John Tortorella Type Quotations

He needs to be a big part of the team as we go into the last quarter of the season. The way he plays, that's the type of hockey we are going to have to play, the battles. If he gets recharged a little bit during the break I think he will be a big part of the club.

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 think he is great for our game. He has some jam to his game to add to his talent and the dynamic player he is he's the total package. He can be a one-on-one player, but he can also make a play and make another player look good. With that talent and that type of jam, he has the full package.

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.

You're telling me you want (the team) to get up there and get aggressive, but when a goal is scored like that, they're going to be tentative. That has to stop for us to get any type of consistency here. Or we're done.

I look at the Tucker incident. That was pretty much one-on-one and he whacked him twice, gets fined and plays the next game. Arty hasn't done anything like this. He just plays hard. That's all we want the league to understand. Yes, he sticks out because he skates, one of the best skaters in the league, and he's big and he's willing. We feel that is a tremendous asset for our team and the league for that type of play to be going on.

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.