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, which they have done four times (most recently in 1994). The team is commonly referred to by its famous nickname, "The Broadway Blueshirts", or more commonly in New York media, as simply the "Blueshirts".
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. The Jack Adams Award has never been awarded to the head coach of the New York Rangers.
Key + Key of terms and definitions Term Definition # Number of coaches 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 Rangersand also elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame
Coaches
Note: Statistics are correct through the 2025–26 season. + 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* 1926–1939 604 281 216 107 — .554 65 31 26 8 Stanley Cup champions (1928, 1933) 2 Frank Boucher* 1939–1948 487 167 243 77 — .422 27 13 14 0 Stanley Cup champions (1940) 3 Lynn Patrick* 1948–1950 107 40 51 16 — .449 12 7 5 0 4 Neil Colville* 1950–1951 93 26 41 26 — .419 — — — — 5 Bill Cook* 1951–1953 117 34 59 24 — .393 — — — — — Frank Boucher* 1953–1954 40 14 20 6 — .425 — — — — 6 Muzz Patrick 1954–1955 100 32 46 22 — .430 — — — — 7 Phil Watson 1955–1959 295 119 124 52 — .492 16 4 12 — — Muzz Patrick 1959 2 0 1 1 — .250 — — — — 8 Alfred Pike 1959–1961 123 36 66 21 — .378 — — — — 9 Doug Harvey* 1961–1962 70 26 32 12 — .457 6 2 4 — — Muzz Patrick 1962 34 11 19 4 — .382 — — — — 10 Red Sullivan 1962–1965 196 58 103 35 — .385 — — — — 11 Emile Francis* 1965–1968 194 82 82 30 — .500 10 2 8 — 12 Bernie Geoffrion* 1968–1969 43 22 18 3 — .547 — — — — — Emile Francis* 1969–1973 343 201 88 54 — .665 49 24 25 — 13 Larry Popein 1973–1974 41 18 14 9 — .549 — — — — — Emile Francis* 1974–1975 117 59 39 19 — .585 16 8 8 — 14 Ron Stewart 1975–1976 39 15 20 4 — .436 — — — — 15 John Ferguson Sr. 1976–1977 121 43 59 19 — .434 — — — — 16 Jean-Guy Talbot 1977–1978 80 30 37 13 — .456 3 1 2 — 17 Fred Shero* 1978–1980 180 82 74 24 — .522 27 15 12 — 18 Craig Patrick* 1980–1981 60 26 23 11 — .525 14 7 7 — 19 Herb Brooks* 1981–1985 285 131 113 41 — .532 24 12 12 — — Craig Patrick* 1985 35 11 22 2 — .343 3 0 3 — 20 Ted Sator 1985–1986 99 41 48 10 — .465 16 8 8 — 21 Tom Webster 1986–1987 16 5 7 4 — .438 — — — — 22 Phil Esposito* 1987 43 24 19 0 — .558 6 2 4 — 23 Michel Bergeron 1987–1989 158 73 67 18 — .519 — — — — — Phil Esposito* 1989 2 0 2 0 — .000 4 0 4 — 24 Roger Neilson* 1989–1993 280 141 104 35 — .566 29 13 16 — Presidents' Trophy (1992) 25 Ron Smith 1993 44 15 22 7 — .420 — — — — 26 Mike Keenan 1993–1994 84 52 24 8 — .667 23 16 7 — Presidents' Trophy (1994)Stanley Cup champions (1994) 27 Colin Campbell* 1994–1998 269 118 108 43 — .519 36 18 18 — 28 John Muckler 1998–2000 185 70 88 24 3 .451 — — — — 29 John Tortorella 2000 4 0 3 1 — .125 — — — — 30 Ron Low 2000–2002 164 69 81 9 5 .463 — — — — 31 Bryan Trottier* 2002–2003 54 21 26 6 1 .454 — — — — 32 Glen Sather* 2003–2004 90 33 39 11 7 .572 — — — — 33 Tom Renney 2004–2009 327 164 117 — 46 .572 24 11 13 — — John Tortorella 2009–2013 315 171 115 — 29 .589 44 19 25 — 34 Alain Vigneault 2013–2018 410 226 147 — 37 .596 61 31 30 — Presidents' Trophy (2015) 35 David Quinn 2018–2021 208 96 87 — 25 .522 3 0 3 — 36 Gerard Gallant 2021–2023 164 99 46 — 19 .662 27 13 14 — 37 Peter Laviolette 2023–2025 164 94 59 — 11 .607 16 10 6 — Presidents' Trophy (2024) 38 Mike Sullivan 2025–present 82 34 39 — 9 .470 — — — —
See also List of NHL head coaches
Notes 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