Life on Broadway would have been far different around the turn of the century had Rangers general manager Neil Smith been able to hire his first choice to replace Colin Campbell behind the bench at the 1997-98 Olympic break.
That, The Post has learned, would have been Pat Quinn, the longtime NHL coach and executive who passed away Sunday after a long illness at the age of 71.
“When I determined that we just had to make a change with Colie, the first guy I called was Pat,” Smith, who currently works as a television analyst with SportsNet in Toronto, told The Post. “He’d obviously had a very successful career as a coach in Philly and of course in Vancouver. He was a hard-nosed guy, and I thought he’d be able to handle the veterans we had on our team.”
The 1997-98 Rangers featured Wayne Gretzky, Brian Leetch, Mike Richter, Alex Kovalev, Pat LaFontaine, Adam Graves, Kevin Stevens, Ulf Samuelsson, Mike Keane and Brian Skrudland. It was the year after Mark Messier had gone to Vancouver.
They were 17-24-16 heading into the NHL’s first ever Olympic break, six points out of the playoffs after winning one of their previous eight games.
“Pat would have had the respect of everyone and he was interested, but he told me that he was having hip issues and couldn’t go on the ice,” Smith recalled. “He was a winner. But he couldn’t do it … and so I wound up hiring John Muckler.”
The marriage between Smith and Muckler was a union straight out of one of those reality shows, dooming both men and the Rangers, too, with that 1997-98 season the first of seven straight in which the Blueshirts did not qualify for the playoffs. Smith and Muckler were out by the end of 1999-2000.
And Quinn, well, his health had improved enough so that he could accept the job as coach of the Maple Leafs when it was offered to him the following summer. Quinn then presided over the Toronto thug teams of the early 2000s, including the 2001-02 team that lost to Carolina in the conference finals after maiming the Islanders in the seven-game first round.
Imagine, a thug team on Broadway…
When Michael Del Zotto returned to the Garden last Wednesday with the Flyers, the one-time Rangers defenseman said he wanted to prove a lot of people wrong. The list presumably included general manager Glen Sather and coach Alain Vigneault.
But the last week only reinforced the notion the Jan. 22 deal in which the Blueshirts sent Del Zotto to Nashville in exchange for Kevin Klein was another in a string of savvy Sather trades.
For Klein has emerged as more than a dependable defender in displaying an offensive component to his game that seems to have caught Vigneault by surprise. Not only has the right-handed Klein — under contract through 2017-18 at a very fair market price of $2.9 million per — been strong in his end while partnered primarily with John Moore, he has displayed an offensive flair with three goals in his last seven games and four overall while making smart decisions related to pinching, joining the cycle and joining the rush. He has also displayed first-pass ability, an attribute necessary to thrive within Vigneault’s go-go philosophy.
Klein also stepped in to fight Montreal’s Brandon Prust (and for the second time this season) on Sunday when the Habs’ anti-hero bumped Henrik Lundqvist to the ice when the goaltender had roamed into the right wing circle to clear the puck early in the third period of the Blueshirts’ 5-0 victory.
Indeed, one can easily argue Klein’s skill set and contract status combine to make him the best third-pair defenseman in the NHL following a long stint as a second-pair guy in Nashville. There is no arguing the success of the trade that brought him to New York.
Since at first the Rangers did not succeed with Tomas Kaberle, they are try-trying again in their quest for a veteran eighth defenseman in signing Henrik Tallinder to a Professional Tryout with the AHL Wolf Pack.
Tallinder, who will turn 36 on Jan. 10, had a very solid seven-season run with the Sabres from 2002-03 through 2009-10 before moving to the Devils as a free agent. His game collapsed in New Jersey, where he spent three years before being sent back to Buffalo last season.
The Rangers, who should get Ryan McDonagh back within a couple of weeks from the shoulder separation that has sidelined the captain since Nov. 1, have very little cap space with which to maneuver.
The Blueshirts also have just one contract slot available.
Tallinder will practice with the Wolf Pack this week and could join their lineup by the weekend if all goes well.
When the Rangers meet the Lightning in Tampa on Wednesday, it will mark the first time Martin St. Louis and Dan Boyle will play as teammates in their old haunt since April 5, 2008.
That was the final game of the 2007-08 season and of Boyle’s career as a member of the Lightning that had commenced midway through 2001-02, the ’04 Cup winner traded at the demand of ownership to the Sharks the following summer. St. Louis had arrived at the start of 2000-01.
St. Louis, who recorded 953 points (365-588) in 972 games for the Lightning, enters with 998 career points following his goal and assist on Sunday.