The New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks did something this summer that will make comparisons between the two franchises more interesting than before. They swapped head coaches. Both John Tortorella last year of the Rangers and this year of the Canucks, and Alain Vigneault are veteran coaches who have made their names in the NHL. Both have taken their teams to the top of their conference, and both have been bounced in the first round.
That is where the similarities stop. Vigneault came up through the Canadian junior system as a defensemen. The Hull Olympiques of the QMJHL were his team first, and in the 1978-79 season in 72 games, he wracked up a staggering 217pims. Of interest is that despite all the obvious aggression that year he also had his most successful goal-scoring season with 13 markers. The eighth round was when Alain Vigneault was selected by the St Louis Blues in the 1981. That season the surly blueliner appear in fourteen games with three points and 43PIMS. His playing career would see him in the NHL, Central Hockey League, and AHL but end after just 42 NHL games.
Coaching returned him to his roots in the QMJHL. His first season with the Trois Rivieres Draveurs, a 28-40-2 record wasn’t good enough good enough to get him a second season. The next year was one I’m sure Vigneault remembers vividly. With Stephane Quintal on the blueline, and Stephane Matteau roaming the left wing his new post would go all the way to the last game of the season bringing the Hull Olympiques to the championship.
Vigneault would stay four more seasons in Hull before making the NHL as an assistant coach for the Ottawa Senators. Two more years in the Q would be spent leading the Beauport Harfangs. The Montreal Canadiens would be his first head coaching job before he spent more time in the Q this time with the Prince Edward Island Rocket, then one season with the Manitoba Moose of the AHL, and finally the Vancouver Canucks.
It seems unlikely that so bellicose a player could live in the same body as the soft spoken, low key head coach. The most common descriptor applied to Alain Vigneault by fan bases other than Vancouver is “whiny”, followed by “soft”. He has the reputation of a players coach and the Sedin twins and other Canucks stood up for him in the media. It will be interesting to see how players like Ryan McDonagh and Ryan Callahan who thrived under the more prickly Tortorella do with his interpersonal style.
John Tortorella grew up watching Bobby Orr and the NHL’s wild west days. A student athlete, the right winger went to the University of Maine and was second in scoring the 1980-81 season. Undrafted he would toil in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League for a couple seasons before retiring to coach. In his first season behind the bench, he took the Virginia Lancers, the team he had played for the previous season to the league championship.
The 88-89 season opened with Torts as an assistant coach to the New Haven Nighthawks of the NHL. His first NHL stint was a six-year stint as an assistant for the Buffalo Sabres in his fourth year off skates. The 1995-96 season saw Tortorella collect his second championship as a bench boss leading the Rochester Americans to the AHL the promised land.
Tortorella would reach the pinnacle of NHL success in his third season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Individually he won the Jack Adams award for best coach in the NHL. The Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup. The third championship of John Tortorella’s career cemented him among the coaching elite having proved himself at every level he’s coached.
Even with the leaf the new Canucks coach has turned over of late, no one will ever confuse him for the soft voiced Vigneault. Tortorella’s combative interaction with the media, and unfiltered player evaluations are unlikely to fade from public memory. The size of the fight in this dog is enormous, and he may only know one style of coaching but three championships says it works pretty well.
Henrik and Daniel Sedin who thrived under Vigneault are going to be asked (or probably required) to sacrifice the body and block shots, they may continue to thrive or find themselves in the dog house. Ryan Kesler and Kevin Bieksa are exactly the type of physical players Tortorella has spent his career cultivating. If they can stay healthy, he is likely to make them household names. Chris Higgins who spent time with the Rangers under Tortorella is also likely to have a bounce back year.
Vigneault has been given some interesting material to work with as well. Brad Richards who was part of the Tampa Bay Lightning cup win didn’t do so well his second time in the hands of Tortorella, Rick Nash has failed to thrive since arriving as well. As a players coach with a less rigorous system, Vigneault has a better chance of thriving early in his New York Rangers tenure than Tortorella does in his very structured defense first system that is the opposite of what the Canucks have been playing.
Assuming both are still in place in three more seasons, I would put money on Tortorella and the Canucks having more success for three reasons. The first is they are in a softer conference. The second being Canucks have more of their core players locked up longer. Lastly, work history shows John Tortorella is a better coach than Alain Vigneault is. ◉
Mike Sage is the mind behind PuckSage.com and its social media sites. “Irreverent” was probably invented for someone in his family tree, and hockey is what keeps his heart beating. Say hi to him sometime at @PuckSage on Twitter.