Mike Keenan question?
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HFsNumber1Heel
FKA Roo Returns...Still A Contrarian Apparently
Short answer is him and Smith fought and had a power struggle. He used a technicality to opt out of his contract (bonus money not received by a date). Smith never wanted to hire him in the first place. Stanley Jaffe did. Google it and you'll find tons of information.
Keenan was a magnified John Tortorella. His coaching style was to get everyone to hate him, and to win just to spite him. He also was an egomaniac who's couldn't coexist with anyone who had equal or more authority in the organization. Got hired and immediately set his eyes on the GM position. Giving a guy who is that volatile full authority on personnell decisions is madness.
Miamipuck
Al Swearengen
The long answer :
Mike Keenan is a giant scumbag and a cancerous human being.
I am not vetted but I know the depths this scumbag will go to throw people under the bus to get bigger roles in hockey organizations.
It's a good thing he was only around a year.
Mike Keenan is a giant scumbag and a cancerous human being.
I am not vetted but I know the depths this scumbag will go to throw people under the bus to get bigger roles in hockey organizations.
It's a good thing he was only around a year.
I agree with what you say. And yet, I also hold him in a regard as he brought home the gold. Same as Smith.
Excellent, concise answer by Skjeispeare.
Hey, the Rangers won the Cup but Keenen did display some bizarre behavior:
Stanley Cup Playoffs Flashback: May 21, 1994
Hey, the Rangers won the Cup but Keenen did display some bizarre behavior:
Stanley Cup Playoffs Flashback: May 21, 1994
leetch99
Leetch66 Joined 2007
Doug MacLean was the guy who outed Keenan negotiating while in the Finals . MacLean was with the Adirondack Red Wing farm club as GM and obviously had eyes on the Detroit job or the St Louis job...either way...he informed his buddy on PEI who owned a small radio station CJRW on what was going on with Keenan and his secret talks with other clubs while in the finals . That could have really derailed our Rangers...I was pretty ticked about the whole thing . I knew from day 1 it was MacLean who was the rat . I hope he NEVER gets another job in the NHL again .
leetch99
Leetch66 Joined 2007
I'm a doddering old fool these days but looking back on 94, I think both the Devils and Canucks choked.
SI90
Registered User
eco's bones
Registered User
Keenan spent practically that entire season going behind Neil Smith's back to the management above. The fact of the matter is he's a bit of a snake. Part of his purpose though was to get rid of players he didn't like and bring in ones that he did. That worked out really well as far as our bringing in Steve Larmer. It worked out well for the short term in bringing in Brian Noonan and Stephane Matteau but that trade came at the price of a young Tony Amonte. Keenan came out of training camp though wanting to trade Brian Leetch and his target player was Stu Grimson. But in any case players he didn't like included Mike Gartner, Amonte, Darren Turcotte, James Patrick---he grew to like Leetch. He didn't seem to like Eddie O. much though. Anyway Smith and him came to really hate each other and then he decided to go behind everyone's back again and negotiate with Detroit and St. Louis--this while the team was still playing which is pretty damned evil and also illegal by the NHL's bylaws.
I'm happy about that year but I never missed Keenan because in my eyes he's just a total asshole.
I'm happy about that year but I never missed Keenan because in my eyes he's just a total asshole.
leetch99
Leetch66 Joined 2007
Was more people involved in that debacle then we likely will ever know about . Bowman , MacLean , and likely Jimmy Devellano for starters . Somebody tipped off MacLean .....why else would he leak that info ? Somebody DID NOT want Keenan in Motown and solved that potential problem by leaking it to MacLean who leaked it to the owner of the radio station....who then made it public .
eco's bones
Registered User
RangerLifer
Formerly known as Captain Lindy
Well, it was worth putting up with a total ******* who helped get our one cup in decades.
You cannot discount that Leetch had a playoff series that rivaled virtually any other player. He absolutely took over games. That, combined with Richter's acrobatics and Messier's refusal to loose allowed overcame Kennan's insanity, Bure, and Broduer.
eco's bones
Registered User
Not going to argue that but Keenan was the cause of a lot of unnecessary infighting within the organization. He wanted to be not only the coach but the GM too--he wanted absolute control of the team and was willing to do pretty much anything to accomplish that and when it became plain it wasn't going to happen he started negotiations with other teams behind his GM's back. And it was unethical--not only his part but on the part of both the Blues and the Red Wings. He had to go and all the above and other stuff he did during his coaching career is why his career turned out a lot shorter than it would have otherwise.
The other thing--if Barry Meisel is to be believed anyway--is that Messier pretty much took over the Rangers the last two playoff rounds because Keenan (besides all the secret negotiating he was doing) had lost the thread and was making all kinds of bizarre decisions--kind of a coaching equivalent of a nervous breakdown. Whether true or not--I don't find it unbelievable. There was goofy shit going on with him all year long like his Leetch to Chicago for Grimson trade idea and when he did get the GM job later on with the Blues he was pretty awful.
Mac n Gs
Drury plz
- Jan 17, 2014
- 22,835
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Wait...he wanted to trade Brian f***ing Leetch for the Grim reaper? That'd be Middleton for Hodge on steroids, crack, and meth. Leetch was just two years removed from an 100 point season!
Edge
Kris King's Ghost
The Rangers got what they needed from Keenan, and ultimately dodged an even bigger bullet than the one they took in the face anyway.
If Keenan wins that power struggle, there’s a good possibility the dark years begin in 95 and not 1997.
If Keenan wins that power struggle, there’s a good possibility the dark years begin in 95 and not 1997.
Edge
Kris King's Ghost
The Grim-reaper was more of a Keenan mind-game than anything else.
But he wouldn’t have blinked trading Leetch for Chelios.
If anyone is interested, I can not recommend the book “Losing the Edge” strongly enough.
For it’s time, it was one of the best behind-the-scenes looks at the NHL I’ve ever encountered.
NYR94
Registered User
I was just going to mention Leetch for Chelios. Though the rumor I recall is Leetch and Richter for Chelios and Belfour. Or at least that's what I've read in old rumor threads reminiscing about trades that never happened.
If Keenan had squeezed out Smith and became GM of the Rangers that team would have been 90% ex-Blackhawks and Flyers by the end of 96 or so. And people think NYR had a lot of ex-Oilers.
eco's bones
Registered User
He had several ridiculous trade proposals he floated past Neil Smith--that was just one of them. By the way Zubov led the team in scoring that year but he started that season in Binghamton. He played two or three games there--I know because I saw him there and then was called up. He hated Patrick and Gartner and Turcotte and Amonte and had scorn for his taxi squad of guys. Wouldn't even talk to most of them. He's a dick.
Gardner McKay
RIP, Jimmy.
Miamipuck
Al Swearengen
Glad you had a good experience with that guy, I am not wrong in the slightest he pulled shady underhanded bs on a brother in law of a very close friend. That brother in law is from a very prominent hockey family (many upper level executives) . So I will not mention any names
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