Rangers: Poor play, outside noise doomed coach
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Greg Wyshynski
TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — The New York Rangers blamed their own lackluster play for getting coach Peter Laviolette fired but said that “outside noise” this season contributed to their disastrous drop in the standings.
Laviolette was fired Saturday after the Rangers failed to make the playoffs after their Presidents’ Trophy-winning 2023-24 season, in which they advanced to the Eastern Conference finals. Laviolette was the second consecutive Rangers coach fired after two seasons behind the bench. In 2023, he replaced Gerard Gallant, who made the conference finals in his first season with the Rangers and was fired after losing to New Jersey in the first round.
“Do we think too highly of ourselves after one good year? I don’t know,” center Mika Zibanejad said of this pattern.
“Obviously in a place like New York, you know what our expectations are,” center Vincent Trocheck said. “After a season like last year, to come in here and not perform the way we needed to, coaches are often blamed. So it’s tough.”
Defenseman Adam Fox said the players didn’t have any issues with Laviolette or his message. “I think you look around the league and whenever a coach gets fired, I think players kind of wear that pretty hard, because if we did our jobs, those coaches would still be here,” he said.
The Rangers started strongly under Laviolette this season, going 12-4-1. But New York went 3-10-0 in December and could never find enough constancy after that to make the postseason cut.
“I think it started off good, even with some noise, and obviously once it kind of started to spiral, it was hard for us to grab that back. That’s when the wheels just really fell off,” Fox said.
That “noise” was a big topic of conversation in the Rangers’ dressing room in their final day of media availability this season. The “noise” started last offseason, when general manager Chris Drury used waivers to get around well-liked forward Barclay Goodrow‘s no-trade clause and send him to last-place San Jose. He also tried to trade captain Jacob Trouba last summer before successfully moving him in December, again using waivers as a threat to get around his trade protection.
Forward Chris Kreider, who was also shopped in his 13th season with the Rangers, said those moves shook the locker room. “It’s part of professional sports, but obviously at a certain point it does become somewhat of a distraction. Those two guys that were massive leaders for us and a big part of our room,” he said.
Zibanejad echoed that. “I think [there’s] frustration when you don’t know everything. We don’t know what’s going on. Obviously, we don’t have control over that kind of stuff, but it’s still something that we talk about or we have to go through,” he said. ” It’s two of our leaders. It’s our captain and assistant captain and big parts of our locker room. So of course it shakes things around a bit.”
Kreider became part of that noise when Drury circulated a memo to 31 other general managers on Nov. 24 to say that his team was open for business in the trade market — specifically mentioning the availability of Trouba and Kreider.
“I mean, it wasn’t the first time, [and] hopefully the last time that that kind of stuff comes out. That’s part of professional sports. I’m lucky I don’t have any social media, so I wasn’t really aware of it until people close to me brought it to my attention,” Kreider said. “This is home for me. This is the organization that gave me an opportunity to live out my dream. I’ve developed so many incredible relationships and grown up and spent so much time in this area. So obviously this is where I want to be and this is the group that I want to help in whatever fashion.”
Zibanejad and Kreider are core players, but both had disappointing seasons. Zibanejad had just 29 points in his first 50 games before finding his offense again when the Rangers acquired J.T. Miller from Vancouver on Jan. 31. Kreider saw his goal total drop by 17 from last season, mustering only 30 points in 68 games. He said Monday that he was dealing with a series of ailments, including a back problem, a bout with vertigo in December and a hand injury in the Rangers’ first game after the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.
“I think ‘challenging’ is the right word. We obviously went in with very high expectations for ourselves, and we didn’t meet those expectations,” Zibanejad said.
Veteran defenseman Calvin de Haan, who played only three games for the Rangers after being acquired from Colorado in March, was stunned this wasn’t a playoff team.
“It was frustrating to see some of the goals we were letting in. I’m not pointing fingers at anyone; this is a group of five on the ice that just wasn’t necessarily cohesive at times. But then there was flashes of brilliance where you’re like, holy f—, this team should be in the playoffs. Frankly, you look at this team on paper and it would be crazy not to think that,” he said.
The Rangers now face an offseason of uncertainty, from the fate of the rest of their core players to the next coach behind their bench. It’s expected Drury will cast a wide net that includes veteran coaches and ones with much less NHL experience.
Fox said that, at the end of the day, it’s all about the players shutting out the noise and getting back to the success they had in previous seasons.
“Whoever the next coach is, obviously it’s on us to make sure there’s sustained success not just a quick burst and then back to being mediocre,” he said.
“Everyone has to really look in the mirror. This year was unrecognizable [from] the team that’s made a conference final in two of the past three years. A lot of those characteristics and traits that led to that success weren’t there this year.”
