One season after the New York Rangers finished with the best record in the NHL, the team fired head coach Peter Laviolette and associated head coach Phil Housley on Saturday.
Rangers went 55-23-4 (114 points) last season and advanced to the Eastern Conference final where they were eliminated by the Florida Panthers in a six-game series. New York went 39-36-7 this season (85 points) to finish six points from a playoffs.
“We entered this season with high expectations for ourselves,” Rangers Director General Chris Drury said in an edition. “We simply did not manage to meet these expectations. We all have to do better – I myself included. When we go into the next season and then I felt that a change was necessary to give us the best chance to achieve our goals as an organization.”
Dury said the search for a new head coach began immediately.
During two seasons as Rangers head coach, Laviolette, 60, a record of 94-59-11 published. Before this season, New York had made three consecutive playoffs, while they made the Eastern Conference final twice in that run.
Rangers has not participated in the Stanley Cup final since 2014 and last won a title in 1994.
Laviolette, who played in only 12 NHL games in his career, all during the 1988-89 season with Rangers, has been an NHL cape for 23 seasons.
He owns a record 846-562-161 (25 bands) with New York Islanders (2001-03), Carolina Hurricanes (2003-09), Philadelphia Flyers (2009-14), Nashville Predators (2014-20), Washington Capitals (2020-23) and Rangers.
His 846 wins with regular season are most among the US-born coaches in NHL history and seventh all the time.
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