Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Messier Not The Right Choice To Coach The Rangers, But How About Gretzky?

05/30/2013 at 6:09pm EDT

from Jeff Z. Klein of the New York Times,

Fast forward to 2013, and the likelihood of Sather asking Messier again seems to have diminished. Messier, 52, has been the special assistant to Sather since 2009. But he was never named an assistant general manager, suggesting that he is not on a front-office track. The successor to Sather as general manager will probably be one of his two current assistants, Jeff Gorton or Jim Schoenfeld.

Nor has Messier gained any significant coaching experience. He coached what amounted to Canada’s C team to a third-place finish at the Deutschland Cup and a second-place finish at the Spengler Cup in 2010.

Instead, Messier’s post-retirement career has been oriented toward special projects in areas he seems personally invested in: a line of hockey helmets aimed at reducing head injuries, and converting the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx to a national-level hockey, figure skating and curling facility....

Still, it might make more sense for Sather to ask another old Oiler and Ranger to step behind the bench: Wayne Gretzky. He coached the Coyotes for four seasons from 2005 to 2009, though they missed the playoffs each season. Gretzky also was the executive director of the Canadian men’s Olympic team in 2002, when it won a gold medal at Salt Lake City, and in 2006 at Turin.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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