Keeping Richards is the Right Move for the Rangers

When an NHLer has a bad season or is not living up to a large contract, it is easy to see why teams would think about trading or buying out that said player.

Today, the New York Rangers decided to keep a player who struggled mightily both in the regular season and postseason this year. After mulling it over once the postseason ended, the Blueshirts decided not to use their buyout on Brad Richards.

While many Rangers’ fans believe that this is not a good idea because of the way Richards performed this season, these same fans should keep an open mind. This non-move may turn out to be a blessing for both Richards’ and the Rangers’ organization.

For starters, there is a new coach in town. With Alain Vigneault as the new Rangers’ bench boss, there will be more of an emphasis placed on offence, which will give Richards an opportunity to be creative, generate more scoring chances and more importantly, produce on a consistent basis.

With a new coach, also comes a new power play. Prior to joining the Rangers, Richards was lethal on the power play with both the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars. He could score and make plays with the best of them with the man advantage.

That has not been the case with the Rangers. Too often this season, the team’s power play was stagnant and showed no offensive instincts or flow. A new coach and a new system might just change that for Richard’s and the team’s woeful power play.

Secondly, this is a player that deserves a second chance. Richards has won at every level he has played and has shown that he can produce, play in all situations, come through in the clutch and be someone that the team

can rely on.

In his two seasons on Broadway, Richards has not been terrible. In his first season, Richards had 66 points (25 goals and 41 assists) and also came through with nine game winning goals.

In the postseason of that year, Richards led the club in scoring with 15 points (six goals and nine assists) in 20 games. The Rangers and their fans will remember him in that postseason as the player who scored the huge tying goal against the Washington Capitals in Game 5 with 06.6 seconds to go in the third period.

With a new coach and a new system in store for the team next season, it is time to wipe the slate clean and give Richards a chance to show that he is worth all the money the team is paying him.

Lastly, there is not a more dangerous player than one who has something to prove. Richards definitely has something to prove going into next season and with a new coach, a new system in place and a second chance, he might end up proving to the Rangers and their fans that he can live up to his contract and be an offensive force for the club for at least a few more years.

Vigneault's Style Will Benefit Lundqvist

NOTE: I posted this on Sportsnet.ca on Monday evening but figured this would be a good place to have it go up as well.

When it comes to hiring head coaches in the NHL, a general manager often looks for a coach that is going to have a positive impact on both the offense and the defense whether it is scoring more goals or doing a better job of keeping the puck out of the net.

Not only is Alain Vigneault, the new head coach of the New York Rangers, going to have a positive impact on the club’s offense and defense, but he is also going to have a positive impact on the team’s star player, Henrik Lundqvist.

Under previous head coach John Tortorella, there is no doubt that Lundqvist was under constant pressure. While Tortorella’s style may have been defense first, it was also one that sacrificed the team’s offence and in turn, made for a lot of low-scoring games.

While Lundqvist is one of the best masked men in the game today, he is not perfect. Tortorella’s style forced Lundqvist to be perfect night in and night out as it did not leave him a lot of room for error.

This was especially the case in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year. A perfect example of this was his team’s 2-1 loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 3 the second round. Lundqvist was just about perfect in this game until he allowed two goals in the third period, which ended up being the hockey game.

With Vigneault now behind the bench, this could all change for Lundqvist. For starters, it appears that Vigneault is all about offense.

In his introductory press conference last Friday at Radio City Musical Hall, Vigneault explained to the media that he wants his skilled forwards to be given the freedom to do what they do best.

“I believe that your top skill players have to be given a little bit more latitude,” Vigneault said. “They have to understand the game. They have to understand the time in the game when you need to play maybe higher percentage, but they also have to be given that latitude to make something out of nothing. That’s why those guys have the high-end skill, and you’ve got to give them that leeway.”

For Lundqvist, that means that his team should be able to score more goals. Last season, the club was in the middle of the pack when it came to scoring goals (15^th in the league) but with a roster that included the likes of Brad Richards, Rick Nash, Marian Gaborik, Ryan Callahan, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Brian Boyle, Derick Brassard, and others, that simply was not good enough.

As mentioned above, this was especially the case in the postseason. The Rangers averaged just 2.17 goals per game in this year’s playoffs and to win in the postseason, a team needs to be able to put the puck in the net, which the club was not able to do with any kind of regularity to help Lundqvist out.

