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Report: Rangers handed John Tortorella three-year extension months ago

John Tortorella

New York Rangers head coach John Tortorella speaks to reporters during a news conference, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009 at Madison Square Garden training facility in Tarrytown, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Mary Altaffer

When people saw the headline “John Tortorella looks to future after Rangers first round defeat,” they instantly latched onto jokes about the fiery coach finding employment elsewhere. That wasn’t really the intention of the headline, but it was admittedly an amusing reaction.

If a Larry Brooks report is correct, then those amusing reactions were notably off-base. The New York Post writer passes along word that the New York Rangers signed Tortorella to a three-year contract extension “a couple months ago.”

His contract was set to expire at the end of this season, so that contract extension would reportedly run through the 2013-14 season. Of course, following the nature of the coaching profession, he might get paid for those seasons but a sudden firing is always a threat.

Again, it’s important to note that this is a report, but if true, it justifies all of his forward-thinking comments. It’s a solid choice if you ask me, as the Rangers were significantly lacking in talent but still managed to make the playoffs this season. Sure, it wasn’t a perfect playoff series, but the team seems to be in pretty good hands with Torts. Now it’s a matter of building on that foundation of hard work with young players who can cause much more damage.