HOLY GRAIL
Vigneault and his revamped Rangers on quest for Cup
Right now, in the throes of preseason, it is hard for Alain Vigneault to reflect.
But the Rangers coach is aware this is his fifth year behind the bench with the organization, the longest run since Phil Watson was at the helm from 1955-59. Expectations under Vigneault have ranged from middling to Stanley Cup contenders, and at this early juncture of 2017-18, they are somewhere in between.
Vigneault repeatedly has used the outside perception of his team as internal motivation, and even though most predictions haven’t come out yet, he is preparing for that once again with another roster that was revamped on the fly by general manager Jeff Gorton.
“Every year, if you look at the predictions, people always have us, ‘ Are they going to get in? Are they not going to get in?’ ” Vigneault said before his Rangers lost their preseason game against the Devils, 2-1, at Prudential Center on Saturday night. “We believe we’re a good team and once we’re in, with the personnel that we have, we have as good a chance as any. Obviously, things have to fall into place and you have to play well and you have to be healthy.”
Vigneault still is trying to get over last season, when it looked as if things were breaking right for his team by finishing in the first wild card and getting a favorable matchup against the weaker Atlantic Division. But it ended in Game 6 of the second round at the hands of the Senators, his veteran team blowing late leads to undercut so much of their good play.
“Last year is behind us,” Vigneault said. “Didn’t play as well as we probably should have. This is a new year. We’re going to work towards our first goal, which is to get in [the playoffs]. Then we’re going to challenge for that Cup.”
The closest Vigneault came to that was in his first year, when he led the Rangers to the 2014 Stanley Cup final, where they lost to the Kings in five tightly contested games.
But with the nature of the hard salary cap, Gorton has had to change the team significantly over the years. If that 2014 team was slower and predicated on stout defense and the excellence of goalie Henrik Lundqvist, the shift in philosophy has been to get younger and faster. This year, that has meant their blue line has received a major upgrade in talent, most notably the addition of Kevin Shattenkirk after the buyout of stalwart Dan Girardi.
“Every year has been different, the teams have been different, the makeup has been different,” Vigneault said. “Our style of play has changed with the personnel that we have. This year we feel that our backend is going to be able to be more mobile, be more active with the puck. So every year has been a little bit different.”
The practical application of the way Vigneault coaches has also changed, now using high-end technology like a personalized app for each player to download on an iPad or iPhone so they can watch all their shifts from previous games.
“This management crew, with my coaching staff, is very proactive,” Vigneault said. “Proactive in what we’re looking to as far as improving ideas, bringing ideas. And ownership is a big part of that. Anything that’s out there, video-wise, stats-wise, coachingwise, that I bring up and I feel that will help our team, ownership and management have been 100-percent behind us.”