Gallant done

Gallant is a good man and I always found him to be a stand-up guy. I wish him well.

Going into the series I thought it would take a monumental collapse for a coaching change to even be a thought. Not only did we see that collapse but the the disjointed, unstructured and undisciplined freelancing was impossible to miss. They did not just lose but they lost in a way that suggested this team was a rudderless ship when the lights were brightest.

I’ve thought about what went wrong with him, both here and in his prior stops. It seems like he’s always going to be a great regular season coach. He doesnt wear guys out, gives guys space to play their game. Backs them up in the media and is just fun to play for overall. In the playoffs, you need more than that. All five skaters need to be playing together as a unit. Based on what we saw in the Tampa series last year and in the Devils series this year, we were not getting that.

Of all the coaches we’ve had over the past recent history, call it Renney to now, he is by far the least structured and coherent. Even AV had his system, the problem was that his system was all about transition and left his defenseman and goalies out to dry playing a man defense that is harder and harder to play in today’s NHL. Gallant’s system can best be summed up as “let guys be themselves”. Goodrow’s quote on breakup day which I posted the other day is damning. Goodrow has been on cup teams. He’s seen what it takes to win, and he knows this ain’t it. That quote to me was the beginning of the end. I’m sure a less sanitized version was told to Drury directly in the exit interviews.

As to where we go from here, I have no idea. All of us can throw out cliches like structure and discipline, ability to adapt, accountability, etc. End of day we need a professional who is not going to run guys into the ground like Torts but will bring a balanced approach. I won’t even bother throwing out names, just please no red face Boudreau.

Drury has to get this right. If this hire doesnt work we’ll be looking for a GM as well as yet another coach.

 

Agree with everything you wrote 223, including no Boudreau - don't see that happening.

I think Laviolette has a reasonable chance to be the pick. Wide open, and that is a total shot in the dark by me, but of the names I see I think he has a chance to interview well, and he has always been a good coach that gets a lot out of his teams, despite his teams struggles to win a playoff series since 2018. He won a SC with the Canes, and made two other SCF's with the Flyers and Preds. 3 SCF trips is a good number.

Even this year, the Caps were destroyed by injury, OV missed games for his Dad's death, they trade away players, and they still played hard and weren't way out of it.

Whether it is Lav or someone else, the one thing I do think is the guy they hire will have NHL head coaching experience. Hard for me to believe Drury hires a coach with no NHL head coaching experience as his do or die hire with his job potentially on the line.

 

Just because I disagree with you doesn't make me angry Chuck or Chuck's doppelganger but wouldn't that too be a shot at my feelings on your behalf? What subtle little jabs are you referring to? I think most of what you write is repetitive and reminiscent of an old poster Chuck's technique , that's why many here refer to you as Chuck. GG's main problem was forwards getting back to help out or covering when our high scoring defensemen joined the rush. The biggest change postseason was the defense started holding the puck instead of just lifting it out of the zone , there is nothing more maddening than watching a Ranger take the puck at center ice and instead of just dumping it in carry it back to their own zone. I'm wondering if GG's argument with CD was over the soft team he was given to coach. I think one of the key missing pieces this year was Ryan Reaves, he was a huge locker room/physical presence. Goodrow and Trocheck are not big enough to fill that role, they are more of the agitator type.

 

Great assessment of Gallant. Completely agree Prod

 

Knoblouch is interesting but I agree with the pressure on Drury he has to get someone with more experience.

Lavy seems like a good choice. It’s too bad Trotz is in front office he would be great. They need accountability and a system.

 

This is a good summary:

Let’s start with the Rangers probably had too many chefs in the kitchen. Gallant sealed his fate when he called out Drury for constructing the roster with what sounded like minimal input from his head coach.

“Talent doesn’t mean a thing,” Gallant said after elimination. “It’s great to have talent but you’ve got to play and work hard together– I love to have talent but you’d like to have a work ethic, forechecking, and stuff like that. We just didn’t get it done.”

It’s true, the Rangers had too many offensive players that want the puck and not enough players that are willing to play even harder to get the puck.

That doesn’t absolve Gallant for failing to make adjustments or penalizing his top stars for poor play. He just kept sending them out to do more of the same even when it was obvious that it wasn’t going to work.

 

It smells of Sather and Dolan’s involvement. Not that an excuse for Drury. He went back to the rangers old ways. Hmm...I wonder why.

 

The Post has some weird agenda against the available coaches this off-season. I see multiple coaches with Cups or a Cup, who have made 1 or multiple SCF's. They keep writing, all of them, about lack of candidates and pushing guys I scratch my head on.

