The New York Rangers have seen some great coaches come and go throughout their 92-year history. Here are the seven greatest of all-time.
As an original six NHL hockey team, the New York Rangers have employed 34 head coaches behind their storied bench.
Seven may not seem fair to choose out of this historic bunch, but the foundation these head coaches have laid down stand as a true testament to what it means to lead the Blueshirts every season.
We begin with a fan favorite.
7. Roger Neilson, 1989 - 1993
Roger Neilson coached the New York Rangers in 280 regular season games, compiling a record of 141-104-35. He also appeared in 29 playoff games with a record of 13-16-0. In his three and half years as head coach, he was quite successful in the regular season. His first year behind the bench saw his Rangers win the Patrick Division title. Neilson took it a step further the following season in 1991-1992 as the team came in first place again, this time in the entire NHL as the Rangers won the Presidents Trophy.
Neilson came in second in voting for the Jack Adams Award that season, given annually to the NHL Coach of the Year.
An excellent teacher of the game, Neilson became the first coach to begin using videotape to help show players the good and the ugly during a game. He was given the nickname of “Captain Video,” which stuck with him throughout his coaching tenure. He had a knack for getting the most out of a player while at the same time having the player believe in what he was teaching him would help the team. A players coach without a doubt.
Unfortunately, Roger was diagnosed with multiple melanomas in December 1999 and he passed away in June 2003. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall Of fame in the Builder category in 2002.
NEXT: Numbers 6 and 5
6. Frank Boucher, 1940-1949, 1954
Following a great playing career, Boucher was hired to coach the Rangers beginning with the 1939-40 season. He went on to coach the Rangers for 11 seasons and had a regular season record of 181-263-83. His team appeared in the playoffs for 27 games compiling a record of 13-14. Of course, his biggest accomplishment, one which all Rangers will forever remember the date, was winning the Stanley Cup in 1940. The last championship the Rangers would see for 54 years.
In the 1945-46 season, he was the first head coach to alternate between two goaltenders in a single season. Boucher resigned following that season but was rehired again in 1953 to help a struggling Rangers club find its way back to the playoffs. Boucher’s attempt was unsuccessful as the team again missed out on the postseason.
His career was etched in Rangers history with the Stanley Cup win in 1940. Boucher was inducted into the Hockey Hall of fame in 1958 in the Players category.
5. John Tortorella, 2008-2013
Torts, as he is commonly known, had a regular season record of 319-171-1-29 coaching 319 regular season games for the Blueshirts. He had a playoff record of 19-25. He was hired in February 2009 replacing then-coach Tom Renney.
Tortorella had his teams play a blue-collar style of hockey. Hard hitting and shot blocking, gritty hockey was the identity he wanted the Rangers to have every game. His style of defense led to offense, which was a system the team excelled at through his six years as head coach.
He led New York to the playoffs on four occasions and ranks fourth on the club’s all-time wins list and is fifth in games coached. In the 2011–12 season, he guided the Rangers to the franchise’s third-ever 50-win season and the best record in the Eastern Conference with a total of 51–24–7 for 109 points. New York lost in the Conference Finals to the New Jersey Devils in six games.
At season’s end, Tortorella became a finalist for the Jack Adams Award for the third time and also became the first U.S.-born coach to reach 400 career victories in March 2013 when the Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2.
Tortorella was as rough on the media covering the team as he was on his players when they underachieved. A famous encounter came with the New York Post’s Larry Brooks following a game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The wear and tear of Tortorella’s style began to take its toll on the players. Injuries from all the shot blocking the team were involved with would cost the Rangers wins, especially in the playoffs as key players were watching games instead of playing in the games.
Torts was fired by the Rangers in May 2013 following their five-game playoff ouster to the Boston Bruins.
NEXT: Numbers 4 and 3
4. Lester Patrick, 1927-1939
The first head coach in New York Rangers history, Lester Patrick, led the team for 13 seasons.
In 604 regular season games, the legend tallied a record of 281-216-107 and a playoff record of 32-26-7 in 65 career playoff games. During that time Patrick coached the team to two Stanley Cup Championships in 1927-28 and 1932-33. He still remains the only Rangers coach who has won two cups for the Blueshirts.
