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List of New York Rangers head coaches

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The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. They are members of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having joined in 1926 as an expansion franchise, and are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six. The Rangers were the first NHL franchise in the United States to win the Stanley Cup,[1] which they have done four times (most recently in 1994).[2] The team is commonly referred to by its famous nickname, "The Broadway Blueshirts", or more commonly in New York media, as simply the "Blueshirts".

Glen Sather coached the Rangers for 90 games between 2003 and 2004.

There have been thirty-seven head coaches for the Rangers, the first one being Lester Patrick, and the most recent being Peter Laviolette. Muzz Patrick, Alfred Pike, and Ron Smith are the only coaches who spent their entire careers with the Rangers and were not elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.[3][4][5][6] Bernie Geoffrion, Lynn Patrick, Emile Francis, Glen Sather, Craig Patrick, Roger Neilson, Herb Brooks, and Fred Shero have all been inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Lester Patrick, Frank Boucher, Colin Campbell, Neil Colville, Bill Cook, Phil Esposito, Doug Harvey, and Bryan Trottier have all coached the Rangers for their entire coaching careers and have been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21] Emile Francis has coached the most regular season games, 654, and the most playoff games, 75, in franchise history. Emile Francis also holds the franchise records in regular season wins, 342, and playoff wins, 34. Mike Keenan, the twenty-fifth head coach of the Rangers, amassed the best points percentage, .667, and regular season winning percentage, .619, having done so in a single, 84-game season. Keenan is also the only head coach to have coached the Rangers to a Presidents' Trophy and Stanley Cup in the same season.[22] Lester Patrick is the only head coach to have coached the Rangers to multiple Stanley Cups. Under head coach Peter Laviolette the Rangers set franchise records in wins (55) and points (114) in a single season, having set both records in the 2023–24 season.[23] The Jack Adams Award has never been awarded to the head coach of the New York Rangers.

Key

More information Term, Definition ...
Key of terms and definitions
Term Definition
# Number of coaches[A]
GC Games coached
W Wins
L Losses
T Ties (applicable until the 2003–04 NHL season)
OTL Overtime/shootout losses (shootouts applicable since the 2005–06 NHL season)
P% Points percentage
W% Winning percentage
* Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame
† Spent entire professional head coaching career with the Rangers
*† Spent entire NHL head coaching career with the Rangers
and also elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame
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Coaches

Lester Patrick, the first coach of the Rangers, coached the team his entire career and was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Note: Statistics are correct through the 2025–26 season.

More information #, Name ...
Head coaches of the New York Rangers NHL franchise
# Name Term Regular season Playoffs Achievements Note
GC W L T OTL P% GC W L T
1 Lester Patrick*† 1926–1939604281216107—.5546531268Stanley Cup champions (1928, 1933)[15]
2 Frank Boucher*† 1939–194848716724377—.4222713140Stanley Cup champions (1940)[16]
3 Lynn Patrick* 1948–1950107405116—.44912750 [8]
4 Neil Colville*† 1950–195193264126—.419———— [17]
5 Bill Cook*† 1951–1953117345924—.393———— [18]
— Frank Boucher*† 1953–19544014206—.425———— [16]
6 Muzz Patrick† 1954–1955100324622—.430———— [3]
7 Phil Watson 1955–195929511912452—.49216412— [24]
— Muzz Patrick† 19592011—.250———— [3]
8 Alfred Pike† 1959–1961123366621—.378———— [4]
9 Doug Harvey*† 1961–196270263212—.457624— [20]
— Muzz Patrick† 19623411194—.382———— [3]
10 Red Sullivan 1962–19651965810335—.385———— [25]
11 Emile Francis* 1965–1968194828230—.5001028— [9]
12 Bernie Geoffrion* 1968–19694322183—.547———— [7]
— Emile Francis* 1969–19733432018854—.665492425— [9]
13 Larry Popein† 1973–19744118149—.549———— [26]
— Emile Francis* 1974–1975117593919—.5851688— [9]
14 Ron Stewart 1975–19763915204—.436———— [27]
15 John Ferguson Sr. 1976–1977121435919—.434———— [28]
16 Jean-Guy Talbot 1977–197880303713—.456312— [29]
17 Fred Shero* 1978–1980180827424—.522271512— [14]
18 Craig Patrick* 1980–198160262311—.5251477— [11]
19 Herb Brooks* 1981–198528513111341—.532241212— [13]
— Craig Patrick* 19853511222—.343303— [11]
20 Ted Sator 1985–198699414810—.4651688— [30]
21 Tom Webster 1986–198716574—.438———— [31]
22 Phil Esposito*† 19874324190—.558624— [19]
23 Michel Bergeron 1987–1989158736718—.519———— [32]
— Phil Esposito*† 19892020—.000404— [19]
24 Roger Neilson* 1989–199328014110435—.566291316—Presidents' Trophy (1992)[12]
25 Ron Smith† 19934415227—.420———— [5]
26 Mike Keenan 1993–19948452248—.66723167—Presidents' Trophy (1994)
Stanley Cup champions (1994)		[22]
27 Colin Campbell*† 1994–199826911810843—.519361818— [6]
28 John Muckler 1998–20001857088243.451———— [33]
29 John Tortorella 20004031—.125———— [34]
30 Ron Low 2000–2002164698195.463———— [35]
31 Bryan Trottier*† 2002–200354212661.454———— [21]
32 Glen Sather* 2003–2004903339117.572———— [10]
33 Tom Renney 2004–2009327164117—46.572241113— [36]
— John Tortorella 2009–2013315171115—29.589441925— [34]
34 Alain Vigneault 2013–2018410226147—37.596613130—Presidents' Trophy (2015)[37]
35 David Quinn 2018–20212089687—25.522303— [38]
36 Gerard Gallant 2021–20231649946—19.662271314— [39]
37 Peter Laviolette 2023–20251649459—11.60716106—Presidents' Trophy (2024)[23]
38 Mike Sullivan 2025–present823439—9.470————[40]
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See also

Notes

  • A A running total of the number of coaches of the New York Rangers. Thus any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once.

References

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