First of all, we’re exaggerating. There will not be 247 full
thoughts on this story so don’t get your hopes too high, but it should be fun
anyway.
1. John Tortorella is a hard-ass. We’re shocked.
Every time a NY Ranger is questioned or asked about their
coach there just seems to be a common theme. He is an ‘in your face’ kind of
guy that tells you exactly how it is. Multiple Rangers’ players answered
questions about him and gave the very typical, very professional answer that he
is hard on them, but he cares and they like his approach. All of them are
clearly, secretly wishing the Rangers would get rid of him so that he gets off
of their asses (let’s be real honest).
He’s in the players’ and referees’ faces (AND THE FANS). He has been rubbing
people in the hockey world the wrong way for years now. We can still remember
hating him as a coach for the Tampa Bay Lightning for 100 years.
Not that it is a solid place for facts all of the time, but
below is an excerpt from his Wikipedia page. Again, we’re shocked.
‘Tortorella is known for
his outspoken nature—which has included criticizing his own players—and for his
unusual system of regularly rotating goaltending duties.’
All we can say is that we’re happy he went to the Rangers. If he had
magically ended up as the Flyers’ coach, we might have had to actually start
rooting for him.
2. Madison Square Garden vs. The Wells Fargo Center
The 24/7 show did a little bit of a look at some history of
the two teams’ stadiums and history. Now, of course, you would be nuts not to
love our blue-class, blue collar approach to hockey. With that being said, MSG
is a hockey cathedral. Looking at the back-end entrances of the two stadiums is
like looking at two very different cultures and dynamics.
Madison Square Garden displays names of players and pictures
of past performances and teams etched in stone in a very classy homage to its
history. Watching Callahan go through the halls creates a few goosebumps if
you’re a true hockey fan (regrettably). WF Center has old-school plywood charts
displaying names of past heroes of the Broad Street Bullies. Again, this is a
great way to display our blue-collar hockey approach, but it just doesn’t look
as impressive. In all fairness, Wells Fargo Center doesn’t have the history
that MSG does either – it really isn’t the Spectrum.
Both represent their cities well, but MSG was a thing of
beauty (just an observation that caught us off-guard).
3. Ilya is way off of his Czech Rocker.
Maybe this is truly the perfect goalie. The man seemed
completely out of it. There were people talking about him having his own
reality show, but maybe he would be better off in a mental hospital?
Listening to this guy talk about the vastness of our
universe and how Chinese law is that they will kill anyone that kills tigers –
you had to think to yourself ,”Is this guy serious?” The other thought that
immediately came to us was maybe he’s perfect. In a town that is given so much
scrutiny for how it critiques its goaltending, maybe he would be able to block
it all out. Hell, is he even going to hear any of it?
He struggled early and proclaimed that he was having issues
mentally adjusting, but maybe, just maybe, he can keep focusing on the universe
just long enough to keep it all together.
4. Let ‘em in, Let ‘em in
We know it was only on the show for maybe a minute, but if
you didn’t notice, the Flyers’ locker room song after a win is ‘Knock Knock’
by: Mac Miller. If you haven’t listened to it yet, we highly recommend it. It
really is a good ‘get jacked up’ song.
It also really speaks to this young Flyers team… (sort of)
“1,2,3,4 some crazy-ass kids come and knocked up on your
door so
let em in, let em in, let em in”
More to come. Get ready for Part 2 on Wednesday night as we
get ready for the Winter Classic in the Bank…
