home jobs contact us
Our Clients:
Browse by Sport
Find us on ASAP sports on Facebook ASAP sports on Twitter
ASAP Sports RSS Subscribe to RSS
Click to go to
Asaptext.com
ASAPtext.com
ASAP Sports e-Brochure View our
e-Brochure

BRIDGESTONE NHL WINTER CLASSIC: RANGERS v FLYERS


January 2, 2012


John Tortorella


PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

Q.  Is Staal playing today?
JOHN TORTORELLA:   Yes.

Q.  What changed from yesterday?
JOHN TORTORELLA:   Well, he last night at dinner, he talked to my trainer, rhymer, and they had talked with Dr. Cantu, everything was good with him.  Everything was good with rhymer.  So I sat down and talked with him and asked him, do you want to play.
I heard so many different things, and Mark was talking quite a bit.  I said, "Staalsy, I don't care about anybody else's opinion.  Are you ready to play?"  He said he was, so he's playing.

Q.  How do you I guess manage or temper expectations just with the length of layoff that he's had, and also kind of the different nature of this game.
JOHN TORTORELLA:   Yeah, I don't‑‑ the game itself, I think you can over think that as far as the different nature of it and all that.
If Marc Staal tells me, as I told y'all before, I needed a yes or a no.  I got a yes from a trainer and I got a yes from a doctor and I more importantly got a yes from the player.  He's going to play.  I don't care if we are playing in a creek somewhere.  He's going to play.
As far as the minutes and the things that go along with Marc Staal, that's going to take time as far as where he's going to sit within our lineup.  He'll play in the third period today.  We'll make judgments as we go through.  We are not changing‑‑ we are not putting in the top four position, and we'll make judgments about his game as it goes along here and he starts playing again.

Q.  Who is that‑‑
JOHN TORTORELLA:   I have not even talked to the players yet.  All of the players are not even here yet, so I'm still not sure.

Q.  Is this an experience that you want to do again, all of the hoopla for this game?
JOHN TORTORELLA:   Do I want to do it again?

Q.  Is that something you want to be involved with again?
JOHN TORTORELLA:   As I said, I think it's been a great experience for our organization.  It's been a great experience for our players.  And I have to admit, it's been‑‑ it's been an experience for me, too, as far as just how they have done their business, and they have been first class.
So I wouldn't hesitate to be involved in this, because I think you can't think about just an individual person as far as what he feels.  It's really good for the league and I think it's been really good for our organization.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




About ASAP SportsFastScripts ArchiveRecent InterviewsCaptioningUpcoming EventsContact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297