Henrik Lundqvist, who on break-up day became the Rangers’ public voice of disaffection that in retrospect foretold the firing of John Tortorella as head coach 48 hours later, told The Post that he “would never put pressure on management on decisions like that.”
“I know there is some speculation regarding Torts being fired, but let’s be clear on one thing,” Lundqvist said via an e-mail on Wednesday that contained his first comments on the matter. “It’s not my call who the coach should be for the New York Rangers.
“I would never put pressure on the management on decisions like that. I’m just a player. My focus is to play the game and do the best I can on the ice. Whatever [happens] off the ice, I leave to our great staff we have working for this club.”
A player? Yes. Just a player? Not quite. No one in sports is irreplaceable, but the franchise goaltender is as close as they come to fitting that description for the Rangers. And when Lundqvist issued a tepid response on the May 27 break-up day regarding his desire to sign a long-term extension on his contract that expires after this coming season, it set off alarm bells across all time zones of Blueshirt Country.
This morning, Lundqvist further clarified his position regarding an extension.
“It has no impact for me on who the coach is when it comes to my contract,” the 31-year-old told The Post. “I love everything about the New York Rangers. I love the fans. I love the organization.
“I hope we can work something out when it is time to do so.”
Left intentionally unsaid, of course, was when it will be time to do so and what he believes should be the cost of doing business. The Rangers have every intention to try and get this done before training camp opens in September.
Lundqvist’s public comments in the wake of the team's elimination by the Bruins were the tip of an unseen iceberg of a break-up day on which a critical mass of players had used their exit interviews with management to express their extreme dissatisfaction with Tortorella’s unyielding approach and their belief that the club had gone as far as it could under him.
The Post reported on May 30 that Lundqvist was troubled enough by the deteriorating dynamic between his teammates and the coach that he felt the need to give voice to it.
But Lundqvist in his e-mail expressed nothing but gratitude to Tortorella, under whom the goaltender won the 2011-12 Vezina and finished second in the balloting this time around.
“Torts and I had a great relationship,” said Lundqvist, who has returned to his home in Sweden for the summer. “It was exciting and refreshing to play for him. I never had a coach challenge me the way he did, in a good way.
“When you play for a coach and he is let go, you feel really bad as a player. I feel like I should have done more. In the end, it’s up to us players to get the done, but coaches sometimes pay for our mistakes,” the goaltender continued. “I felt the same way when Tom [Renney] was let go four years ago.”
Now, the Rangers will move on under Alain Vigneault, who reached an agreement to coach the club over the weekend but whose hiring has still not been officially announced.
“I don’t know that much about him,” Lundqvist said. “All I hear, though, is that he is a great coach.”
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/rangers/lundqvist_wasn_behind_rangers_firing_tUopaAXDxi3Ia6Pc7vJlGM
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