There is no doubt that being the head coach of the New York Rangers is one of the most coveted positions in the National Hockey League.
The team has been blessed with hockey coaching legends such as Lester Patrick, Emile Francis, Herb Brooks, Roger Neilson and Mike Keenan. Not only are four of these coaches in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but two of them managed to win the Stanley Cup (Patrick and Keenan), something the Rangers have not done a lot of in their 87-year history.
There is nothing like being a head coach and winning a championship in New York. With that said, the Rangers’ head coaching position is also one that comes with a lot of pressure and demands.
If a coach is not able to win he will be gone as quick as Bryan Trottier was during the 2002-03 season. One can also look at what happened to the likes of Colin Campbell, John Muckler, Ron Lowe, Tom Renney and of course John Tortorella.
In order to get this coveted and pressure-packed role with the Blueshirts for the 2013-14 season and possibly beyond, he better be able to do the following:
Get the power play working
It is no surprise that the Rangers’ power play was abysmal both in the regular season and the post-season this year.
In the regular season, the team finished 23rd on the power play as they clicked on just 15.7 per cent of their man advantage opportunities. In all, the team scored on just 24 of their 153 power plays and even allowed four shorthanded goals in the process.
In the playoffs, the Rangers took their power play to a whole new sinking level. The club went just 4-44 on the power play and never really came through when the team needed it the most.
The team’s new head coach, whoever that may be, must figure out a way to get the team’s power play working not only if they want to have more success during the regular season, but more importantly, in the playoffs when it matters the most.
It can be said that this year’s power play was the Rangers’ undoing and why they will be sitting at home for the rest of the playoffs.
Get the offence to be consistent
Looking at the Rangers’ roster, it is clear that the team has some talent up front.
If put in the right situation with the right linemates, Rick Nash can be a 40 to 50-goal scorer and absolutely light it up on Broadway.
Brad Richards is someone that should be putting up 70 to 80 points every season and someone who should be playing with gifted and consistent goal scorers. He may have been absolutely dreadful this season, but Richards is not a fourth line player and needs to play with other offensive players in order to succeed.
To go along with Nash and Richards, the Rangers also have the talented Ryan Callahan, Derek Stepan Derick Brassard, Carl Hagelin, Mats Zuccarello, Brian Boyle, and Chris Kreider. All of these players can produce if put with the right players and given a chance to succeed with those said players.
The offence can also click if the new Rangers’ coach decides to implement a more offensive style system. Time and time again, the Rangers were defence-first under former head coach John Tortorella and while that was not a bad thing, it came at the expense of the club’s potential offence.
The new head coach must let his team’s offensive players do what they do best because if he does that, everything else in their game will follow.
Give the youngsters a chance
Since the lockout, the league has seen the development and progression of its younger generation.
The game is faster, wide open and is now more of a young man’s game. Every team is giving its youngsters a chance to play and is learning how to adjust and win with those youngsters.
While Tortorella certainly used a lot of young players during his tenure on Broadway, he certainly had them on a short leash. The perfect example of this is the 22-year-old Kreider.
Kreider burst onto the NHL scene in the playoffs last year and did extremely well in scoring five goals and adding two assists for seven points in 18 games. During that time, Kreider showed a knack for the net, had a terrific shot and had a lot of speed.
When Kreider struggled out of the gate this season, he was quickly benched by Tortorella and even sent down to the team’s farm club in Connecticut. Kreider did not exactly light it up down in the American Hockey League as it was clear his confidence had been rattled.
However, in Game 4 against the Boston Bruins, Tortorella inserted Kreider back into the line-up and put him with Nash, Brassard and sometimes Stepan. Kreider looked like a much different player with those three offensive-oriented NHLers and ended up scoring the overtime winner to give his team a 4-3 win and keep their playoff hopes alive at the time.
Put it all together
If the Rangers’ new head coach can put all of these things together and implement a system that fits the composition of his roster, there is no reason why the Rangers should not be able to take a step forward next season and be a team that is relevant not only in the regular season, but come playoff time as well.
