|
SLAM! Sports SLAM! Hockey [an error occurred while processing this directive] COLUMNS NHL The Teams Full Schedule Monthly Schedule Standings Statistics Rosters Injury list Movement Trades Hits Gallery INTERACTIVE JUNIOR MORE HOCKEY ALSO ON SLAM!  |
Wednesday, July 12, 2000 Low named head coach of the RangersNEW YORK (CP) -- Ron Low was named head coach and Ted Green and Walt Kyle assistant coaches by the New York Rangers on Wednesday.All three have Edmonton ties to new Rangers general manager Glen Sather. "In the end, I kept coming back to Ron, Ted and Walt, figuring we wouldn't have to go through a honeymoon together," said Sather. "We know each other."
Sather is continuing negotiations to sign free-agent centre Mark Messier and said, "Something could happen as early as tomorrow or the day after." Low, who coached an IHL team in Houston last season after more than four years as head coach of the Oilers when Sather was their president-GM, takes over a Rangers team that has missed the NHL playoffs for three years in a row. Ownership cleaned house, firing GM Neil Smith and coach John Muckler in March. Low, 50, a former NHL goaltender born in Birtie, Man., has a reputation for developing young prospects into solid NHL players. "I'm definitely looking forward to taking this team into the future," said Low. "It's going to be a very, very tough task but one all three of us are all looking forward to. "We're ready to jump into the fray." The Rangers' work ethic has to improve, Low said. "There is enough talented people on the club to work us into a successful franchise again," he said. Green, 60, emerged from St. Boniface, Man., to play 18 seasons as a defenceman in the NHL and WHA. He joined the Oilers' coach staff in 1981 so also has a long relationship with Sather. Kyle, 44, was hired by Sather to coach Edmonton's AHL farm team in Hamilton two years ago. Kyle, raised in Iowa, was an assistant coach with the NHL's Anaheim Mighty Ducks for two years before moving to Hamilton. The Rangers also announced an expanded executive role for Don Maloney, who will be Sather's top aide. Sather said he met with Low during the expansion and entry drafts in Calgary in late June. Details were finalized during Low's visit with the Sathers at their son Justin's wedding last Saturday. "I don't know what went wrong" with the Rangers last season, Low said. "There were a lot of integral parts that didn't mesh, for some reason. "We're going to talk to the players and get a feeling about what they felt. The biggest thing right now is not what happened last year but what is about to happen." Sather and Low abhor trap defences and won't ask their players to use them. "I would definitely like to have a team that can skate and pressure the puck," Low said. "I'm sure there are going to have to be some changes made" in personnel. Low referred to Green as one of the best analytical coaches in the sport, and one of the most popular with the players. "If you have players who don't get along with Ted Green, you likely have players who don't get along with anybody," he said. Kyle has survived two bouts with cancer. "It's hard to have a bad day when you've been what he's been through," Low said. "His ability to put Xs and Os on the board, too, is a strong point. "We'll have three people on the same page. Having these two guys with me right now makes me feel very comfortable." Sather called Low a leader to whom players listen. "You don't have to always like us, but there will be honesty there, for sure," Low said. He said he was lax in some ways in Edmonton on not being hard enough on players who were not performing up to expectations. He'll be more stern with the Rangers. He again mentioned work ethic as a necessary ingredient in his winning recipe. 
|
