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