In seven seasons as the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, Alain Vigneault led the team to the playoffs on six occasions. In 2011 Vigneault guided the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Finals for just the third time in franchise history, but they were stymied there by the Boston Bruins. In the next two seasons the Canucks qualified for the National Hockey League Playoffs, but they were never able to advance past the first round. Subsequently Vigneault was fired last spring by the Canucks. After being fired by the Canucks, Vigneault was looking for a job and he looked no further than New York City.
Under the guidance of John Tortorella for four-plus seasons, the New York Rangers were a perennial playoff team, but the furthest that they were able to advance in the postseason under him was to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2012 where they lost to the New Jersey Devils. Like Vigneault, Tortorella was relieved of his duties in 2013.
In a weird turn of events Tortorella was hired to be the Canucks head coach this season while Vigneault was hired to replace him with the Rangers and the results have been totally different for both clubs.
Under Tortorella the Canucks missed the playoffs this season for the first time since 2008. Tortorella was also suspended by the NHL this season for 15 days without pay after he had to be physically restrained from going into the dressing room of the Calgary Flames to confront their head coach Bob Hartley between periods. Tortorella also received criticism this season when he traded longtime Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo to the Florida Panthers.
Once the season was over, Canucks general manager Jim Benning had seen enough and he fired Tortorella.
This season under Vigneault the Rangers were a .500 team until January when they went 9-4 for the month and they have never looked back. The Rangers finished second in the newly formed Metropolitan Division as they qualified for the playoffs.
It took seven games in the first round of the postseason, but the Rangers were able to get past the Philadelphia Flyers. In the second round the Rangers would face an old nemesis in the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins took a commanding 3-1 series lead and they looked to close it out at home. The Blueshirts found something to rally around when the mother of Rangers right winger Martin St. Louis passed away a few days prior to Mother’s Day. In the early stages of Game 6 against the Penguins, St. Louis scored and the Rangers home crowd at Madison Square Garden erupted. The Rangers would go on to rally to defeat the Penguins in seven games. In the Eastern Conference Finals against the Montreal Canadiens, the Rangers offense that had been dormant for so long finally erupted as they dictated the pace of the series before eliminating the Habs in six games.
Now for the first time since 1994, the Rangers are in the Stanley Cup Finals and they appear to be a much looser club this season. Tortorella was a tough, no-nonsense coach that the Rangers were able to respond to at times, but not enough for him to retain his job in New York. Vigneault has brought a different approach to the table and he has the Rangers four victories away from their first Stanley Cup Title since 1994.
Vingeault’s act had gone sour in Vancouver, but right now things are very sweet for him in the Big Apple. The Rangers appear to be a much different team as they are a bunch of loose guys. Under Tortorella the Rangers would typically enter the playoffs very uptight and tense. Now with Vigneault the Rangers are extremely relaxed as if they are playing with house money. Tortorella was a popular guy with Rangers fans, but his act wore a bit thin. If Vigneault is able to do what no Rangers head coach since has done since 1994 when Mike Keenan led them to the Stanley Cup Championship, then you might see a section of Madison Square Garden named after him.
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