With the John Tortorella chapter of the Rangers 86 year history officially closed, it is time to take a look at possible replacements for the vacant position of Blueshirt bench boss.
If you believe the Las Vegas odds makers, the coach that has the best chance of taking the on-ice helm of this Rangers squad is none other than Lindy Ruff. Coach Ruff was relieved of his services by the Buffalo Sabres, and, before his termination, had been the longest tenured NHL coach. During his career with the Buffalo Sabres, he amassed a record of 571-432-84. Not a bad run.
However, I don’t think that Ruff would be a good fit for this team. Even though he coached some extremely competitive teams, he only made it to the Stanley Cup Finals once as a head coach. It seems that is a glaring warning flag, since GM Glen Sather will be looking for a coach that can steer this squad to win now. This does not mean that Lindy Ruff will not have success elsewhere, or that he is not an excellent coach. To be clear: The Rangers need to find someone who will put them on a winning path immediately upon starting the 2013-2014 NHL season, and Lindy Ruff is not that guy.
Next on the list is Alan Vigneault, formerly and most recently of the Vancouver Canucks. Between his time with the Montreal Canadiens, and the ‘Nucks, Vigneault has earned a lifetime record of 422-288-61. He, too, has only coached a team to the finals once, and lost in seven games to Boston.
Here’s the difference. Vigneault coached in two of the largest hockey media markets on the continent. He survived Montreal, which is a feat unto itself, and then lasted seven seasons in Vancouver. Not only that, Vigneault knows how to deal with major team drama and larger than life egos. Just see how he handled the Luongo-Schneider debate, and got the best out of players like Ryan Kessler, and the Sedin twins. Despite popular opinion, Vigneault could be considered the unofficial front runner on Sather’s list of candidates.
Also, keep in mind that Sather could put his faith in another person close to the organization.
Mark Messier has been special assistant to Glen Sather for a few years now. Although, this could turn out to be disastrous, Sather could go back to his old boys club and give Messier the reins. Here’s the downfall. Messier would be a rookie coach. Sometimes a rookie coach could be a good thing, but Sather also wants to get his team to win a Cup sooner rather than later, seeing as how his prized goalie, Henrik Lundqvist, alluded to packing up and leaving town if he doesn’t feel that the Rangers organization is serious about winning in his prime. A rookie coach can take time to develop a style that suits his team.
Of course, we are talking about Mark Messier, arguably the greatest captain in the history of any team in any league anywhere. Messier had the uncanny ability to get the players around him to believe in themselves and each other. A shot in the arm like that could be exactly what the Rangers need, especially after getting derailed almost before they left the station this playoffs.
With respect to rookie coaches, you have to throw current Toronto Marlies head coach Dallas Eakins. He has earned a great reputation as a bench boss in the AHL, also in the largest media market in the NHL. Listening to Eakins talk about his Marlies during the lockout, you got the feeling that his next stop was one of the vacant coaching positions on the big NHL stage. Also take into account that he coached prospects that were promoted to full time NHL players on the Toronto Maple Leafs, a squad of mostly nobodies, that ended a tragic streak of regular season failure by making the playoffs this season. Sure, they collapsed in the waning moments of their first round seven game series against the Bruins, but that can hardly be attributed to the grooming work Eakins did in the AHL.
Let’s talk about some long shots:
Mike Keenan: I find the idea of a Keenan return amusing, and since Keenan has spent a few years banging around the MSG network as a color analyst, you have to figure the name will be mentioned, however briefly. He is back to coaching, now in the KHL.
Dave Tippett: As much as Tippett’s coaching style would suit the Rangers, he is most likely going to be locked up long term by ‘Yotes GM Don Maloney as soon as the sale of Phoenix’s band of brothers is finalized.
Guy Boucher: I love Guy Boucher. The guy is part Han Solo, part Leatherface. He wears that gigantic scar on his cheek proudly, and I think it would be hysterical to see him behind the bench at the Garden. However, his inexperience and his difficulty managing big egos make him ill-suited for a stint on Broadway. He was also criticized for playing a far too defensive 1-3-1 system in Tampa, and the Rangers need to move on from Tort’s stiffling defensive mentality that may have contributed to the issues with Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik.
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photo credit: John Bollwitt via photopin cc
