1994 Was Good For More Than A Cup

When most New York Ranger fans think of the 1994 New York Ranger team; the image of Messier being handed the Stanley Cup is the one the most people remember with good reason.

But after reading the news on Stephane Matteau being hired as an assistant coach for QMJHL’s Blainville-Boisbriand Armada; it got us wondering about how many of the 1994 team got involved in coaching or broadcasting when their career ended.

Try out of 24 players on the season ending roster that 20 them wound up either coaching or in an front office position or working on TV.  All off the same team is rather interesting while people love to say that team had an impact on hockey; nobody thought it would also be like this.

Mike Richter- while attending Yale after his retirement became the volunteer goalie coach for the Yale hockey team. His work with the goalies was credited as a big reason why Yale's hockey program rebuilt itself a lot faster than anyone expected.

Glen Healy- has worked in television as well as with the NHLPA after retiring. If you ever saw his work on TSN then you wonder why Versus does not hire Healy and bring back the Loch Ness Monster segment

"Loch Ness" was a bit pointing out players who forgot to show up ready to play.

Kevin Lowe-is the current President of Hockey Operations for the Edmonton Oilers. Lowe has worked his way up from an assistant coach to coach then General Manager until finally his current position.

Doug Lidster-saw his coaching career turn controversial when he was forced to resign as coach of the Saginaw Spirit after an incident when he poked his goalie after what Lidster perceived as showing him up after yanking the goalie.

Lidster has been an assistant coach for the Canadian Women's National team including on the 2010 Gold Medal Olympic team.

Sergi Zubov- has not coached yet since he finally retired last April after a playing from 1988 until 2010 when injuries finally stopped him.

Jeff Beukeboom- is currently an assistant coach with the Sudbury Wolves in the OHL. Beukeboom started coaching for the Barrie Colts then moved to Sudbury.

Jay Wells- just took an assistant's position with the Barrie Colts but he has also coached for 3 teams in the AHL.

Alexander Karpovtsev- is an assistant coach with Ak Bars Kazan in the KHL

Adam Graves- besides his duties as the Special Assistant Prospect Development of the Rangers is also a part owner of the Oshawa Generals of the OHL.

Esa Tikkanen- his coaching career was highlighted by his stint as a player/coach for a South Korean hockey team but the popular former Ranger also has coached in Norway and his native Finland.

Mark Messier- may be the current "Special Assistant to the President and GM" for the Rangers but he has coached for Hockey Canada on a couple of occasions.

Ed Olczyk- went from announcing to head coach of the Penguins to back to announcing since retiring. Currently working for Versus/NBC

Sergei Nemchinov-has coached the Russian National Junior team but now is the coach/GM of CSKA Moscow in the KHL where he is coaching current Ranger prospect Mikhail Pashnin.

Craig MacTavish- was the former head coach of the Edmonton Oilers then worked for TSN as a broadcaster before returning to the coaching ranks this season as the new coach of the Chicago Wolves in the AHL.

Mike Hudson- is one of the few former players who has not coached or worked in the media since retiring.

Brian Noonan- is coaching High School hockey in the state of Illinois.

Greg Gilbert- was a journeyman hockey player who has turned into a journeymen coach having coached the Worcester IceCats, Tpronto Marlies and Adironfack Phantoms of the AHL, the Mississauga IceDogs of the OHL and the Calgary Flames of the NHL.

Mike Hartman- is a life training coach who also runs a pretty good website to help teach both hockey as well as how to coach it at Hockey Coach.com

Nick Kypreos- has worked for Rogers Sports and TSN as a broadcaster since retiring as a player.

Joey Kocur- has been an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings but now runs his own company Kocur Enterprises.

Brian Leetch- does some occasional TV work for the New York Rangers but of all the former players why nobody has asked him to coach boggles the mind.

Alexei Kovalev- has not officially retired from the NHL but most expect him to do that if he can not get any offers to attend anyone's training camp.

Steve Larmer- worked for the NHLPA as an advisor when he resigned during the Post- Paul Kelly mess that followed the NHL lockout. When Larmer resigned he blamed his former Blackhawks teammate Chris Chelios saying if Chelios was allowed to continue as part of a 4 many investigative committee that he would do long term damage to the NHLPA.

Glenn Anderson worked briefly for the Rangers as an in-studio commentator.

Finally the coach himself Mike Keenan who everyone knows how his coaching career post-Rangers wound up. He worked last year as part of an in-studio team for the Rangers as well as Versus.

He is currently one of the finalists to coach the Latvian National Hockey team.