For those of us, me, waiting for the Stealth GM to make a dramatic choice, go outside the box, we were disappointed as the move was predictable. He passed up bold, by not going after Mike Keenan. He will be back in the NHL within two years after his Russian stint. He passed up dramatic, by passing on an anxious and ready Mark Messier, who surely will soon leave the Ranger organization. New Jersey anyone?
Make no mistake Alain Vigneault was the safe choice. Among the pretenders for all the coaching jobs he had the highest winning percentage. He was coach of the year in 2006-07. Two times his Vancouver Canucks team won the President's Trophy, 2010-11 and 2011-12. His 2010-11 team lost to the Bruins in seven for the Stanley Cup. The seventh game was lost at home. So Vigneault has a resume. This year's team was swept in the first round by the sixth seeded Sharks, which means that Vigneault comes to the Big Apple on a downer. So why five years?
He is the Stealth's fifth coach and the previous one lasted four and a half years. What are the odds he makes the end of his term? Win the Cup and he gets a Broadway Parade. Don't win the Cup and he still makes a lot of money, $10 million, and goes on to another job. So we have a safe choice from the man who really is the one that should be fired. Fourteen years and counting on a dismal performance. No other New York team GM would have survived this mediocrity. What is it about the Ranger franchise that tolerates this ineptness? It's called money. The dough is rolling in with the Garden tenants and that is all that matters.
Good luck Alain Vigneault!
Out 21 months, Leafs' Murray earns emotional win
6 hours ago
Terrible. We swapped coaches with Vancouver with it all but official that torts will coach Vancouver next year. First, how the hell is that guy even recognized by the league let alone wanted by another team? He had all the offense in the world in NY and could do nothing, strike that, he ruined any and all offense he had, how is he going to deal all of the Vancouver offensive talent that was mishandled by Alain? We got rid of a bad coach for another stubborn coach who won't break his system for the world. Sound familiar? Sure, he could get the Canucks to score. But only in streaks. Sound Familiar? At the end of the day, both coaches had a very, very predictable team. They became easy to beat. What's going to change? Vancouver will adopt the D or die strategy, and the rangers will adopt the pass pass pass pass shoot strategy. Don't even get me started on the ridiculous contract...I can't predict the future, but I just don't see this working. I think it will be even worse for the canucks but i could care less. Have fun dealing with that POS in a terrible hockey town...
The old sports homage 'safe is death' couldn't ring any truer right now for the rangers in my opinion. I will miss the hell out of seeing Mess up in the high rises...
Swapped two guys who both say they want their teams to "play the right way."
Alain Vigneault: “I like my teams to play the right way.”
John Tortorella: “We pride ourselves in trying to play the right way.”
I think the Vancouver fans got the word on Torts:
Sight of Tortorella Sends Vancouver Into a Tizzy --
“A bad idea that just got a whole lot worse,” Ed Willes, a Vancouver Province columnist, said on Twitter. Fans said on Vancouver sports radio shows that they would boycott the Canucks if Tortorella became the next coach.