COLUMBUS — The three words that John Tortorella banished from his vocabulary and the philosophy that was anathema when the coach worked behind the Rangers’ bench from late in 2008-09 through the 2013 playoffs are back in vogue.
And there are signs everywhere to prove it, figuratively, in the explosiveness with which his Blue Jackets move the puck and attack; and literally, with the three-word sign affixed above the door through which the team passes on its way to the ice.
“SAFE IS DEATH”
That’s the motto Tortorella espoused in Tampa Bay and that’s the attitude young, talented Lightning like Marty St.