Secondly, with Vigneault’s offensive style, it should give Lundqvist some breathing room. Under Vigneault’s offensive plan, Lundqvist should not feel the need to be perfect every single game and instead, just be able to focus on what he does best and that is stop the puck.

Lastly, with a new voice behind the bench and a new style being implemented, it will allow Lundqvist to once again think about his long-term future on Broadway. When the season ended, Lundqvist was non-committal about his future with the Blueshirts and understandably so, given the way the club’s season ended.

This might all change as Vigneault’s style should not only help the Rangers up front and on defence, but it will also help Lundqvist in a big way if implemented the right way. 

Bernier and Reimer: A Good Problem for the Leafs to Have

When it comes to the National Hockey League, a team cannot have enough good goaltending.

With the recent acquisition of 24-year-old Jonathan Bernier, that appears to be something that the Toronto Maple Leafs now have. Not only do the Leafs now have Bernier, but the team also has 25-year-old masked man James Reimer, a netminder that proved a lot to the Leafs both this past regular season and in the postseason.

While both fans and the media may see this new tandem as a potential problem, it should be looked at as a positive for the Leafs for several reasons.

Promotes Competition

When it comes to the goaltending position, competition between the pipes is always a good thing for each netminder.

With both goaltenders being young and having played well last season, this will no doubt push each goaltender to play their very best in order to try and get playing time between the pipes. This will especially be the case for Bernier as he is looking to be the starter after having played behind Jonathan Quick while with the Kings.

While Reimer may be a bit upset and even confused by the move, this should force him to play even better than he did this past season. There is no doubt that Reimer took some huge steps forwards this past year but with Bernier now competing for time between the pipes with him, Reimer will be pushed to be even better, which is not a bad thing for Reimer or the Leafs.

Both Young and Both Good

It is always smart for a team to have goaltending depth and with the Leafs' recent acquisition, they now have that at the NHL level.

The club now has two good and young netminders in both Reimer and Bernier. As mentioned above, Reimer took a big step forward last season and showed that he can be a solid starting netminder in this league in going 19-8-5 with a 2.46 GAA, a .924 save percentage and four shutouts.

Bernier has yet to prove himself as a starting goaltender in this league but when the Kings gave him a chance to play this past season, he shined. In 14 games, many of which came while Quick was fine-tuning his game early in the season, Bernier went 9-3-1 with a 1.88 GAA, a .922 save percentage and one shutout.

These two young masked men have yet to hit their prime so if they are able to do it with the Leafs, this team could be one that makes the postseason on a consistent basis.

Good Trade Bait

When it comes to making trades in the NHL, the Leafs are a club that is always looking for an upgrade at every position.

In Reimer and Bernier, the team now has solid trade bait if they want to make their team better at the deadline. Both of these goaltenders could easily fetch a top six forward or a top four defenseman in the current market.

With the Leafs having both of these goaltenders, look for other clubs either at the trade deadline or sometime next off-season to try and make a deal for one of them.

Can't Have Enough of a Good Thing

Again, a team can never have enough good goaltending.

It promotes competition, it provides stability between the pipes and it also gives them value at a position that usually makes for good trade bait. 

Sure, one netminder's confidence might be rattled a bit but in the long run, this move will prove to be a good one for the Leafs.

What We Should All Want from Tonight's Game 7

Before getting into this post, I should first admit that I am not a big basketball fan.

I have never really followed the league whether it is in the regular season or the postseason. This is not because I hate basketball or anything like that and instead, is just something that I do not prefer to watch when it comes to sports.

With that said, this has not been the case when it comes to the NBA Final between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs. From a basketball standpoint, we have seen it all whether it is great shooting, tight defense, a blowout game, a come back in the last minute, questionable calls and so on and so forth.

With Game 7 on tap for tonight, here is what I am hoping to see:

- Balanced officiating: Based on the way Game 6 ended, it is easy to say that the Heat got some calls to go their way. Hopefully, the officiating will be fair and balanced tonight as it would be a darn shame to have the game decided by awful officiating.

- Star Players Strutting Their Stuff: With a due or die Game 7, it would be great to see the likes of Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan do what they do best. These are all terrific players and if they can play like that tonight, it should make for an unbelievable Game 7.

