When Patrick Roy returned to once again take his place behind an NHL bench last February, it reminded me of just how many marquee stars have coached in the league. More of a mirror, I guess, of the NBA and not at all reflective of MLB or the NFL.
In all, 19 of the NHL’s Greatest 100 named in 2017 have been head coaches. Three others coached in the WHA. Of these 22 Hall of Famers, just three won either the Stanley Cup or the Avco Cup.
Here is Slap Shots’ ranking of the combined careers — star power plus impact behind the bench — counting down in reverse order.
Oh, standard disclaimer: Don’t blame me, blame the model.
22. Alex Delvecchio: Slipped into the middle between Ted Lindsay and Gordie Howe in the ’50s, but had neither of his linemates on the bench for Fats’ 245 games as Detroit head coach (82 victories) in the mid-’70s.
21: Andy Bathgate: There was life after Broadway for the Rangers fabled No. 9 that included a Stanley Cup in Toronto and, yes, a 59-game stint behind the bench of the 1973-74 WHA Vancouver Blazers.
20. Brad Park: The No. 2 Who Is Never to Be Honored at the Garden finished his playing career with a couple of seasons in Detroit then had the misfortune of spending 45 games as head coach a year following his retirement, the club going 9-34-2.
19. Jacques Plante: Does anyone remember, actually remember, the absolute shock of seeing Goaltending’s Original Showman in nets for the Bruins at age 44 in the first two games of the 1973 playoffs against the Rangers? The Snake spent the next season as head coach of the WHA Quebec Nordiques, who went 38-36-4.
18. King Clancy: Hockey’s original royalty on defense back in the day, led his beloved Leafs for three nondescript seasons in the ’50s after a spin in the late ’30s.
17. Denis Savard: The charismatic No. 18 got his ring in Montreal before returning to his legacy city of Chicago. Was four games (1-2-1) into his second full season behind the Blackhawks bench in 2008-09 when he was replaced by Joel Quenneville.
16. Bryan Trottier: Earned the job in Manhattan because of his penmanship, but the writing was on the wall the first day of training camp when the first-year NHL head coach who had played for Al Arbour, Bob Johnson and Scotty Bowman said he did not necessarily believe in line-matching. Trottier lasted 54 games (21-26-6-1) into 2002-03 before GM Glen Sather typed out his walking papers.
15. Adam Oates: As sick a passer who ever existed, was behind the bench for two seasons with an ordinary Capitals team that was shut out by Henrik Lundqvist in back-to-back Games 6 and 7 in the 2013 first round.
14. Ted Lindsay: There was a T-shirt back in the day when perhaps the most courageous player in NHL history — peruse the history of the NHPA if you have a few moments — about Aggressive Hockey Being Back in Town when this No. 7 took over the Detroit operation in the late ’70s. Parts of three seasons and 29 games behind the bench equated to a 5-21-3 record.
13. Phil Esposito: Have you heard the one about the GM who fired his coach with two games left in the season, went behind the bench himself, then proceeded to be swept four straight in the playoffs after losing those final two matches of the year?
12. Bernie Geoffrion: The Boomer, a big part of the Rangers’ return to the playoffs in 1966-67 after coming out of retirement, was Emile Francis’ first choice to succeed him when the Cat decided to step back from coaching and focus on GM duties ahead of the 1968-69 season. Geoffrion lasted 43 games (22-18-3) before Francis’ return.
11. Bob Gainey: Otherwise known as Mr. Selke, guided the North Starts to the Cup final his first season behind the bench in 1990-91. But the club’s 27-39-14 record was more indicative of No. 23’s coaching career’s overall record of 194-211-60, which included a couple of partial seasons with Montreal.
10. Milt Schmidt: Kraut Line center between Bobby Bauer and Woody Dumart, his coaching career in Boston ended a year before Bobby Orr came to town, but he was the GM who pulled off the deal for Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield (for Gilles Marotte, Pit Martin and Jack Norris), so there is kind of that.
9. Doug Harvey: Player/coach of the Rangers in 1961-62 after Montreal jettisoned this piece of hockey royalty in exchange for Lou Fontinato, Harvey took the Blueshirts to the playoffs for the only time in an eight-year span between 1958-59 and 1965-66. He stepped down as coach following the season.
8. Red Kelly: An all-star defenseman in Detroit who became an upper-echelon center in Toronto en route to Parliament, Kelly’s immortality was sealed when he went behind the Maple Leafs bench at the Garden on Nov. 27, 1974, with a bull-whip in his hand in response to having been called out for being too soft on his players.
7. Wayne Gretzky: The Great One elevated the profession while acting as an ambassador in the desert spending 328 games behind the Coyotes bench.
6. Patrick Roy: Once flamboyant, now working for Lou Lamoriello and arguably the greatest goaltender in NHL history, revolutionized the act of pulling the goaltender for an extra attacker during his go-round with the Avalanche.
5. Sid Abel: The original center for Detroit’s Production Line skating between Lindsay and Howe, took the Red Wings to four Cup finals during the ’60s as head coach, losing them all.
4. Maurice Richard: I know, I know. The Rocket was head coach of the 1973-74 WHA Quebec Nordiques for just the first two games of the season (1-1) before stepping down due to stress. But when Maurice Richard is behind the bench, I don’t care how many games. Richard is toward the top of the list because of the sheer magnitude of him.
3. Jacques Lemaire: Walked down the St. Lawrence in 1993 to essentially create the template of Devils’ success while winning the Cup Year 2, but the Devils underachieved in each of the following three seasons which led to Steve Shutt’s and Guy Lafleur’s centerman’s exit from New Jersey after just five years.
2. Larry Robinson: Revered throughout the industry, the six-time Cup winner playing for Montreal was part of the coaching staff for all three Devils’ Cup championships, as professor of defense as an assistant in 1995, as the head coach in 2000 and again as an assistant in 2003. His teams won 209 of 501 games as an NHL head coach,
1. Toe Blake: Left wing on the fabled Montreal Punch line with Elmer Lach in the middle and the Rocket on the right, followed that up by winning eight Cups from behind the Habs bench from 1956-68.