Hours after ending their season with a 5-0 loss to the Flyers in Philadelphia, the Rangers fired Coach Alain Vigneault on Saturday night.
They made the announcement moments after TSN’s Bob McKenzie tweeted that Vigneault had been sacked after five seasons with the team.
Hours earlier, in Vigneault’s postgame media briefing, he made an impassioned defense of his record and said he expected to stay on as coach.
“Yes, yes. Without a doubt,” he said when asked if he thought he would hold on to his job despite the Rangers’ 34-39-9 record, which caused them to miss the playoffs for only the second time since the lockout that canceled the 2004-05 season.
Vigneault guided the team to the Stanley Cup finals in 2013-14, his first season as coach. It was his second trip to the Cup Final; his Vancouver Canucks had lost in Game 7 in 2011. He has a record of 648-435-98 as a head coach for Montreal, Vancouver and the Rangers and won the Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year in 2007 with Vancouver.
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