- Class from both sides: While it is important to get foul calls to go their way, it would be great if the players could play with some class. We do not want to see any player flop, embellish, or pretend when it comes to getting fouled. Play the game the right way.

- Not a Blowout: In sports, a Game 7 should always be exciting and come down to the last few minutes. Unless you're a Heat fan, no one wants to see a blowout and would rather watch a game that has them on the edge of their seat until the final buzzer.

Again, I may not be a basketball fan but I am sure looking forward to watching Game 7 tonight between two great basketball teams. 

Vigneault the Right Man for the Blueshirts' Job

One of the top priorities going into this off-season for the New York Rangers was finding someone to replace former head coach John Tortorella behind the bench.

That mission was accomplished yesterday when the Rangers’ announced that they hired former Canucks’ bench boss Alain Vigneault to be the organizations’ next head coach.

While the Rangers had some interesting candidates, including former Rangers’ legend and captain Mark Messier, the team decided to take the safe route and hire a coach that has had both plenty of experience and success in this league.

For starters, Vigneault knows what it takes to win. As the head coach of the Canucks, Vigneault led his team to six Northwest Division titles, two Presidents' Trophy and in 2011, got the team to within one win of the franchise’s first Stanley Cup as they lost in seven games to the Boston Bruins.

Vigneault has also racked up awards and award nominations for his work behind the bench. As head coach of the Montreal Canadiens during the 1999-2000 season, Vigneualt was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as the league’s coach of the year because despite various long-term injuries to some of his club’s best players, he was able to keep the team above .500.

In 2007, Vigneault won the jack Adams for leading the Canucks to their first division title as they won a then franchise record 49 games and got to the second round of the postseason before being eliminated by the eventual Cup champion Anaheim Ducks. Four years later, Vigneault was a finalist for the award as he led the club to their first President’s Trophy and second trip to the Cup Final.

Secondly, Vigneault knows how to deal with offensive players. While in Vancouver, Vigneault had the likes of Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Ryan Kesler, Alexandre Burrows, and Mason Raymond.

Under the tutelage and offensive style of play that Vigneault implemented, these Canucks’ forwards were able to excel in a big way. They scored a lot of goals, were creative with the puck, generated a lot of scoring chances and came through at big points in the game.

With the Rangers having the likes of Rick Nash, Brad Richards (for right now), Ryan Callahan, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Derick Brassard, and Mats Zuccarello, Vigneault has a lot of offence that he can work with and get going. What’s more, Vigneault is apparently the kind of head coach that gives the players a lot of ownership whether it was on the ice or in the locker room, something that Tortorella did not seem to do.

Rick Bowness, Vigneault’s assistant in Vancouver for seven seasons, told Daily News Rangers’ beat writer Pat Leonard that Vigneualt respected the players and respected the way they could handle themselves.

“Alain gave the players a lot of ownership for what was going on, and the players absolutely had to respect that,” said Rick Bowness, a former Islanders coach and Vigneault’s assistant for seven years in Vancouver. “Whether you like him or any of us — (coaches are) never the most popular guys around — but he always gave players ownership of what was happening, on the ice, in the locker room, the whole thing, so they always respected that.”

Vigneault’s style of coaching and play is one that should keep Rangers’ star netminder Henrik Lundqvist happy. Vigneault is someone that likes to play his starter as often as a possible while also utilizing a style that should lead the Rangers to putting more pucks in the net, helping to take off the constant pressure that Lundqvist feels that he has to be perfect in every game.

It is more than apparent that the Rangers need a new voice and a new leader behind the bench in order to get this team playing the way they should be every single game. For the Rangers, that man is Vigneault.

Yankees' Offense Frustrating to Watch

If you are a New York Yankees' fan, you already know that for the last decade or so, the team has been a run-producing machine.

Year in and year out, the Yankees fond themselves at or near the top of several offensive categories whether it was runs scored, home runs, hits, batting average, etc. It seemed like every single season, the Yankees were able to score runs with relative ease and because they were able to do so, won a lot more games than they lost.

Fast forward to this season and runs have been a lot more difficult to come by. Without the likes of Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira for most of the season thus far, runs are not coming as easy for the team and because of that, games have been a lot harder to win this year.

