There was uncertainty all year about whether John Tortorella believed in Rangers coming to the aid of teammates who had been abused on the ice. The head coach only added to the confusion by failing to give his unqualified endorsement to Brandon Dubinsky’s immediate response after Toronto defenseman Jeff…

The bywords from John Tortorella during the head coach’s press briefing on breakup day were “character” and “core,” as in, the Rangers needing more character players in the 2010-11 locker room but having a good young core on which to build.
“I wasn’t crazy about the room,” Tortorella…

Regarding impending free agents and the cap:
Impending restricted free agents Marc Staal, Dan Girardi and Brandon Prust are certain to be back; Erik Christensen likely so if the price is right, but Enver Lisin, scratched from the final eight games and 12 of the last 14, probably won’t…

John Tortorella called Marian Gaborik, “a legitimate star,” but the rest of the head coach’s breakup day evaluation of the NHL’s fifth leading goal-scorer wasn’t quite so laudatory.
“Gabby is a legitimate star, but I don’t like the way he plays in big games,” Tortorella said…

Let’s not sugarcoat this. The Rangers get an “F” for the season. That applies to the front office, the coaching staff and the playing personnel.
Glen Sather has held the general manager job for nine seasons, during which time the Rangers have won two playoff rounds and have failed…

PHILADELPHIA — The carriage on which they arrived turned into a pumpkin. Their glass skates became lead boots. It’s not that the party is over for the CinderRangers, it’s that they couldn’t get an invitation to the ball.
The Blueshirts’ three-week joyride came to a halt here…

PHILADELPHIA — The question for John Tortorella wasn’t so much why he bypassed Marian Gaborik in the failed shootout in yesterday’s 2-1 loss that ended the Rangers’ season, but rather why the coach was prepared to use No. 10 in the four hole if he didn’t entrust…

PHILADELPHIA - The carriage on which they arrived turned into a pumpkin. Their glass skates became lead boots. It’s not that the party is over for the CinderRangers, it’s that they couldn’t get an invitation to the ball.
The Blueshirts’ three-week joyride came to a halt here…

Here are the differences between todays showdown in Philadelphia against the Flyers and the preceding nine games the Rangers played when they felt they’d been counted out and had nothing of tangible value to lose:
Now no one is counting the Rangers out, and the Rangers have a playoff…

The memory of Dan Girardi watching Dan Carcillo rain punches on Marian Gaborik without interceding back in Philadelphia on Jan. 21 is an indelible memory from this season.
It couldn’t have anything to do with a lack of courage — Girardi challenged and fought Mike Richards at the Garden last…