Entire New York Rangers Coaching Staff to Miss Game Due to COVID-19

The entire New York Rangers coaching staff will not be available for the team’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers due to COVID-19 protocols. The Rangers announced that Kris Knoblauch, the team’s AHL coach will fill in for head coach David Quinn. Chris Drury, the Rangers’ associate general manager, and Hartford Wolf Pack associate head coach Gord Miller be on the bench, replacing Jacques Martin, David Oliver and Greg Brown.

“In accordance with the NHL COVID-19 protocol and additional health and safety guidelines, Rangers head coach David Quinn, as well as Rangers assistant coaches Jacques Martin, David Oliver and Greg Brown, will be unavailable for tonight’s game.” The Rangers said in a statement. Quinn 54, has been the head coach of the Rangers since 2018. Currently, Quinn has the Rangers 11-12-4 on the year. They are in sixth place in the East Division and eight points away from a playoff spot.

Quinn is looking to build on what the Rangers did last year, reaching the playoffs for the first time since the 2016-2017 season. “I really thought we did a great job as a group, acquiring the characteristics that you need to have a successful team,” he said to MSG 150 at Home in April of last year. “I thought there was an opportunity for us throughout the early part of the season to become a true team. And our guys did a great job of acquiring those characteristics from a work ethic to care factor, they became resilient, there was a trust factor in the locker room within each other. And you could see the benefits of that as the second half unfolded.”

The 2020-21 season has been an interesting one for the Rangers, who have won four Stanley Cups in their history. Rangers forward Artemi Panarin, recently returned to the lineup after a two-week personal leave, according to ESPN. The team also waived Tony DeAngelo after he got into a fight with teammates after a game.

“Hockey-wise, there are mistakes that I have made,” DeAngelo said to the New York Post in February. “I’ve gotten hot-headed at times. I’m the first one to admit that and I take responsibility for it. I’ve tried to learn and get better and better at it, but there are still times where things have happened and emotionally I’ve gone over the line a little bit, and I accept responsibility for that. The thing with [Alexandar Georgiev], exactly like he said, emotions got away.