They have mentioned Keefe a few times. Not all his fault, no goalie and lack of D/grit in Toronto, but why would I want a guy who has 1 playoff round win in his career, has never been beyond the 2nd round, and has lost many games where they could have won and moved on.

I have seen Sullivan mentioned, and while I would not be adverse to him, he isn't going anywhere. The Pens kept him when they fired everyone, and he is part of the Pres/GM search.

The guy I would target is Laviolette. To be clear I interview many folks to find the best candidate, but assuming Lavy does well, I'd have no issue with him coming in. How many coaches have led 3 different teams to the SCF's, winning 1 SC. And his teams overachieved to get to the SCF IMO, and were underdogs when they got there. The Preds were a big underdog against the Pens. The Flyers were a big underdog against the Hawks. He won with the Canes. And yes his teams haven't won in round 1 since 2018, but that seems a bit fluky to me. This year the Caps missed the playoffs, but they were crushed by injury, traded away players, and OV missed weeks due to the death of his father, and yet they were still alive late.

If it were Keefe or Lavy, I go Lavy. But with that said, Drury should do his full due diligence, and if someone wows him so be it. I am not sold on any one candidate, just stating my opinion that I'd be good with Lavy.

 

We lose a game 7 after getting the the ECF and thats not fluky yet Laviolette hasnt gotten past round 1 since 2018 is a fluke?

Boston.... OUT
Colorado... OUT
Toronto.... OUT
Dallas....taken to game 7
Oilers... OUT

A lot of good to better teams also didnt win the cup this year... the constant reshuffling of coaches does not help at all

 

Al, you really do see what you want to see don't you. I don't like a coaching carousel either, but Gallant was not the right guy and never was. Again, the guy has had very good success, yet has NEVER EVER lasted 3 full years in any of his prior jobs - why is that Al? He is not the right guy. And not just because he lost a tough 7 game series Al. That is the part you don't want to accept. The how matters. His lack of adjustments matters. His lack of a system, and structure, and motivation matters. His never lasting 3 years as a HC in one spot matters.

As for calling Lavy not making it past round 1 since 2018 fluky, that doesn't mean he shouldn't be held accountable or asked about that, he should be, but the NHL playoffs are so tight, and so flip a coin, yes it can be fluky. What I do know is Lavy has taken THREE different teams to the SCF, and won 1 SC. That is a great resume. And before you come back with Gallant again, go look at the first paragraph. You dismiss all of that to act as if any L is an L.

Colorado won the Cup last year, they 100% get a pass this year.
Toronto's coach and GM will most likely be fired.
Oilers wouldn't surprise me if their coach was fired.
Dallas we'll see.
Boston is the one you can point to, but again considering it was his first year, and they way overachieved regular season based on projections, I think he'll get a 2nd year. If they fail again he'll be fired.

 

GG's problem is that he's not an ass kisser, the Florida GM fired him while they were riding in a cab together and in Vegas he found out through a sports reporter, seems pretty unprofessional but it's a move GMs who feel disrespected make. Chuck you need to stop with the GG hate, he's had better results than any coach since Keenan and will be the ruler the next coach is measured by. I'm looking forward to a deep playoff run since the only thing keeping the Rangers from raising the Cup the last 2 years was GG!

 

Again, don't know who Chuck is, but there is no hate. Just because some of you guys get wrapped up in hate and love etc., don't put that nonsense on me. I call them like I see them, like, love, hate, whatever. You make a comment Gallant won't kiss a**, like you have any clue what you are talking about. What I know as fact is the guy has never made 3 years in any NHL head coaching job, ever. That is fact, not me just making up oh he doesn't kiss a**. That is despite making a SCF and an ECF in two of his jobs, and he still got canned before 3 years. Maybe your he doesn't kiss a** is him being a stubborn mule, and maybe not, I don't know, but I do know he hasn't lasted 3 years anywhere. Not just here, not just with Drury, anywhere. There is a reason for that.

I didn't knock him at all really during the season, because I don't have hate and I wanted him to be successful, but he failed miserably during the playoffs. And yes it was the players also, but the coach pays as you cannot fire all the players. He made no adjustments until game 6, his team was flat as a pancake 4 of the last 5 games, they scored 2 goals in 4 L's - including being shutout twice, and his team has blown back to back 2-0 series leads, which is very difficult to do in a best of 7 series when you have a huge % of winning the series edge after a 2-0 lead. That's it. Those are facts. This is not about hate or like, I don't care about that nonsense.

