Thornton: Rangers Are Soft (Updated)
Here's Torts' response this afternoon to Thornton's soft comments (via The Blueshirts Blog)...
"Yeah it caught me off-guard when it was brought up after the game," Tortorella said at the team's Greenburgh practice facility Tuesday morning. "It surprised me, and I've never heard a player say that. Joe's a heck of a player, but here's a player popping off about our team, and Joe hasn't won a g--damn thing in this league. He could go down as a player, being one of the better players in our league never to win anything. So what he should do is just shut up. It was uncalled for, it was classless, and I've never had it happen like that before."
Update, 3:02 p.m.:
Looks like someone is back tracking...
@DarrenDreger
Darren Dreger Thornton says "soft" was not the right word to describe Rangers. He was frustrated says it was a game SJ should have won with NYR struggling
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...i'd actually have a lot more respect for the guy if he stuck to his guns. Sort of ironic that the guy calling people soft backs down to his team's big, bad PR staff.
Original Post:
After last night's 5-2 Rangers victory over the San Jose Sharks, Joe Thornton said this about the Rangers (via CBS Sports)...
...what? The Sharks lone loss during their six game road trip was against the Blueshirts and they're some how the softest team?
...i'm just perplexed by these comments. They seem so unprovoked. You'd think he'd be upset with his team's effort, not ripping on the club that just pounded them.
...i guess Thornton knows a thing or two about being soft since his Sharks usually play that way in the post season every year. He's a real tough guy too, knowing the Sharks don't face the Rangers again this season, unless of course the teams match-up in the Cup finals.
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HA! all this without Avery playing yet...should be an interesting year. I personally love torts, I think he needs to find some solid lines and stick to em, but I also applaud that hes not afraid to shake lines up if he notices a player struggling early on. But I think hes what New York needs, too many players getting big contracts and not playing up to them were never called out like torts can do...
@thenyrblog Torts is right. Thornton has not won anything in his life and he always plays soft in the playoffs. F him!
It's amazing how athletes can't control their mouths sometimes. How many times do comments like these appear on a bulletin board or a banner before a playoff game, for example? This said, except for last evening, I agree with Thorton's sentiments... the Rangers certainly have been "soft," by not playing a full 60 minutes. Last night was a great victory, but we need to see that effort night-in and night-out. Of course, I like Tort's response to "classless" comments by responding in a similar fashion. LOL. Man, I love hockey!!!
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Glad to see Torts standing up for our guys and...for all the negative points I have given him I give him a + 1 for that comment.
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@Ranger Dave Totally agree. Torts has been pissing me off, but +1 for him with that response.
I was at the geme last night and it could have been an 8-1 blowout. Soft my Arrrssss... the Rangers played like last year... hard on the puck, dirty in the corners, great on the transition and speed through the neutral zone, They in fact badly outplayed the Sharks all night. Thornton shooting his mouth off just proved why he will never Captain a Stanley Cup winning team... loser!
Tough to argue with a guy who has twice captained a team to the Cup....oh wait maybe that's a two-time captain who has failed to get either team anywhere near a Cup..my bad. He does have brass ones though. He must have to make a comment like that having not cracked 60 PIM since 2003 and throwing a whopping 56 hits last year. That's the definition of a power forward right? Just for context, the Rangers Captain is close to 50 PIM per year and throws 4x as many hits as "Jumbo" Joe. I guess the Jumbo is an adjetive to describe him on the a-hole scale!!
I've been saying all year Rangers are playing soft & without consistency. Last night against the Sharks they played better but I agree with Thorton. Why else would they think about bringing Avery up?
soft? so what are the Sharks? We beat their stupid guppy asses didn't we? (LOL)
@thenyrblog @ScottyHockey #Sharks #nyr uncool comments by J Thornton last night. Expect more from a vet. Will come back at him. No rings!
@thenyrblog @gsk1994 Maybe Jumbo was playing some kind of head game on his guys? No rivalry with NY, can't think of another explanation.
@cwgatti Shut the fuck up. He sucks? Post a video of yourself playing hockey. Please, for all our entertainment.
@ScottyHockey @thenyrblog @gsk1994 Boy, either Avery really sucks, or he is a world class a**hole.
Spoken from experience Joe? I believe that is why they moved you out of Boston!
Yup....soft...just like Cally's 2nd goal!
Oh well Joe back on the plane to live out your days in obscurity in that jockey hotbed of San Jose!
Classless, especially after that nasty move on Callahan at the buzzer. I'm so sick of this kind of nasty trash-talking by players; if I wanted to watch/hear/read this kind of crap I'd become a basketball or football fan. I expect more from players in the NHL.
