Mike Keenan's leaving the NYR in 1994

[Normand Lacombe]

Imagine if he accepted that offer from Philadelphia. Keenan and Lindros together would've been incredibly toxic.

Keenan would have butted heads not only with Eric, but Carl and Bonnie Lindros as well. Can you imagine Carl calling Clarke and complaining that Keenan was pushing an injured Eric too hard? Combine something like that with Keenan's other shenanigans, it would have been quite the soap opera.

 

[lawrence]

Imagine if he accepted that offer from Philadelphia. Keenan and Lindros together would've been incredibly toxic.

Keenan apparently made an offer for Eric Lindros, he offered up Pavel Bure for Eric Lindros but got rejected back in 98.

He likes tough rough players.

 

[The Panther]

He likes tough rough players.

Indeed. Keenan's fatal flaw, I think, was his inability to adapt to the late-90s-and-beyond game which was all about special-teams and disciplined play. "Disciplined play" and "Keenan" were not good bedfellows.

 

[GarbageGoal]

All I remember was Keenan calling the Mike and the Mad Dog show from a train station claiming he had all sorts of dirt on Neil Smith and that when it all came out his leaving would make sense.

 

[McGarnagle]

Keenan would have butted heads not only with Eric, but Carl and Bonnie Lindros as well. Can you imagine Carl calling Clarke and complaining that Keenan was pushing an injured Eric too hard? Combine something like that with Keenan's other shenanigans, it would have been quite the soap opera.

This is the key part of the equation that I omitted in my post.

Yes, Keenan probably would've loved Lindros as a hockey player. But Lindros was a package with his representation (specifically his overbearing parents), doctors, management, etc. The conflict there between the dictatorial (and vindictive) head coach and the strong-willed (and stubborn) Lindros camp was inevitable, no?

I hate resting on pure hypotheticals, but what if Lindros wanted to take longer shifts and thought he should be getting more ice time? If Keenan pulls the Kovalev 7-minute shift trick on Lindros, Carl and Bonnie would've gone apoplectic.

 

[sr edler]

If Keenan would have been to Detroit, he probably would have got rid of Yzerman

And most of the soft (" ") Euros on the team, like Feds, Lids, Larionov and Kozlov.

 

[jghockey]

Keenan probably would have wanted Lindros traded after a few months.

 

[Randy Marsh]

I keep wondering what would have happened if Keenan had returned to Philly to coach the Legion of Doom and the rest of the Flyers.

The LOD wasn't together yet. Clarke made that trade a handful of games into that season. Who knows if hiring Keenan would have made a difference in whether or not that happened.

Keenan's MO was to undermine the established leadership in a locker room. Lindros had just been named Captain a year earlier so I dont think that would have applied here.

 

[jghockey]

The LOD wasn't together yet. Clarke made that trade a handful of games into that season. Who knows if hiring Keenan would have made a difference in whether or not that happened.

Keenan's MO was to undermine the established leadership in a locker room. Lindros had just been named Captain a year earlier so I dont think that would have applied here.

I meant in '97 when the Flyers went to the Cup Finals and fired Terry Murray. Back then, Mike Keenan was available. Mr. Snider wanted Keenan back.

 

[brachyrynchos]

I think those 'soft Russians' would've done just fine with Keenan in Detroit. Nemchinov, Zubov, and Kovalev all played key parts in the Rangers winning the cup. And the guys in Detroit were kind of used to a similar methodology with most of them having played under Viktor Tikhonov. Keenan most likely still would have traded for 'his kind of players, at who's expense...I'm not sure.

 

[Normand Lacombe]

I meant in '97 when the Flyers went to the Cup Finals and fired Terry Murray. Back then, Mike Keenan was available. Mr. Snider wanted Keenan back.

Ed Snider did not want Keenan back in 1997. Keenan was never forgiven by Snider for leveraging the Flyer's offer to get a better deal out of the Rangers.

 

[Reality Check]

Indeed! I suspect any "Keenan-to-Detroit" talk wouldn't have gotten very far once Yzerman was taken into account. I think Yzerman basically wanted Keenan's head after August 1991, and he would not have been a happy camper if ice-cube-chewing Mike had been his coach.

If Mike Illitch said no to Scotty Bowman around any thought of moving Yzerman, I can only imagine what would have went down if it was Keenan.

Jim Devellano's vision created a dynasty

According to this, there was interest in '93 from Detroit prior to Bowman. However Devallano tried to steer Illitch in another direction and that wound up being a wise move.

There were rumors again in '94 but I feel much of that was based on the rumors of a year prior. Keenan going through a divorce and his child located in Chicago. Detroit was indeed fined for tampering(obviously an Illitch move here) so they indeed kicked the tires. But that paled in comparison to what happened to St. Louis

Certainly worked out for Detroit as Keenan's retread and hard-ass approach failed miserably in St. Louis

Same for New York as that team in all likelihood wasn't repeating and it was best to part ways. No matter how messy it ended up being.

 

[Jim MacDonald]

I sometimes think the Rangers won the Cup in '94 despite Keenan, not because of him.

This is the guy who benched Brian Leetch early in the season. Messier, Leetch, and Lowe (I think it was those three) also had to have a "coach intervention" in the playoffs where they stormed into his office and basically told him to cool off.

It's crazy Panther. I read Messier stormed into Keenan's office after a practice between game 6 and 7 of the 94 finals, to have a closed-door meeting.

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

Indeed! I suspect any "Keenan-to-Detroit" talk wouldn't have gotten very far once Yzerman was taken into account. I think Yzerman basically wanted Keenan's head after August 1991, and he would not have been a happy camper if ice-cube-chewing Mike had been his coach.

