Moving along with our continuing series on the changes that John Tortorella will be making in your New York Rangers as compared to the start of last year under Tom Renney, we are up to our third installment.John has not been shy about pointing out this next item. Recently interviewed he said the following:
"Conditioning, ... I think is a weakness of our club. As I’ve said, and I make no bones about it, I don’t think we’re a stiff team mentally. I think we have to be a little bit tougher in that area, in mental parts and preparation.”
This is very different from one year ago. Renney was more of a player's coach. Torts is more of an in-your-face push-your-players kind of guy. We saw it in action in the Rookie camp earlier this summer. Several players mentioned how hard they had been worked and how sore they felt when it was all over.
John's change is a fundamental one. He isn't expecting his players to get in shape in training camp. He expects them to show up in shape. He's already sent more than one letter to each Ranger to let them know that reporting to camp in good physical condition is expected from each and every player.
And once he gets the players into camp - he expects to take their fitness and conditioning to another level.
The result of all this is stamina - the ability to keep outworking your opponent when the going gets tough. Because talent only takes you so far in the NHL - you need staying power. And from physical strength comes mental resilience. You need that to compete at the top of the NHL.
And this year - Torts will make sure we've got it.
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