No one expected New York Rangers coach David Quinn to work miracles in his rookie season. The team was flawed and lacked talent so missing the playoffs was a given.
We conclude our series of report cards for the 2018-19 New York Rangers with a roundtable look at rookie coach David Quinn. As a non-playoff team with one of the youngest rosters in the NHL, Quinn should not be judged on how the team did, but how he did.
David Quinn was brought on board because of his reputation for player development and his ability to relate to young athletes. He was supposed to be as much a teacher as a coach.
That said, he also was intent on establishing a culture for the team, much different from the identity instilled by Alain Vigneault.
Perhaps the best way to establish the criteria for success is through his own words before the start of the season:
"“We want to be a fast, physical, relentless hockey team…you can’t play that way unless you practice that way. ..Our job is to get the guys to embrace our system and what we’re going to do not only defensively but in all three zones. To me, it’s creating a mentality in all three zones, five-man gaps, staying on top of people and trusting each other. “We want to win every hockey game, we want to come to the rink every day and be the best team we can possibly be. Our job is to make every player better on a daily basis, and if we do that, we’ll be better collectively and the winning and losing takes care of itself.”"
How did he do? We asked out Blue Line Station team to grade Quinn’s performance and weigh in with their opinions.