Sure, guys like Robinson Cano (16), Vernon Wells (10), Travis Hafner (10) and Lyle Overbay (8) have decent home run numbers, but it certainly does not compare to previous seasons. More often than not this season, when the team has needed a home run to take the lead or tie the ball game, it was nowhere to be found.

For the Yankees, this is something different. In previous seasons, the team was able to rely on the long ball to not only produce a lot of runs, but to also help the team win ball games.

That has not been the case this season. In fact, the team is 11th season when it comes to the long ball and while that is not terrible, it is certainly not Yankee-like.

Speaking of not Yankee-like, the team is 20th in runs scored this season. It has been awhile since the Yankees have really struggled offensively and right now, it is showing in a big way.

When the New York Mets swept the season series against the Yankees in late May, the team scored just seven runs in those four games. Recently, the team lost three straight games to the Oakland Athletics and in those three games, were outscored 14-8.

While there is still over three months left of baseball to play, the Yankees need to start figuring out alternative methods to scoring runs fast because if they don't, the playoffs might be in jeopardy for the first time in a long time.

Did the Nets make the right Decision?

While this is a question that is going to take some time to answer, it is clear that Jason Kidd's hiring as the Brooklyn Nets' new head coach has certainly raised a lot of eye brows whether it is sports fans or sports media.

On paper, this sounds like a terrific hire. Kidd was a great player and did it all when it comes to experiencing the NBA.

As a player, Kidd was someone who helped make players better, who lead them on and off the court and was someone that the team (s) could rely on when they needed someone the most. No one who is a basketball fan or a player is ever going to question what he did on the court as a player.

With that said, it is going to be a much different story when it comes to being the new head coach of the Nets, just eight days after announcing his retirement as a player in the Association. While Kidd may have stellar leadership skills, his coaching skills have yet to be realized.

There are many out there who are applauding this move. These folks cite his leadership, his confidence and his fire to win an NBA Championship as great qualities that will come in handy as a new head coach.

While these folks are not wrong, it obviously takes a lot more to be a head coach in any professional sport. One needs to have the mental capacity to deal with the pressure/stress of the job, the mental capacity to deal with the daily grind and the know how when it comes to dealing with players.

It is obvious that Kidd's basketball IQ is off the charts, so that will not be a problem. What could be a problem is how he deals with his players.

As a player/teammate, it is easy to be supportive and buddy-buddy. However, that might not work as a head coach.

Kidd will need to be able to show that while he can be supportive of his team, he can also be someone who demonstrates authority and command of said team. If Deron Williams is struggling in a game, will Kidd be able to show that he can bench the team's superstar?

It will be interesting to see how this ends up working out. Would I be surprised if Kidd found success as a head coach in the league? Definitely not.

At the same time, however, I would also not be surprised if this ends up being a terrible move for the Nets.

Enough with Tebow Already

It is amazing what kind of news an NFL player with one decent half of a season and a playoff win can generate.

Since quarterback Tim Tebow first became a member of the New York Jet last off-season, all eyes and cameras have been on him. It is easy to see and say that the cameras are not on him because he's a good quarterback or because he is making great plays on the field. 

Rather, the media cares about him because if the hits and reads he generates. A perfect example of this is what happened yesterday when Ed Werder of ESPN reported that the New England Patriots were going to sign Tebow.

Once this was announced, all hell broke lose over the Internet. Social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook blew up with many different rants, curses, and opinions on the 25-year-old quarterback.

I know I am not the only one who thinks this but seriously, why does anyone even care anymore? Yes, the Jets misused him last season and yes, he should have at least been given a shot over Mark Sanchez but in the end, it was well known at the time that Tebow did not have an NFL arm.

May be he'll go to the Patriots where future Football Hall of Fame head coach Bill Belichick will find a role for him and give him a chance to succeed. Clearly, nothing is guaranteed but when it comes to putting players in the right spot, Belichick is one of the best and can probably find some use for Tebow.

If that happens, can we please stop talking about Tebow? At this point, he is not even a mediocre NFLer and yet, he gets the attention of a superstar player.

What is it going to take to stop the madness that is Tebowmania?

Tuukka Time in Beantown

When we found out that Tim Thomas was taking the year off, there was not much panic in Boston because of the young masked man they had behind Thomas, Tuukka Rask.

