Clean slate: A history of Rangers coaches hired in off-season

To expansion and beyond (1967-2000)

The first coach hired by the Rangers after the expansion in 1967 was Bernie Geoffrion, a Hall of Fame player who won six Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens.  He retired and coached the Quebec Aces for two years, but was lured back to the NHL and played two years with the Rangers.  Geoffrion didn’t have much time to prepare for his new role as coach in 1968-69 as the veteran winger just retired at the end of the previous season.

Geoffrion took over for general manager Emile Francis, who had spent two and half years behind the bench, producing a 39-23-12 record in 1967-68. Francis recruited Geoffrion , who took over and kept winning (22-18-3) but departed from his role with the club after some personal health concerns. Francis returned to double duty and coached his team for the next four and half seasons.

After holding down two critical positions within the organization, Francis hired Larry Popein to start the 1973-74 season. In his final season, Francis was 47-23-8, but Popein wasn’t as successful out of the gate with an 18-14-9 record. Francis let him go and came back to be head coach, a role he was all too familiar with by this time.

Francis finished out his coaching career as a Ranger in 1974-75. His final season produced a 37-29-14 record. Ron Stewart took over as his replacement, and the team struggled mightily, going 15-20-4, only this time the Rangers didn’t just fire the coach, they fired both Stewart and Emile Francis, with  John Ferguson Sr. stepped into the role of coach and general manager on January 7, 1976.

Coming off a mediocre 29-37-14 record in 1976-77, Ferguson decided to hired a new coach and that man was another former Canadien, Jean-Guy Talbot.  Despite a new voice in the room, the Rangers stumbled under Talbot (30-37-13), costing him his job after only one season along with Ferguson, his boss, who was also fired.

Fred Shero, fresh off guiding the Philadelphia Flyers to back-to-back titles in 1974 and 1975, took over as coach and general manager of the Rangers in 1978-79. He turned the franchise around (40-29-11) before losing in the Final to the Canadiens in his first season.

Team USA’s Miracle on Ice head coach, Herb Brooks, was signed for the 1981-82 season. Brooks took over for general manager Craig Patrick, who had a 26-23-11 record as interim coach the previous year. The Rangers rebounded for a second-place finish and a 39-27-14 record under the new boss.

After Brooks and Patrick produced a losing record (26-44-10) in 1984-85, Ted Sator became the 20th coach in franchise history in the off-season. Sator improved the numbers (36-38-6) the following season, including a 4-1 series loss to the Canadiens in the Conference Finals. Despite all the accomplishments of the previous season, Sator lost his job just 19 games into the 1986-87 season after a 5-10-4 record. The atmosphere in the organization was toxic at the time, which lead to two more coaching changes that season.

Michel Bergeron, who previously coached the Quebec Nordiques for seven seasons, was lured away from the north for a first-round draft pick. Bergeron was named head coach for the 1987-88 season, replacing three men who all took a turn calling the shots the previous season. Bergeron gave the Rangers their first winning season in three years, going 36-34-10.

Despite having success in the regular seasons, the playoffs continued to be the Achilles heel for the franchise. That led to Roger Neilson being named head coach in 1989-90. The team finished 37-35-8 the year before Neilson’s hiring, and he kept the ball rolling in the right direction with a 36-31-13 record in the first season on the job.

Neilson was behind the bench for four seasons. Stacked with talent and no Stanley Cups to show for it, management had to make a change after missing the playoffs with a 34-39-11 record in 1992-93. That’s when Mike Keenan stepped up to the plate and guided New York to their best regular season at the time, 52-24-8 for 112 points. Of course, we all know that season ended with the Stanley Cup parade down the Canyon of Heroes.

In one of the game’s most shocking coaching moments, Keenan departed after the victory for St. Louis, leaving a massive void behind the bench. Colin Campbell came in for the shortened 1994-95 season, failing to live up to expectations with a 22-23-3 record in 48 games.

After a rough start, Campbell had two winning seasons before an unsuccessful 1997-98 campaign cost him his job. John Muckler became New York’s new head coach for the 1998-99 season after Campbell went 25-39-18. Muckler didn’t change the ship’s direction as the team continued to struggle after his initial season (33-38-11).