Torts' take, Part 1: Redden, Avery, Dubinsky

In his 45-minute Q-and-A with writers this afternoon in a conference room at the MSG Training Center, Rangers coach John Tortorella touched on a wide range of subjects, but frequently asserted that on the day before what he sees as a competitive camp, it was tough to be definitive, saying he wanted to "let things play out." So, let's bust this out in a few excerpts and a few entries:              

On Wade Redden and his $6.5 million cap hit:  “We’re not going to single out Wade Redden as far as being isolated and say he’s going to Hartford, right now. I know Wade has read all that, and I’m sure it’s weighed on him a little bit. We need to let this play out. I know we’re over the cap, but a lot of different things can happen before the season starts. By no way are we singling Wade Redden out that ‘Oh, there’s cap problems?, go down to the minors!’ It could be other people going to Hartford. Wade gets beat up a little bit, and listen, he makes his own bed. Some of the stuff that comes his way is earned, some of it isn’t.”

On Brandon Dubinsky, whose best position is left wing: “With Dubi, it’s almost ‘don’t get satisfied.’ With young athletes, they have a couple of good games, they just go sky-high. I’d like to see Dubi stay there and say, ‘You know, those were two good games---I’m gonna get better this game.’ It’s a matter of a mental consistency---and the other way, too, when he has a bad game, to not get down on himself. More of a flat line of consistency that I’m looking for with Dubi. … Dubi can get carried away in his thinking about his play, and I saw an improvement in that toward the end of last year.”

On Sean Avery: “When he was sat out against Atlanta, he came out and he had two really good weeks of hockey the way he has to play, and unfortunately he got hurt. That’s the biggest key for Sean: consistency and the level of his play. Then, things go from there. He was a very effective player after he was benched. I hope we don’t have to bench him or do anything to allow that to happen again, but I believe Sean’s ready for camp and ready to go. …  He’s a pretty good player, and he needs to play and be effective in all facets of his game---away from the puck, finishing his checks, as he did for two weeks there, he drew penalties.”
 

More to come, as I sort out and edit...