This especially rings true today. Rask has put on an absolutely masterful performance and has the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in three years thanks to him and his club sweeping the offensive juggernaut Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Sure, a lot of credit has to go to the team in front of him but no matter how you look at it, Rask might just be the main reason why the Bruins are four wins away from lifting hockey's Holy Grail. In 16 games this postseason, Rask is 12-4 with a 1.75 GAA (second in the league), a .943 save percentage (first in the league) and two shutouts, both of which came against the Penguins.

Rask may not have the flash that Thomas has/had but if you're the Bruins, you would not want it any other way. In these playoffs, Rask has played with an abundance of confidence, has done a terrific job of controlling rebounds and more than ever this postseason, has come up with the big saves when his team has needed it the most.

Unlike 2010, Rask was able to win a pivotal Game 7 in the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs and also unlike 2010, Rask and his mates did not allow a 3-0 series lead to slip away against the New York Rangers in the second round and most recently against the Penguins in the Conference Finals. Rask has been as solid as a rock in these playoffs for his hockey club.

In the Conference Finals, Rask allowed just two goals to a team that has the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Pascal Dupuis, Jarome Iginla, Chris Kunitz, Kris Letang, etc. In all, Rask stopped 134 of 136 Penguins' shots and is the main reason why the Bruins now get to play for the Cup.

If you have been following the Bruins or are a fan of NHL goaltenders, Rask's play between the pipes should not come as a surprise. He is one of the best goaltenders in the game and has put up consistent stats since joining the league full-time in the 2009-10 season.

At just 26 years of age, Rask has an extremely bright future in the league and not only that, the vision of  winning the Cup is clearer than ever.

**This is also on the NHL Network Radio Blog, which you can go to by clicking here**

NBA Finals Preview

Old vs. young. Good vs. evil. Quiet leaders vs. not-so-quiet ones. The San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat are set to kick off the NBA Finals tonight, and Gregg Popovich can barely contain his excitement. 

Both teams finished at the top of their conference standings, with the Heat serving as the top seed in the East and the Spurs as the 2^nd seed in the West. With the best record in the NBA, the Heat secured home court advantage in the quirky 2-3-2 format shift for the NBA Finals.

The Miami Heat are heading to their 3^rd consecutive NBA Finals, the first Eastern Conference team to do so since Jordan’s Bulls did it from 1996-98. Although Indiana emptied the tank and gave the Heat all they could handle in a grueling 7-game series, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion at the start of the playoffs that they would find a way to defend their title. 

The Spurs handled their run through the Western Conference playoffs with an unassuming surgical precision that we haven’t seen since their last championship in 2007 – dispatching the moribund Lakers, the upstart Warriors, and the red-hot Grizzlies with relative ease. 

This series has all the makings of a classic. Here are my takes on 4 key topics that have been raised this week:

Will San Antonio’s long layoff mess with their mojo?

Monday, May 27 at approximately 11:30pm. That is when the Spurs completed their annihilation of the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference Finals. They have had 9 full days of rest. Some see this as time to rust, but I see it as time to prepare. Popovich rests his aging core all season long - maybe not for 9 days, but they’re used to pacing themselves throughout the course of the season. This scheduling oddity will not derail a team as experienced and smart as the Spurs.

Of course, if they score 15 points on 6-20 shooting in the first period everyone will point to this.

How will Dwyane Wade’s health impact this series?

Tremendously. The Spurs are not the Pacers – the Heat need a healthy Wade to repeat as champions, not the Wade that has averaged just 14 points on 44% shooting in the playoffs (as opposed to 21 points on 52% shooting in the regular season). He looked to be at the end of his rope in Game 6 against the Pacers, scoring just 10 points, grabbing 2 boards, and dishing out exactly 1 assist, but rebounded nicely in Game 7 with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Those knees need to be somewhat healthy so he can lift off the floor. 

That 21 point Game 7 effort was his first 20+ point game since Game 2 against the Bucks back on April 23, which indicates we could be in for more game-to-game uncertainty from D-Wade.

Whose Depth wins?

To me, this is the most important factor in this series. We’re slicing out the Big 3 on both teams, so here’s what we’re looking at:

Spurs: Leonard, Green, Splitter, Diaw, Bonner, Neal

Heat: Chalmers, Haslem, Birdman, Allen, Cole, Miller/Battier

I honestly love the Spurs here. Splitter and Diaw are going to give the Heat fits down low. Diaw has played a lot on the outside of the perimeter in these playoffs, but I expect him to be in the paint a lot more in this series. These two guys are huge x-factors for the Spurs, as we saw the Heat get bullied in the paint by guys like Hibbert and West in the Conference Finals and even Joakim Noah in the Conference Semis. 

