PHILADELPHIA – He has been a gentleman, he has been honest, he has been a credit to New York and to the Ranger organization. But Ron Low hasn’t been able to get his team into the playoffs for two straight years. Coaches don’t get more time than that. Not in Manhattan; not with the overall streak having reached five.
And so, once the season and Low’s contract expire currently with this afternoon’s match here against the Flyers, the Rangers will be looking for a new coach. Glen Sather hasn’t said so; he hasn’t even hinted as much. But it is so. The Rangers will begin 2002-2003 with their fourth coach in six years.
I have previously endorsed Herb Brooks to succeed Low, but at this point it doesn’t seem at all likely that the Olympian will get an Act II on Broadway. And so we are prepared to nominate an alternative candidate: We are pleased to throw Mark Messier’s hat into the ring – whether No. 11 wants it there or not.
Messier has been a little bizarre the last few weeks, unwilling or unable to cogently address his future. His shoulder will be fine within a couple of weeks; it can’t be that. It has to be something more. He has to be considering whether or not he can compete at an acceptable level at the age of 42, which is what number birthday he’ll be celebrating next Jan. 18. He has to be considering whether he can be an asset in a 24th NHL season.
He can be a huge asset – from behind the bench, leading from outside the locker room, getting more from Brian Leetch than anyone since Mike Keenan.
Messier knows the game as well as anyone, knows how to prepare and motivate as well as any career coach. Surely he would need an experienced hand assisting – say, John Paddock, who receives nothing but rave reviews from every player the Rangers promote from Hartford – but there’s no dictum that says a player can’t make a successful transition from player to head coach in one year.
Sather, in fact, has already tried to get a player to go that route. In 1994, he offered the Edmonton job to Craig MacTavish just weeks after the centerman had taken the final draw at the Garden. But MacTavish elected to continue playing, and signed as a free agent with Philadelphia.
Low is an exemplary individual. If Eric Lindros hadn’t been hurt, if Leetch hadn’t had an abysmal second half, if Theo Fleury hadn’t suffered his meltdown, Low would almost certainly be in the playoffs. But he isn’t, and neither are the Rangers.
And so, Sather will be seeking a new coach for next season.
At this point, we urge the GM to first consider Messier, revered leader of men, to lead the Rangers – from behind the bench.