Do I hate Drury also when I say he has to step up big this summer hiring a coach, and improving the team, or he'll be next to go after next season. No, again just being real I believe.

The way you get beat matters also, and the way we lost the NJ series was a joke and pathetic, and it got worse when the Devs, and their unbeatable kid goalie, were rolled by the Canes.

We move on now with a better coach, one who hopefully has made many long runs, maybe has won a Cup, and maybe has held a head coaching job for the same team for 3 straight years.

And BTW, your last comment does tell it all. Who is saying we didn't win a Cup only because of GG? I think I have written pretty much the exact opposite over and over again as you say I am repetitive, I guess not. This was everyone, the players were a joke, Drury didn't do a good job (and is next on the hot seat if he doesn't step up this summer), and Gallant did a poor job. They all have responsibility, not just Gallant by a long shot.

 

Chuck, you are the king of the clueless, if GG was the wrong man as you said in all caps no less then who was the coach that would have taken the Rangers to the Cup? And I have read enough articles about GG to know he's abrasive while you repeat your opinion endlessly as fact. First year GG overachieves to the surprise of pretty much everyone on this board with a new gritty philosophy, second year Drury goes back to the old gritless Rangers way and they're shown the door round 1 as so many Rangers teams before. Firing GG seems like a panic move to me unless Drury has the appropriate replacement in mind, there is a small window of opportunity to win and this year seems to be the year of postseason upsets. We shall see who the coach is and see if he can take the Rangers back to the Cup. I was looking back at last year's Tampa series, not only up 2 -0 in the series after 2 lopsided wins but also up 2-0 in game 3 midway through only to lose with under a minute left, very frustrating when there were half a dozen great scoring chances missed that would have iced the game against a great Tampa team. I think AV was a unique situation, he took over midway through the season and took Torts team to the Cup. After that he softened the team and after 4 years had a team that couldn't make the playoffs.

 

I thought GG might've gotten the shaft a little earlier than he should've, maybe deserving one more year, but I guess that's how it goes, and Drury's probably looking to save his own rear too. If they win game 3 in OT they likely move on but the stars didn't show up for most of the series. I'm not sure Laviolette or whomever is going to get better results from some of these guys when it counts but we'll see. It's on them to make it happen in the end.

 

Again, no clue who Chuck is. And no I do not repeat my opinion as fact, you need to read my repetitive posts better I think. Fact is the guy has never finished 3 years in one place as an NHL head coach. Fact is that is despite making an SCF with Vegas, and an ECF with the Rangers. That is all fact, not my opinion. Seems odd given his success that he didn't reach 3 years coached. Your OPINION was he doesn't kiss a**. Sure, maybe that is it, you have no clue. Maybe he is a stubborn mule, maybe it is something else, none of us knows or has a clue.

The only facts are what I wrote above.

Just because you want something to be true doesn't make it so. Of course I do not fully blame Gallant for everything, and of course I am not saying that Gallant was the only reason the Rangers didn't win the SC. You can spin that however you want, but black and white very clear I am writing that is not how I feel. But with that said it doesn't also mean that I believe Gallant should have gotten fired, I do. That can all be true.

I do not blame Gallant for everything (the players were a joke), in no way do I think the only reason the Rangers didn't win a Cup is because of Gallant, I do not hate Gallant, and yes I do think he deserved to be fired for the reasons I listed in my prior post. I also think Drury did a poor job, and didn't do Gallant any favors putting the team together, and Drury is very much on the hot seat now. That is my stance on this, anything else you want to spin is just to help fit your own pre-determined narrative about Chuck (whoever that is).

And AV did not take over mid-season, he took over fresh in the 13-14 season after Torts was fired the prior summer. I do agree he took a Torts team with Torts discipline to the SCF, and then got worse from there. We agree on that, but AV did not take over mid-season.

 

When GG was hired that's exactly what I read up on - why was he fired from Florida and Vegas despite his success? Florida fired him as the team was getting on a bus for a game so he had to take his luggage off the bus and call a cab. Read any of the dozen articles on his firings and "players love him but he butts heads with management" was the overriding theme so yes I think that's what got him fired here. When Vegas fired GG and hired DeBoer you could make the argument that management had a decent replacement in mind they didn't want another team to snatch up but I would encourage you to read some of the past articles about the firings and they seem petty, including this one, to me. If Drury was smart he would have given GG an ultimatum for his last year - deep playoff run or you're gone. What frustrates me the most about this situation is for decades I've railed on this board that the team isn't tough enough and 2 years ago one of my Rangers favorites JD lost his job for basically doing what Drury just did. The new coach has some big shoes to fill, thought they're not well worn.