The New York Rangers were expected to compete for a Stanley Cup Championship for years after they lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals to Sidney Crosby's Penguins in 2008.

But in the last 2 years, the Rangers have headed in the wrong direction. Following 2008 came a binge free-agent signing period in which the Rangers loaded up on big-name talents, but the 2009 team failed to win a playoff series. The Rangers lost in round 1 to the Capitals in 7 games, even after holding a 3-1 advantage in the series. Then in 2010, New York got off to a 7-1 start and looked like a team to beat in the East. Four months later, the Rangers are going home early and will not qualify for the playoffs for the first time in 5 years.

While management mulls more changes to the roster for next year, the head coach is not keeping any opinions secret. Without further ado, here is John Tortorella's assesment of his 2010 New York Rangers:

"I wasn't crazy about the [locker] room. That isn't an indictment of [captain] Chris Drury or Ryan Callahan or our leadership group. I think some people need to be weeded out of there. It's certainly not our core people. [. . .] I think that room doesn't sustain itself. I don't think the room's a strong room."

Well, that could be one explanation for the team's disappointing season. Team chemistry is key, especially in a grueling 80-game season of constant travel. But Tortorella had other complaints.

"I think some guys need to be bumped out. [. . .] We don't have enough. I'm not saying it's anybody's fault. I think we have a young core, now if you get some people sprinkled around then with character, I think we need to get some people out of the bus."

So now we know that Coach is definitely happy with his core guys, but everyone else needs to go. He wants a revamped roster of more "character" guys to complement his young players. Nothing too crazy. But why couldn't this talented core get it done this year?

"We played a gutsy game against Philly in our building and we had zero top guys show up in Philly, which was despicable. I think Gaborik's a legitimate star but I don't like the way he has played in big games. I think he needs to cross the line there, but we've got some pieces here."

The Rangers needed to beat the Philadelphia Flyers in consecutive games in a home and home in order to make the playoffs, but they came up just short in Philly. Tortorella was clearly not satisfied with the result. In fact, it was "despicable." He even called out his best player, Marion Gaborik. So where do we go from here?

"We need to add to it. Then when you get an opportunity - hey, I might not even be here - but when you get there and you're not fighting ninth and eighth every year you might be a legitimately good team for a while."

So there you have it. The never soft-spoken, always openly opinionated Rangers coach knows that he needs a changed roster. He even knows that he could get fired before that happens. At least he's honest, and at least he's given New York hockey fans a real opinion about what went wrong.

You've got to love entertaining coach sound bites.