BOSTON—The Rangers are back in the second round of the playoffs, and suddenly it all seems like 2012 again. That is to say, all the attention is turning towards coach John Tortorella.
On Thursday morning before Game 1 at the TD Garden, the Boston media went so far as to ask Bruins coach Claude Julien for any advice on how to pose a question to Tortorella. Julien replied with sarcasm:
“I’m sure he’s excited about answering your questions,” Julien said. “He always is. Good luck, guys.”
With that, Julien waved a hand and walked out with a smile, most of the press room left laughing. Minutes later, Tortorella walked in, and the first question asked was about himself and coming back to his hometown.
“Don’t ask me questions about me,” Tortorella said. “Ask me questions about the team. Please.”
He then offered up a couple terse answers about the power play, followed by getting a question concerning another (mostly) off-limits topic – players on the other team – this time being Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask. Sometimes he’ll start answering these questions by saying he’s not going to answer them, then ramble and end up talking about the player. This time, he was back to his disciplined mode of no-nonsense.
“I don’t coach him,” Tortorella said in response to his impression of Rask. “I’ll answer questions about the Rangers, not Boston.”
Tortorella did eventually loosen a bit with some more generic questions and some questions about his own team. So it wasn’t exactly one of his press conferences from last year – made amok by their brevity and abruptness – but it was close. To make it full circle to the atmosphere of last season and the Rangers’ run to the Eastern Conference finals, Tortorella was then asked about blocked shots, one of the big themes of that team.
He thought it was a story line blown out of proportion last season, and after Wednesday’s practice at the MSG Training Facility in Westchester, Tortorella was rather dismissive while fielding a question about blocked shots. This time, he was asked if he was concerned about his guys blocking shots when the Bruins have a player like Zdeno Chara, whose shot consistently clocks in at over 100 miles per hour.
“No,” Tortorella said. “No, not at all.”
There was another slight speed bump before that when it was relayed to Tortorella that Julien had made some nice comments about how much respect he has for his opposing coach. In response, Tortorella said, “I’m not going to talk about that. I’ll talk about the Rangers.”
Beforehand, Julien had been asked about his relationship with Tortorella, and was rather expansive.
“I know John and I respect John for who he is and what he is,” Julien said. “Right now, we’re competitors and just like him, I have no intentions of chatting with him until this series is over. Simple as that.
“I certainly respect him for what he’s done and who he is. He has his own personality and I’m one of those people that respect people for who they are. I’ve had some good chants with John in the past.”
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Marc Staal did not travel with the team to Boston on Wednesday, and did not participate in the morning skate before Thursday night’s Game 1 at the TD Garden. Staal hasn’t skated with the team since the morning before Monday’s Game 7 against the Capitals, and made just a one-game cameo in Game 3 of that series last Monday before suffering a setback with his right-eye injury sustained on March 5.
Forward Ryane Clowe was absent Thursday as well as he is still reeling from what is presumed to be his second concussion in two weeks, suffered in Game 5 last Friday. Clowe hasn’t skated since.
There is little to no chance the Rangers change their lineup from Game 7, with Tortorella saying, “I’ve settled with some lines that I think give us some balance. . . . So I feel pretty comfortable with my lineup right now.”
bcyrgalis@nypost.cm
