Rangers fire head coach Peter Laviolette after missing playoffs

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One season after the New York Rangers finished with the best record in the NHL, the team fired head coach Peter Laviolette and associate head coach Phil Housley on Saturday.

The Rangers went 55-23-4 (114 points) last season and advanced to the Eastern Conference final where they were eliminated by the Florida Panthers in a six-game series. New York went 39-36-7 this season (85 points) to finish six points out of a playoff spot.

“We came into this season with high expectations for ourselves,” Rangers general manager Chris Drury said in a release. “Quite simply, we failed to meet those expectations. We must all do better — myself included. As we head into next season and beyond, I felt that a change was necessary in order to give us the best chance to achieve our goals as an organization.”

Drury said the search for a new head coach started immediately.

In two seasons as the Rangers head coach, Laviolette, 60, posted a 94-59-11 record. Before this season, New York had made three consecutive playoff appearances, while making the Eastern Conference finals twice in that run.

The Rangers have not participated in the Stanley Cup Finals since 2014 and last won a title in 1994.

Laviolette, who played in just 12 NHL games in his career, all during the 1988-89 season with the Rangers, has been an NHL head coach for 23 seasons.

He owns an 846-562-161 record (25 ties) with the New York Islanders (2001-03), Carolina Hurricanes (2003-09), Philadelphia Flyers (2009-14), Nashville Predators (2014-20), Washington Capitals (2020-23) and Rangers.

His 846 regular-season wins are the most among United States-born coaches in NHL history and seventh all-time.

–Field Level Media