The New York Rangers have 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 haven’t done many times in their 87-year history.
There is nothing like being a head coach and winning a championship in New York. With that being said, the Rangers’ head coaching position is also one that comes with a lot of pressure and demands.
Not surprisingly, or surprisingly depending on how one looks at it, Mark Messier is one of the candidates for the Rangers’ position. Along with “Iron Mike,” it was Messier that lead the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup in 54 years back in 1994.
While Messier has the name, the Cup rings, the backing of Rangers’ fans everywhere and probably the support of several in upper management, no one knows how this will transfer over to the NHL. Playing and leading the team to a championship on the ice is one thing but doing it as a coach is a whole different kind of animal.
For starters, Messier doesn’t have any kind of coaching experience in the NHL. Yes, he did coach Team Canada in both the Deutschland and Spengler Cups in 2010 but again, that is nothing like coaching in the NHL.
To go with that, Messier has no professional coaching experience. He hasn’t been behind the bench in the American Hockey League (AHL), East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) or even anywhere overseas.
This was exactly the case with Wayne Gretzky when he became the head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes. The result was four playoff-less seasons and no finish higher than fourth in the Pacific Division.
Secondly, is Messier ready to go back to the daily grind? In his current role as special assistant to general manager Glen Sather, Messier is allowed to come and go as he pleases and doesn’t have to be with the team constantly like a head coach does.
Lastly, this is the kind of move that puts Sather in an extremely tough position. Sather has coached Messier, has been his team’s general manager and has hired Messier, which is a lot for one relationship.
Would Sather want to risk ruining that if Messier ends up coaching and Sather has to fire him at some point? Does Sather want to disrupt any kind of peace in New York?
While there is no doubt that Messier would bring a ton of leadership, playing experience, and competitiveness as the head coach of the Blueshirts, he may not be the best guy for the position right now.
It would be best for Messier to get some coaching experience somewhere and then when the time is right, see if the Rangers’ head coaching position is open again.
