Things are different with the Rangers this postseason, and no one will deny it.
Under first-year coach Alain Vigneault, the Blueshirts have begun to develop a new demeanor, one that reflects Vigneault’s cool and calm attitude, and portends a detached professionalism that sits in stark contrast from what came before.
That was John Tortorella, the coach who took the Rangers to a conference final just two seasons ago, and who helped in the revitalization of the franchise, albeit in a rather gruff manner.
“Well AV is a much looser guy, so the coaching style will probably change the atmosphere in the room,” goalie Henrik Lundqvist told The Post on Saturday afternoon. “It would be weird if it didn’t.”
Lundqvist and his mates were preparing for Game 5 of their first-round series against the Flyers on Sunday at noon at the Garden, the best-of-seven contest knotted at two games apiece after the teams split both two-game homestands. During that preparation, the Rangers laughed and smiled and had fun with an optional practice, something that would have seemed utterly out of place had Tortorella been the one still running the show.
“Yeah, it is a little different environment, it has been the whole year,” Lundqvist said. “Even after the start we had, [Vigneault] still showed a lot of patience with us. I like both styles — they’re just so different.”
That start seemed to spell doom for the Rangers. They began the season with a disastrous 3-6 road trip, and even as late as Christmas were sitting on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.
“I think that’s one of the big helps with [Vigneault] is the ups and downs of the year and how we started the year,” alternate captain Brad Richards said. “It could have gotten [bad] pretty quick, but he preached calmness and patience and belief in us. And we worked ourselves out of it.”
They worked themselves into second place in the Metropolitan Division, allowing them to still have home-ice advantage in what has become a best-of-three series against their heated rival.
“The teams that win [Stanley] Cups,” Richards said, “have that urgency all the time.”
Yet in the midst of all the fanfare that has surrounded the series — all the talk about after-whistle shenanigans and the Flyers’ wont to straddle the edge of the rulebook, Vigneault has led his team down a path away from antagonism, away from abrasiveness, and into the cold arena of speed and skill. He is not drawing attention to himself, and wants his players to do nothing but focus on the task at hand. All distractions are bad distractions.
In contrast, imagine how Tortorella would have dealt with Matt Read’s unpenalized and undisciplined shoulder to the head of Dan Carcillo in Game 3.
“There’s definitely a different feel, I don’t know how to describe that,” Richards said. “It’s ran differently, this is more of our room. … Torts was way more involved. I think AV trusts leadership and his assistant coaches, gives them a lot more responsibility. It’s definitely a different feel.”
Yet the Rangers knew Tortorella’s system was successful, at least to some extent, because they were the ones making it happen. Under Vigneault, all they have is a second half of the season they liked.
So things have undoubtedly changed, and it is still to be determined if they have changed for the better.
“With Torts, we had him here for what, four or five years?” Lundqvist said. “So we can’t evaluate yet. It hasn’t been a full year yet. … But it’s up to us now to try and take it to the next level.”