You know normally I do not pay much attention to what happens when the New York Rangers season is over as it is supposed to be my time off. But I could not help reading about the New York Islanders’ press conference to introduce Mathieu Darche as their new general manager. Darche really did not offer lessons on the level of Albert Einstein.
Even so, man, was it refreshing to hear such a common sense approach to the work he has in front of him. Let us be honest here as the Islanders are such a huge mess that fixing that franchise will not happen overnight.
“By saying fast-paced doesn’t mean we’re playing [only] offense, because you can’t win if you don’t defend”,
All you had to do was watch the NHL conference finals to know about how true a statement that it was. Ask the Dallas Stars and Carolina Hurricanes about what happened to them in their playoff series.
Neither team was able to get untracked because both Edmonton and Florida just limited their chances to score as whoever thought that Dallas and Carolina would be eliminated in just five games each?
Lesson learned or lesson missed?
“You need everything. That’s the recipe: you need everything, build all aspects of it. Fast, high-paced, intensity, compete. That’s how you win in the NHL”.
But teams like the New York Rangers just have not realized this all too important lesson. So, it really is not a surprise that it is Edmonton vs Florida for the second straight year in the Stanley Cup Final.
And really it is more than just winning at the NHL level either.
“You can’t just have a good NHL team and no, I don’t care about the AHL. That’s your pipeline. You have to move forward player development. That’s where I think the Tampa Bay Lightning have done a beautiful job.
Darche was the assistant GM at Tampa Bay before taking the Islanders job. Tampa Bay has 17 prospects who are 24 years old or younger playing for their minor league teams. They have 16 unsigned prospects who are age 24 or younger.
The Rangers had 13 prospects, 24 and younger (four are goalies) and just nine unsigned prospects. Even more frustrating if you are a Rangers fan must be that Tampa Bay typically drafts behind the Rangers.
Rangers let Knoblauch slip away
Speaking of Edmonton, would Chris Drury and James Dolan wish to explain how they had Kris Knoblauch working for them in Hartford and yet did not think he was the right guy to coach the Rangers? The Rangers hired first Gerald Gallant and then Peter Laviolette to coach the Rangers and both only lasted two years apiece.
Yet after Thursday’s win in Dallas, Knoblauch has earned his second straight trip to the Stanley Cup finals in just his second season. Meanwhile the Rangers have just one trip in their last 31 years to show for themselves.
One last lesson that I wish the Rangers would have learned is the answer to this question.
Final lessons: Retread coaches rarely work as planned
How many NHL coaches in the modern era have won the Stanley Cup with multiple teams?
Just one: Scotty Bowman won the Cup with three different teams and lost in the finals with a fourth. Sorry Mike Sullivan is never going to be as good a coach as Scotty Bowman.
Actually, Bowman himself wasn’t even as good when he wielded front office power AND coached at the same time. See Buffalo era Bowman. There are probably lessons there, too.
Meanwhile, Larry Brooks discussed some other painful lessons the Rangers should’ve learned by now. Have they?
