Keenan Takes No Joy In Rangers’ Demise

If the New York Rangers fail to make the playoffs a year after winning the Stanley Cup, Mike Keenan says he won’t be crowing.

“I don’t take any pleasure in seeing that team struggle,” Keenan said Friday after the St. Louis Blues’ 3-1 victory over Toronto. “Those players gave everything they had and then some to win it, and I was a part of it.

“I feel for them. It’s disturbing, really.”

Keenan left the Rangers last summer to become general manager and coach of the Blues after a dispute over an unpaid playoff bonus. Last season under Keenan, the Rangers had a franchise-record 112 points.

Keenan was critical of an anonymous Rangers player quoted in Sports Illustrated as saying Keenan comes “with an expiration date.”

“Any player who would not go on record, to me, is a coward,” Keenan said. “You’re not going to get an anonymous comment from Mark Messier or Kevin Lowe or Steve Larmer or Brian Noonan or Stephane Matteau or Adam Graves or Brian Leetch or Jeff Beukeboom or Sergei Zubov.

“So I can pretty well tell you one of the three or four players who said it, and they’re the guys who didn’t play.”

Hart-to-hart talk

So who could challenge Flyers center Eric Lindros this season for the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player in the regular season?

How about Paul Coffey, defenseman extraordinaire for the Detroit Red Wings?

Coffey was named the league’s player of the week for the week ending last Sunday, but he’s been one of the NHL’s best players all season. The 15-year veteran had one goal and five assists in four games two weeks ago as the Red Wings went 3-1 and extended their lead in the Western Conference playoff race. Coffey is the top defenseman in scoring this season.

If Coffey doesn’t win the Hart Trophy, he just might win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.