The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2023-24 season by former NHL coaches and assistants who turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher.
In this edition, Bob Woods, former assistant coach with the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres and Minnesota Wild, writes about the New York Rangers and how they can best handle the position they're in after sweeping the Capitals in the Eastern Conference First Round and now waiting for the next opponent and the date of their next game.
The New York Rangers' coaching staff is in a position after sweeping the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference First Round that I have had some experience in.
In 2006, when I was an assistant under Bruce Boudreau with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League, we swept the Norfolk Admirals in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, finishing it April 25. We didn't play our next game until May 4.
In 2009, when I was the head coach in Hershey, we swept the Philadelphia Phantoms in the first round, finishing it April 24. Our next game was May 2.
The Rangers, after finishing their sweep of the Capitals on Sunday, do not know when they will play next. The only thing they do know for sure is it will be either the Carolina Hurricanes or the New York Islanders.
They're confident, feeling great after a first-round sweep, but it's also a challenging time.
For starters, it's a great time for the Rangers because winning the Stanley Cup is a grind and if you can sneak a four- or five-game series, especially early, it just gives you a chance to heal.
Everybody is pretty jacked up in the first round and they're usually pretty physical, guys take a pretty good beating, so you want to give them the time to heal and just get a little rest. It takes a little bit of the grind out of it.
The challenge is trying to get the guys going again and get them into that game situation.
They'll probably get a few days off, but then they'll get back at it and they'll try to do a lot of stuff in practice, maybe scrimmaging, getting in as much game-like situations, and trying to get them to have contact. You want to stay in that physical mode because you know what's coming.
The good thing is the Rangers practice that way under Peter Laviolette. Most coaches want to have their drills as close to game situation as you can.
The main thing is in the NHL you don't get a lot of opportunities to practice, so when you, do you want to make sure you're getting something out of it. Most of the time the players are pretty aware. They know what they need, especially at this time of the season.
There are times when we as coaches might think the players need a day off and they come in and say, "No, we want to practice." A lot of that comes from your leadership and you want to give them a little bit of a say in what things happen. You want to give them part of that responsibility because they take it pretty seriously when they get it.
In the situation the Rangers are in, early on you're not going to talk much about the future opponent.
For the coaches, though, they can do some pre-scouting on both potential opponents. They'll watch Game 5 between the Hurricanes and Islanders on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; MAX, MSGSN, TBS, BSSO, SN360, TVAS) with a different perspective, a closer eye on what's transpiring.
With all the video and knowledge we have of teams you usually have a pretty good understanding and there's not a lot of surprises. But you can look at a lot of situations, how teams are handling them, what their plays are when pulling the goalie at the end of the game, just special plays they might have, face-off plays, all controllable situations. You can make adjustments and spend some time on all of it.
Especially on special teams, you can gain a good understanding of how they like to kill, where are their pressure points and their escapes. You can look at their PK and find areas you can pick apart. Maybe there is a weakness you find with the time you have now. Maybe you start to see what plays they're going to give up and if can you take advantage of that.
There will be adjustments in the series, but you might be able to take advantage of it early and that might be the difference in getting a win in Game 1 to get ahead in the series.
The coaches will come to the players with a plan, but then you're going to be talking to the players about it all. You'll show things in a video session and talk about how you think these are areas we can take advantage of. That gets it into the players' minds, but they also might have their own thoughts and with this amount of time afforded you can hash those out with them.
I remember when I ran the power play in Buffalo there were a lot of times I sat down with Ryan O'Reilly and Jack Eichel before a game, and I'd pick their brains. They'd have ideas. They felt they had the voice, and it was good for all of us.
The Rangers have the time to use the players to devise a part of their gameplan.
And, yes, with the Rangers knowing if the Islanders win Game 5 it'll extend that series, there is a rooting interest.
However, there are two ways to view it:
1) You want it to go longer to get whoever you're playing next more beat up and give them less time to recover; 2) Maybe you want that series over too, so they're in the same boat as you are because you always worry a little bit when you're off for a long period of time and you've got another team that's been in that battle, they might be better prepared for Game 1. You worry about coming out a little flat, a little bit of rust with the rest.
Regardless, in a seven-game series if you're more rested you have a bigger advantage, especially because you're coming in with confidence after sweeping a team in the first round and you have the time to heal bodies and get all your preparation in order.
The Rangers are in an advantageous position.