In other Rangers news, forward Artemi Panarin declined to discuss a report in The Athletic last week that Panarin and Madison Square Garden Sports, which owns the Rangers, paid financial settlements to a former team employee last year after she alleged that Panarin had sexually assaulted her during a road trip in December 2023. Panarin said he would answer only questions about hockey in his final media availability of the season Monday.
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Max Olson
FRISCO, Texas — A dynamic new quarterback, a new offensive system and two projected first-round picks up front have Utah coach Kyle Whittingham feeling enthusiastic about the Utes’ chances of bouncing back from a disastrous debut season in the Big 12.
Utah was voted No. 1 in the Big 12 preseason poll last year after joining from the Pac-12, but a brutal run of injuries and inconsistency resulted in a seven-game conference losing streak and a 5-7 finish — the program’s first losing season since 2013.
After weeks of contemplation about his future and what was best for the program, Whittingham, the third-longest-tenured head coach in FBS, decided in December to return for his 21st season with the Utes.
“The bottom line and the final analysis was I couldn’t step away on that note,” Whittingham told ESPN at Big 12 media days Wednesday. “It was too frustrating, too disappointing. As much as college football has changed with all the other factors that might pull you away, that was the overriding reason: That’s not us, that’s not who we are. It just left a bad taste in my mouth. I did not want to miss the opportunity to try to get that taste out.”
“The bottom line and the final analysis was I couldn’t step away on that note. It was too frustrating, too disappointing. … That’s not us. That’s not who we are. It just left a bad taste in my mouth. I did not want to miss the opportunity to try to get that taste out.”
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham on going 5-7 in 2024
Whittingham and Utes defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley conducted a national search for a new offensive coordinator and quickly zeroed in on New Mexico‘s Jason Beck. Then they managed to land Devon Dampier, Beck’s first-team All-Mountain West quarterback, via the transfer portal.
After finishing 11th nationally in total offense with 3,934 yards and 31 total touchdowns and putting up the fourth-most rushing yards (1,166) among all FBS starters, Dampier followed his coach to Salt Lake City and immediately asserted himself as a difference-maker for a program that had to start four different QBs in 2024.
“He’s a terrific athlete,” Whittingham said. “He’s a guy that, if spring is any indication, he’s an exciting player, and we can’t wait to watch him this season. … He’s got that ‘it’ factor. He’s a leader. Needless to say, very excited to see what he does for us.”
They’ve surrounded Dampier with 21 more newcomers via the transfer portal and will protect him with two returning starters at tackle in Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu, who are projected first-round NFL draft picks by ESPN’s Matt Miller.
“We feel they’re the best tandem in the country,” Whittingham said. “The offensive line in general, I feel, it’s the best since I’ve been there. And that’s quite a statement. We’ve had some really good offensive lines. We’ve got two first-rounders and three seniors inside that have played a lot of good football for us. That better be a strength of ours, and that’s what we’re counting on.”
Whittingham has previously said he did not want to coach past the age of 65. Now that he’s 65, he acknowledges that he might’ve arrived at a different decision about his future had the Utes ended up winning the Big 12 in 2024. He is reenergized about getting them back into contention, but he’s not ready to say whether this season might be his last.
“The best answer I can give you is, right now, I’m excited and passionate about going to work every single day,” Whittingham said. “As soon as that changes, I’ll know it’s time. I’m just counting on knowing when the time is right. I can’t tell you exactly what the circumstances will be other than losing the fire in the belly.”
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Jesse Rogers
The automated ball-strike system is coming to the All-Star Game next week in Atlanta.
MLB officials added the feature to the annual exhibition game knowing it could be a precursor to becoming a permanent part of the major leagues as soon as next year.
The same process used this past spring training will be used for the Midsummer Classic: Each team will be given two challenges with the ability to retain them if successful. Only a pitcher, catcher or hitter can ask for a challenge and it has to happen almost immediately after the pitch. The player will tap his hat or helmet indicating to the umpire he wants to challenge while any help from the dugout or other players on the field is not allowed.
MLB officials say 72% of fans who were polled during spring training said the impact of ABS on their experience at the game was a “positive” one. Sixty-nine percent said they’d like it part of the game moving forward. Just 10% expressed negativity toward it.
MLB’s competition committee will meet later this summer to determine if ABS will be instituted next season after the league tested the robotic system throughout the minor leagues and spring training in recent years. Like almost any rule change, there were mixed reviews from players about using ABS but nearly all parties agree on one point: They prefer a challenge system as opposed to the technology calling every pitch.
As was the case in spring training, once a review is initiated, an animated replay of the pitch will be shown on the scoreboard and the home plate umpire will either uphold the call or overturn it. ABS uses Hawk-Eye system technology which tracks the pitch trajectory and location in relation to the strike zone, providing an instant assessment which can be relayed to the home plate umpire.
The All-Star Game will be played at Truist Park in Atlanta on Tuesday.
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