Exactly how much did John Tortorella know about defenseman Dan Girardi when he was hired to coach the Rangers nearly three years ago? "I called him Joe Girardi for about three weeks, no lie," Tortorella said, referencing the current manager of the Yankees. "I didn't know his name. I didn't know who the heck he was." Girardi's steady progress from an undrafted free agent to a top blueliner has been praised within the team's walls since Tom Renney was the coach. But now that he's wearing an "A" on his sweater due to Marc Staal's season-long injury and playing an almost flawless 27 and a half minutes per game, his days of flying under the radar on the big team in the big city are over. "I've been here long enough that the fans and team know that I'm relied on out there and my responsibility is to be ready every night to play those minutes without letdowns," Girardi said. "If I'm playing 30 minutes and I'm not at my best, that's a lot of ice time out there that is not being played very well. So that's my responsibility, is to be ready every game and do what I can. "I like being held accountable," he added. "The first couple of years I was a young guy just trying to play a steady game, but people are relying on me more now. I like the responsibility."