He is most remembered for coming off the bench and putting on the goalie gear when Rangers goaltender Lorne Chabot was injured during the 1928 Stanley Cup Final against the Montreal Maroons. In those days, teams did not have backup goaltenders so the 44-year old coach did what the had to do to help his team. Patrick and the Rangers went on to win the game in overtime as he stopped 18 of 19 shots.
Patrick was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Player category in 1947.
3. Alain Vigneault, 2014-2018
Alain Vigneault coached the Rangers for five seasons leading the team to the Stanley Cup Final in 2014. He coached in 410 games compiling a record of 226-147-37 along with a playoff record of 31-30 in 61 games.
The Rangers made the playoffs in four of Vigneault’s five seasons as coach, as he missed the playoffs following the 2017-18 regular season. It was the first time the New York Rangers were not in the playoffs for the past seven years.
Vigneault was one of the more successful coaches in Rangers history, but the team took a downward spiral over his last two seasons. A bad defensive squad, lack of scoring and at times a struggling goalie in Henrik Lundqvist were all pieces of a problem the team could not fix. With a second-round exit in the playoffs last season and missing the postseason all together this year, the Rangers decided to part take in a rebuild and Vigneault was not the coach the organization wanted to lead the team.
Vigneault is third in regular season wins by a Rangers coach with 226, only Lester Patrick and Emile Francis have more wins.
He was fired by the Rangers following the last game of the 2017-18 season, a 5-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.
NEXT: Numbers 2 and 1
2. Emile Francis, 1966-1975
Emile Francis coached the Rangers for 10 years while also serving as the general manager. In the 654 regular season games, he coached he had a record of 342-209-103. His playoff record with the Blueshirts was not as strong as the team played 75 games under his watch with a 34-41 record.
Prior to becoming the New York Rangers head coach, Francis coached the Rangers sponsored a team in Guelph, Ontario. There he saw for the first time two great future players in Rod Gilbert and Jean Ratelle. They would all eventually come up to coach and play for the Rangers.
Francis coached the Rangers for 10 years, but he had a few coaches come in here and there at times, but it never really worked out and Francis would find himself back behind the bench. He coached some pretty well known Rangers, along with Ratelle and Gilbert he was lucky enough to coach the likes of Vic Hadfield and Eddie Giacomin.
Francis and the Rangers had their best year together in 1972.
Gilbert, Ratelle, and Hadfield had great seasons offensively, but with Ratelle breaking his ankle in the last few games of the season the team’s luck began to run out. They meet the Boston Bruins, with star Bobby Orr, and they were unable to pull out a championship as they lost to the Bruins in six games. It was the closest Francis would ever get to winning a Stanley Cup.
The Rangers and Francis partied ways following the 1975 season. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall Of fame, Builders category, in 1982.
1. Mike Keenan, 1994
Mike Keenan coached the Rangers for one season, with a record of 52-24-8, but he had one thing no other head coach of the Rangers has had since Frank Boucher in 1940. He is the last coach to lead the Rangers to the Stanley Cup.
Mike Keenan was hired to replace Roger Neilson following the 1993 season. Keenan took on a team that was lead on the ice by captain Mark Messier and immediately had a way about him that would put the players against the coach mentality. Keenan didn’t care if a player was made or didn’t like the way he was used by the coach. He wanted to win a Stanley Cup and would spare no one to get that job done.
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Keenan was not a fan of Brian Leetch, and he let him know every time he was unhappy with his play through the season. The same went for fan favorite Mike Gartner as the gifted winger could never find the right side of his head coach.
Things were so bad for the coach and player that Keenan had general manager Neil Smith trade Gartner at the deadline, despite his Hall of Fame goal-scoring prowess. Keenan knew what he wanted and how to get to the team to reach their goal.
In June 1994, the Rangers defeated the Vancouver Canucks in seven games to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 54 years.
The Rangers and their hard nose coach had achieved what so many fans thought they would never see, a parade down the canyon of heroes led by Lords Stanley Cup.
Keenan would leave the team a month later, but fans will always have a special place in their hearts for what he accomplished.
Number 35
Seven coaches who over the last 92 years have carried the tradition of the New York Rangers. Regardless of winning Stanley Cup championships or not, these coaches all touched the fan base in some way. Now, the 35th coach in history is set to begin his journey.
David Quinn has a tall task in front of him—a rebuilding process that is his responsibility to get right with a team who hasn’t won a Stanley Cup in 23 years. The fans demand wins now, the playoffs now and another opportunity to win the cup … now.