Gerard Gallant's dismissal from the NY Rangers was well deserved.

Gerard Gallant was extremely irritated at breakup day having to answer, what he felt was, unfair questions about potentially being replaced after an embarrassing seven game first round appearance. While it’s true that Gallant has had much regular season success in his first two seasons on Broadway, the time was now to make a coaching switch after bowing out sadly in round one vs New Jersey, and Gallant’s dismissal was well deserved.

On Saturday the Rangers officially decided to “mutually part ways” with their bench boss. Unfortunately to say but Gallant was deservedly let go before his third year as Rangers head coach.

A terrific manager of players, his lack of in game adjustments and X’s and O’s acumen has been exposed two postseasons in a row. While it’s fair to say that the Rangers ran out of gas after an unexpected trip to the Conference Finals last year, it’s also fair to say that Gallant didn’t do enough to help the Rangers cause earlier in the postseason. Gallant was hesitant to get Mika Zibanejad away from Jordan Staal in round 2 last year and it nearly sent the Blueshirts home early.

Gallant’s dismissal is directly related to  his extremely stubborn nature in trusting “his way” and refusing to change what’s not working. New Jersey adapted to how the Rangers wanted to shut them down and the Rangers lazily rested on their laurels from games 1 and 2. They refused to adapt to the Devils forecheck pressure or their neutral zone trap and as a result, Gallant was dismissed.

What also didn’t help Gallant’s cause was the fact that he had a blow up with Chris Drury after the Rangers embarrassed themselves on home ice after Game 4. Clearly there was something amiss between two of the most important members of the organization.

Gallant took another shot at Drury after Game 7 when he said it was nice to have talent but he ultimately wants forcheckers. Which, to be perfectly honest, is a lazy and disingenuous answer and a way to pass the buck after going out like a lamb in a do or die game. What seemingly sealed Gallant’s dismissal was that players didn’t exactly give glowing reviews of their head coach during exit interviews. Not exactly something you want to hear for a coach who’s supposedly a players coach.

It’s perfectly clear that there was a clear disconnect between the front office and the head coach and the relationship was untenable. There was no way the Rangers could run it back next year with the same coach behind the bench. We were already well beyond that.

On the latest Live From The Blue Seats, I firmly believed that Joel Quenneville was this clubs next coach in waiting if the NHL is dumb enough to reinstate him. However after reports from Larry Brooks and Vince Mercogliano over the weekend it appears the Rangers don’t want the media storm that would ensue from a Quenneville hiring.

Even though re-treads aren’t popular the best available right now may be Darryl Sutter. While he’s not likeable by fans or even some players, he makes the most sense for a club that’s only goal right now is to win a Stanley Cup. This year’s Calgary Flames were one of the best teams in possession and expected-goals share, but missed the playoffs due to substandard goaltending and differences of opinion in the locker room.

One thing about this Rangers group is that they’ve got goaltending covered and that wouldn’t be an issue with a Sutter led team here. This Rangers group also seems a little too complacent and a swift kick from a coach like Sutter might be what they need to get back on track. But in light of a report from Vince Mercogliano on Sunday, it appears that the Blueshirts will steer clear of Sutter and look to go in another direction.

Enter Kris Knoblauch? Steal away Andrew Brunette? The dreaded return of Mike Babcock back to the NHL? There really isn’t a sexy option here for Drury following Gallant’s dismissal.

Gallant’s dismissal was a move that the club needed to make and now the Rangers yet again find themselves searching for a new voice to bring this club over the top. Whether it’s a retread or a brand new voice in the NHL, Chris Drury and his front office has their work cut out for them to try and fix the issues plaguing this team.

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