Kawhi Leonard will likely be tasked with guarding LeBron in this series, and his stellar defensive reputation at San Diego State was the driving force behind the Spurs trading for him on Draft Day two years ago. Don’t count out Danny Green getting some face time guarding Lebron too – he was the most effective defender against Stephen Curry in their series against the Warriors. Both of these guys will need to step up on the offensive end as well for those key buckets that Sean Elliot, Bruce Bowen, and Robert Horry drilled over those 4 Spurs championship runs.

On the Heat side, they’re going to need much more consistency from their role players than what they have gotten to this point. Birdman has been terrific in the postseason, and is much more of an eyeball success than a statistical one. If you’ve watched this Heat run, you know that his energy and scrappiness on the floor has been critical. Udonis Haslem provides that same junkyard style on the floor, and he appears to shoot about 98% on that baseline jumper he loves.

The rest of the litter is a bit uncertain:

Ray Allen – Allen shot just 30% from the field and averaged only 7 points per game against the Pacers – he even missed 3 free throws!

Mario Chalmers – Chalmers was having a miserable postseason before coming back to life against the Pacers - he is always a huge x-factor. 

Norris Cole – Cole had two tremendous games against the Bulls in round 2, going 9-11 from 3-point land and scoring 18 points twice over that 5 game series. As expected he came crashing back to earth, but the Heat are going to need him to make a few guest appearances.

Shane Battier – Battier was tremendous against the Thunder in last year’s finals. He averaged 11.6 points per game on 61% shooting and 58% from downtown (15-26). He was a true difference maker. They’re going to need that Shane Battier to step up against the Spurs – not the one that went just 2-15 from downtown, averaging 2.3 points per game and was held scoreless in 4 of the 7 games against the Pacers.

Mike Miller – It actually brings me physical pain watching Mike Miller hobble up and down the court. This guy literally looks like he’s going to snap in half at any moment. Did you see him in Game 2 against the Pacers when he came in, drilled a 3 at the halftime buzzer, and then practically needed a wheelchair to get to the locker room? Seeing him play 17 minutes in Game 7 was mind-blowing (especially considering he played 21 minutes in the 9 previous games combined)

LeBron and Tony – How can they be contained?

These are the lead dogs in this series. Both have proven to be pretty much unguardable, so it’s a matter of containing their production. I’m honestly not so sure that’s even possible. Both teams are elite defensively, so schemes will be in place to deal with these guys. These are two former NBA Finals MVPs, so their day-to-day greatness isn’t shocking to even the most pedestrian NBA fan. 

Miami has two glaring holes defensively – big men down low (like Hibbert) and shifty point guard play (like Tony Parker, and even Manu Ginobili). Hibbert nearly led the Pacers to victory, but the Spurs have many more weapons than the Pacers do, which prevents them from long dry spells offensively. If they force the ball out of the hands of Parker, they better be ready to defend their other weapons.

Prediction

What a series this will be. San Antonio is at a major disadvantage with the 2-3-2 format – which I honestly hate, especially when the NBA uses a 2-2-1-1-1 format for the other 3 series. Why are they worried about travel schedules now, and not over the 2 month odyssey they take us on over the first 3 rounds?

In any case, I like the Spurs in this series. They are sneaky-hungry for that 5^th championship – we have practically heard nothing about this through the entire postseason. Spurs in a classic 7.

Why Messier Should Not be the Rangers' next Head Coach

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.

The main candidate that is being talked about right now is former Blueshirts' captain/legend/hero, Mark Messier. Along with Keenan, 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 many in upper management, no one knows how this will transfer over to the NHL. Playing and leading the team to a Cup on the ice is one thing but doing it as a coach is a whole different kind of animal.

For starters, Messier does not 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 has not coached in the American Hockey League (AHL), East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) or 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 does not have to be with the team 24/7 like a head coach has to.

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 Rangerland?

While there is no doubt that Messier would bring a ton of leadership, playing experience, and competitiveness as a head coach for the Blueshirts, he may not be the best guy to hire as a head coach 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.

What do you folks think?