The Rangers and Gerard Gallant made it official yesterday, agreeing to terms that make Gallant the next head coach of the Rangers. This wasn’t really a surprise, as Gallant seemed to have the inside track since day one. He was interviewed almost immediately, and it seemed like the interviews with Rick Tocchet were just the Rangers being polite. This was always Gallant’s job to lose. As per usual, I have some thoughts on Gallant as the next Rangers coach.
1. Gallant is a good coach. He turned the Florida Panthers from a middling team into a playoff team nearly overnight, and he did it with 98-year-old Jaromir Jagr and Jussi Jokinen leading the team in scoring.