Former New York Rangers Coach Admits Fault During His Time With The Team

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Joshua Deeds
September 20, 2022 (5:11 PM)

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David Quinn was hired at the beginning of the 2018-2019 season during the start of the current New York Rangers rebuild.

It wasn't a position he'd last long in, as his last day with the team was May 12, 2021, despite his 96-87-25 record in his three seasons.

In his three seasons with the franchise, Quinn admitted to some mistakes:

«I've got moments that I'm proud of and moments that I regret,» Quinn reflected. «You wish you had some do-overs, that's for sure.»

His handling of Kaapo Kakko and the Alex Lafreniere situation earned him animosity from fans, who pointed out that in all his years dealing with young players, he believed being demanding but fair, wasn't a bad coaching choice in all 28 years of coaching.

«I think if you want people to be better you have to be demanding but fair,» he continued. «When you have 18, 19-year-old players set in their ways, things that they've done to get to this point aren't necessarily what they need to do to continue to have success.»

Quinn admitted to not having trust in his players, and his biggest regret was coaching "this one guy"(Is it Tony DeAngelo?), there's no doubt Quinn had to deal with the after-effects of the Alexandar Georgiev and Tony DeAngelo fight.

At this point, it'd be speculative to say who the one guy was, but unlike many coaches, Quinn is coming full circle with the past and his new GM Mike Gre shares his perspective:

«Some of the stuff that's out there about the Rangers, I don't think is fair,» Grier noted. «If he just started giving Kakko and Lafreniere first line shifts without them earning it, the Kreiders and Zibanejads of the world would not have been happy with him. I think he handled the situation with the young players as well as he could've.»

Before joining the New York Rangers a head coach, David Quinn coached hockey at Boston University, his college record with Boston University is 105 Wins, 68 Losses and 21 ties.

NHL players who played under Quinn in the NHL experiencing current success ranging from Evan Rodrigues, Clayton Keller, and Jake Oettinger.