In the mid-1990s, Mike Keenan coached the New York Rangers. However, he didn’t coach the team alone, according to many players who were on the Rangers that years.
For example, former Rangers winger Tony Amonte previously claimed that it was more or less Mark Messier who ran that team.
“When he was ready to go, he would turn his head – look at Keenan, and he’d say, ‘Mess’s line next,'” said Amonte, in the Cam&Strick Podcast.
Many players had trouble with how Keenan coached during this time, and one of them was Adam Graves.
He threatened Mike Keenan
When Amonte was on the Cam & Strick Podcast a few years ago, he told the awesome story about how Graves beat the crap out of an opponent and then suddenly turned to his coach, Mike Keenan.
“There was a fight in front of the bench, and Gravy beats the tar out of him – probably threw 50 punches – throws the guy down. Now he standings in front of the bench – points his finger at Keenan, and says, ‘You’re f***ing next asshole!’ And Keenan never messed with him again.”
Between 1984 and 2009, Mike Keenan held roles as head coach and/or general manager for multiple NHL teams. With 96 playoff victories, he ranks fifth all-time in that category. Keenan made a name for himself early on by leading Team Canada to victory in the 1987 Canada Cup, winning a dramatic best-of-three final against Viktor Tikhonov’s legendary Red Army squad.
He’s also one of just three coaches in NHL history to appear in ten Game 7s in the playoffs—winning half of them. And he was the third coach ever to take three different teams—the Flyers, Blackhawks, and Rangers—to the Stanley Cup Final. Only one coach has done that since.
READ MORE: Brett Hull’s hilarious revenge move against Mike Keenan
