Off ice turmoil nothing new to the Rangers

Some more details are coming out about the altercation between Tony DeAngelo and Alexandar Georgiev.  Rick Carpiniello in The Athletic  (subscription required) is reporting that it was Georgiev who tried to clock DeAngelo with his blocker after the defenseman made a remark about Sidney Crosby’s game winning overtime goal.  The report is that Georgiev had DeAngelo in a headlock when the scuffle was broken up by a New York Rangers teammate.

With the Tony DeAngelo saga nearing an end, it’s worth noting that locker room turmoil is not unique to the New York Rangers or sports in general.  The Pierre-Luc Dubois trade demand dominated NHL headlines for a week and Patrik Laine’s dissatisfaction with his  deployments has been a running story in Winnipeg for over a year.  Let’s not even get into the drama that saw three NHL coaches let go in a matter of weeks last season.

Past Rangers turmoil

As for the New York Rangers, longtime fans will remember previous episodes that actually make the DeAngelo situation seem tame.  Who can forget when Mike Keenan abruptly quit on the team just weeks after winning the Stanley Cup, claiming breach of contract?

Mark Messier was the center of numerous backroom machinations.  He was instrumental in getting Roger Neilson fired and Keenan hired.  He had a preference for certain players and he orchestrated the trading of center Petr Nedved who he felt didn’t play hard enough.  Finally, his feud with General Manager Neil Smith led to him signing with the Vancouver Canucks in 1997, a move that ended up badly for both Messier and the Blueshirts.

In 1985 there was practically a revolt against coach Herb Brooks.  It culminated in a loud argument at practice between Brooks and the team captain, Barry Beck with Beck breaking sticks in a shouting match.  Mild mannered players like James Patrick were upset with their coach who they considered a taskmaster, while Brooks saw it as manipulation.   The story ended as you would expect, with Brooks out of work.

Ted Sator’s tenure as coach was filled with nothing but turmoil.  On the last day of training camp in 1985, the new coach shocked the team when he  demoted top center Pierre Larouche, second leading scorer Mike Rogers, first-string goalie Glen Hanlon and fan favorite Nick Fotiu. He then installed 22-year-old John Vanbiesbrouck as the top goaltender and kept rookie Terry Kleisinger as the back-up.

That experiment didn’t last as he was forced to bring back Larouche, Rogers and Hanlon in a matter of weeks. Later that season, one of the best players, Mark Pavelich, quit the team citing Sator as the reason.