The Posts Larry Brooks once suggested Henrik Lundqvist skate off on John Tortorella | Bob's Blitz

The Posts Larry Brooks once suggested Henrik Lundqvist skate off on John Tortorella


Back from paternity leave and back in practice, Henrik Lundqvist (above) is getting ready. Which prompted the interesting story of Henrik, John Tortorella, and the Post's Larry Brooks.

So perhaps now is not the time to flash back to the bad old days when then-coach John Tortorella would all but encourage Rangers shooters to fire away at Henrik Lundqvist regardless of the number of the times pucks would hit the goaltender in the mask or, on at least one occasion during 2010-11, his neck.

Indeed, back then, Tortorella told me I was being “disrespectful” to the shooters by suggesting it might be wise for the coach to issue a cautionary edict. Of course, this was immediately after I had privately suggested to Lundqvist he leave the net if it happened again, the way the Islanders’ mild mannered Hall of Famer Billy Smith would from time to time, and The King had snitched on me.

But flashing forward nearly four years to the day, Tuesday at the Garden for the morning skate, after Lundqvist had been on the ice with his teammates for the first time since Feb. 2, the King laughed when reminded of that scenario.

“You know what? I wouldn’t mind seeing some high shots,” Lundqvist said with a laugh before the Rangers’ 4-2 loss to the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings. “The players don’t have to be careful around me.”

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