What happened in August 1991 that connects to an Yzerman-Keenan feud?

 

[The Panther]

What happened in August 1991 that connects to an Yzerman-Keenan feud?

I was referring to the Canada Cup 1991. Keenan (for the second tournament in a row) cut Yzerman, in preference to an 18-year-old.

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

I was referring to the Canada Cup 1991. Keenan (for the second tournament in a row) cut Yzerman, in preference to an 18-year-old.

Ah thanks

I went to the wiki article for the 1991 playoffs trying to figure out how the Wings losing to the Blues who lost to the North Stars who beat Keenans Hawks somehow translated to a feud

 

[NJDevs26]

It's crazy Panther. I read Messier stormed into Keenan's office after a practice between game 6 and 7 of the 94 finals, to have a closed-door meeting.

Maybe you’re thinking of the grand summit meeting Messier had with Keenan during the Devils series, after Keenan went psycho in Game 4 pulling Richter insanely early and benching Leetch for long stretches. Apparently they met for like 45 minutes and it got emotional.

 

[Oddbob]

According to Smith, he wanted Bowman and Al Arbor in April of 1993. Keenan was third on his wish list. If Keenan had accepted the offer from Philadelphia, Smith could have had Bowman the next month. Here are Smith comments below.

“With about a week to go in the season, I told [ownership] that there were only three people who could win the Cup with our team,” Smith said. “One was Scotty Bowman, but he was coaching the Penguins. The second was Al Arbour, but he was tied up with the Islanders.

“The third was Mike, and he was the only one who was available because he’d been fired as general manager in Chicago early that year after giving up coaching the previous summer. So to me, he was the only guy for the job.”

Smith wanted to work quickly to rinse out the bad taste from 1992-93, but there was another reason for his haste. Keenan, you see, had an offer in hand from the Flyers, whom he had coached to a pair of Cup final appearances in 1985 and 1987 during his four-year stint on Broad Street.

“I met with Mike in Toronto at his agent’s office on the last day of the season,” Smith said. “And [agent] Rob Campbell showed us the paperwork on the offer from Philly, which was for five years. That was his leverage. And so we hired him, and the next day we introduced him as our head coach.”

Keenan and Smith hated each other. After the SC victory, Smith 'missed' a bonus payment that was due to Keenan by one day and Keenan used that as an excuse to claim a breach of contract. Eventually this led to a whole mess where Bettman fined Detroit and St.Louis for tampering. New York ended up having to pay Keenan that bonus, but Keenan had to repay the Rangers part of that bonus. The Rangers were fined for filing a lawsuit against Keenan's agent, Rob Campbell. Keenan received a 60 day suspension. Before that hearing in Principal Bettman's office, Smith and Keenan reached a deal to trade Nedved to New York for Tikkanen and Doug Lidster as compensation.

HOCKEY; Rangers Acquire Nedved In the Keenan Dispute

https://nypost.com/2018/04/16/behind-the-coaching-hire-that-took-the-rangers-back-to-glory/

How is Detroit involved exactly?

 

[Hobnobs]

I keep wondering what would have happened if Keenan had returned to Philly to coach the Legion of Doom and the rest of the Flyers.

Keenan would have become a toxic nuisance within on e season Im sure of it. Then he wouldve left for the same reason he left the rangers. He wants total control so he can ruin a team.

 

[Hobnobs]

How is Detroit involved exactly?

Wings were mildly involved. Dont know the details for sure but fines suggest Illitch might have asked Keenan if he was interested or something. However Devellano talked Illitch out of wanting Keenan in 93 and said he would get him Arbour or Bowman. Arbour was the first choice since Devellano knew him.

 

[Tawnos]

Because Bowman was still coaching the Penguins in the playoffs when Keenan was hired. Read Smith's quote in italics in my post. Smith didn't want to wait to hire a coach.

Plus, here wasn't any guarantee Bowman even would've been available, and Keenan had another offer in hand.

 

[JianYang]

I think keenan would have clashed with any GM if the GM wasn't his puppet. To me, it seemed like keenan craved the ability to coach, and be the GM.

His tactics to continually rock the boat with frequent roster moves, including those of the blockbuster variety sort of jived with his coaching head games, so I could see why he would potentially want, and need both jobs.

He also seemed to have almost a compulsive desire to bring certain players with him wherever he went.... Unheralded guys like Brian Noonan for example.

 

[Voight]

He wasn't Chris Chelios. 99.99% of all defensemen to ever play weren't Chris Chelios either. That was Keenan's problem with him. I think the rumor out there was Leetch and Richter for Chelios and Belfour. I think if it were up to Keenan every player on the roster would have a significant grit/toughness/nastiness component to their game.

Keenan even benched Leetch in the playoffs against NJ in 1994, I think for the third period. Think about that. How many Conn Smythe winners in NHL history have gotten benched during their amazing playoff runs?

I think Keenan left NY after the Cup because he wanted to have control of the roster--he wanted that GM role. He tried to heavily influence Neil Smith's roster decisions and Smith acted on some of his input but Keenan wanted 100% control. Plus I think for him winning the Cup in NY and breaking the curse was the ultimate goal for him and once he achieved it after year one, he felt his work in NY was done.

That would have been a great trade for them, but it (obviously) still worked out for NY.

As for the end of your post, I agree. Plus after waiting 54 years for a cup, I'm sure some fans were hungry for another one and anything less than that would be seen as an absolute failure, especially after the historic significance of 1994.