John Tortorella Quotes (179 Quotes)


    All we're looking for is just an opportunity to try to get out of this and find some way to win a hockey game.

    I haven't even talked to GM Jay Feaster about that, as far as where we are with money and all that, you'll have to talk to Jay. I don't like going with that many and I think that sooner or later we are going to have to make a decision there. But I'm not exactly sure when.

    We thought OB was a little nervous Tuesday. He played well the first game, but this was the Leafs, and these guys think about that as young players so we cut back.

    Boyle had a huge game. He knew how big this game was. He wanted to make big plays and he did.

    As I've always said of Brad, he is a student of the game and always will be. That's why he continues to progress. I think his maturity at such a young age allowed him to grow into more roles on a team. That's important, the preparation. 'Are you satisfied with your play or do you want to continue to get better' I don't think Richie is satisfied yet. And for us to be where we want to be, we can't have him satisfied he needs to continue to get better.


    As with 29 other teams, defense is always a concern. I know Jay is looking. We do have a budget, as all of the teams do, and we have to find the right piece. It may come up to the last day of the preseason to see if something is there. Maybe it doesn't. All we can do as a coaching staff and as a team is whoever is here when we open up against Boston, we are going to try to play under a strict team concept and do the best we can.

    I thought we were ready to play and I thought we showed we were ready to play. But for some reason after they scored their first goal we were like a deer in the headlights.

    I'll put him up against anyone in this league as far as skating ability.

    I think the new rules have played with the minds of some players, especially our offensive people. We're going to instill the red line at times in the game. ... Our guys are going to play with it just to get them to come back (to the defensive zone). And we knew it was going to happen with these new rules. It's a process, especially for our offensive people.

    Our team had a great season last year. But to be considered a great organization, you have to do it again and again. That's the difficult thing. To be considered a great organization, we still have some steps to go.

    I am very happy, as far as how all four lines, all six defensemen and the goalie played tonight. The key to us becoming a better team and a competitive team in this league was our work habits and our accountability. And if we lose that, we are an average to a below-average team - as we've seen when we don't work hard.

    Some guys are trending upward, some guys are trending downward. We just haven't been able to get everybody going at the same time.

    We need to score more goals. We had opportunities to put the puck in the net and weren't able to get the job done. I've said we're not going to beat this team 1-0 and we lost in the third period. We just have to take advantage of our chances.

    I respect what players have to do in this league, especially those type of role players who do a lot of things other people aren't willing to do. But there still has to be some honor in it.

    I don't care how it looked, it's about finding a way and it starts with your goaltending giving you a chance and the past two nights we have definitely got that.

    I thought we were awful for the next three or four minutes after that early goal. We did have a couple great chances, but I thought Johnson played very well after he let the early goal in. But I thought that's when we were our sloppiest, after that goal. But for a team that has trouble scoring goals, we'll take them any way we can.

    This time of year, with so few games left, I still think we need to do some coaching we can't just let them run and not teach in certain areas, but in these situations you need to get the points no matter how you do it. Then we'll worry about the other stuff after.

    Even through some of the rough spots, the team has shown resiliency. You got to hang your hat on whatever you can right now to try to build some confidence. Tonight we finished the job.

    I already know in this league, people are complaining about it. And we can't complain about it. We have to allow this to happen. And I just hope we have some strong people to see this through.

    I think it's the maturity level of our club. I think we've shown that the last little while. We've stayed with it. We haven't turned into individuals, we've just tried to keep banging away.

    You know what, 18 scoring chances to 10. We can't have expletive four goals go into our net on 10 chances. We can't. Especially the fourth goal. It can't happen. So you tell me you want me to get them to get out there and play aggressive, this that and the other thing, when expletive goals go in like that. They're going to be tentative. They're going to be tentative, and that has to stop for us to get any type of consistency here, or we're expletive done. It has to stop.

    I've tried to work with him this year. I remember I told him a few weeks ago, I said, 'Arty, don't worry about anything, just go and hit as hard as you possibly can.' He proceeded to go out and take four penalties. So, it's kind of a give and take here. But we want him to play hard. And the book on Arty is that he goes up and down as far as his readiness to play. But remember, he is a raw talent. And still a very young man, and you have to live with some of those bumps.

    What we've been trying to do is be a tougher team to play against. I thought we played a good, solid road game.

    We're worried about his skating, we're worried about his speed and he knows that. But we feel that he can give us something that the kids simply can't give us right now in that type of role. And he's been a solid citizen down there in the AHL, which goes a long way. He never complained, helped the kids and did everything he could down there to do the right thing as a pro, so he's getting another whack at it.

    I still can't believe how quickly it happened for us. To do this in three years since his hiring, that wasn't in the plan.

    We have a short time left in our season. At times you have to have amnesia and for a good part of this game we will, but there are some things to learn from it and now we'll just get ready for Montreal.

    I hope we can do it ourselves, and we will. I just I just think we have good people on this club. Have we been through a lot of ups and downs Yes. I knew it was going to be this type of year coming off the success we had. I just knew it wasn't going to be easy. I thought we were going to get it done Tuesday, but we didn't. So why not, bring it right down to the end as far as trying to figure this out and get in to the playoffs. We will get it done.

    We've won one game, that is it. I think what we did is just turn this into a series. ... As the series goes on, you have to play better. We know Ottawa is going to play better the third game.

    Give Luongo credit. He seems to have those games against us quite a bit.

    I felt we did some really good things. I thought our counters were good tonight. We end up with 18 scoring chances to 10 (for Montreal). We can't have four goals go in our net on 10 chances. Especially the fourth goal.

    He's a guy we're still making assessments on. Has he played poorly No. Has he done enough things to be a bona fide National Hockey Leaguer No. So we'll see as we go along with him.

    He's a guy who hasn't been with the team and a veteran guy who has seen quite a bit of things in the National Hockey League on a number of teams. I think he has earned the right to speak in that type of meeting.

    I am ticked. I am ticked at what's happening there, because I thought our team played very well tonight, and this has gone on for quite a while. And I'm not up here trying to rip anybody apart, but let's be honest about what's going on here. It's getting old. We're going nowhere until that situation is straightened out.

    We know it's one loss and we're done ... season's over.

    We have no problems with those three guys being in the lineup this time of year.

    I think this is a great opportunity for John Grahame, who has been spitting bullets at me since he got here to be a No. 1. But you know what, it's not going to be me making the decisions, it's going to be them making the decision for the team, and that's the most important thing.

    It happens sometimes. I thought for the first few minutes there Tampa Bay was nervous, and then when a team capitalizes there you end up getting more into that type of situation. But it's a series. We end up getting it done one game, we don't end up getting it done here.

    Robbie has fought it a bit. I think the Olympic break is going to help him a bit health-wise. I think after he got hurt and since he has come back, he hasn't been the same player. I just want to get him to the break. I think he's a little bit nicked up, and hopefully with a little rest he can come back and be ready.

    I don't want to dissect it too much because we simply have to keep going. We can't let the injury bother us, but having said that, is Danny Boyle a main piece of our cog You're darn right he is, there's no question. But this happens.

    I can't answer that, I don't know how we are going to react.

    Sean has played well at a very important time of year. Johnny will get a start. If we can get the two of them going, it's a good problem to have.

    The thing that bothers me the most is I just thought we shut it down. Was our goaltending good No, it wasn't good. But we cannot start looking at the goaltender and (if) he lets a lousy goal go in then shut it down. If we're not getting the saves, we better win the game 6-5 or whatever it has to be. But to shut it down, that's the wrong way to go here. And that's what disturbs me the most.

    I know people have to look out for themselves and their livelihood and there is business in this, but we're interested in people who want to be here. We're in to other youth. We're in to other players.

    We're good as far as our mindset, but Ottawa turned it up a notch. So we have to eat it and try to get better. There's no sense of dwelling over it.

    A big part of the power play is getting to the middle of the ice with the puck and not just playing on the wall, playing along the boards where (opponents) can be aggressive.

    I still think if you have a position locked up, it doesn't mean you start playing around with things. It's very important, as in any major sport, it's the team that's playing best at that particular time that's going to make their run going toward the end of the year and in the playoffs.

    We're playing a pretty good hockey team and Ottawa deserves credit. I've never seen a team that is so opportunistic. You make a mistake and they make it end up in the net. They make you pay. If we're going to win this game, we have to be at our best.

    It's an important goal because I thought we stunk in the first period. I think we watched them. I thought we lost a lot of battles. To get that goal in the last minute of any period, it's always tough for the team that's scored on.

    That's out of respect for David. A captain is only a letter. That's a bit overrated at times, too.

    He's a guy who's been beating himself up all year long. But at the key time, the time and place we are right now where we are fighting to get in, you can do a lot of damage as far as what your season is about. And that's what he's doing.


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