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Former Rangers coach wants to succeed Kehoe

Tuesday, May 06, 2003

By Dave Molinari, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Bryan Trottier spent nearly a decade trying to earn a head-coaching job in the National Hockey League.

Now, he’s hoping to get his second in less than a year.

Trottier, fired by the New York Rangers two-thirds of the way through the 2002-03 season, is on the list of men interested in succeeding Rick Kehoe as coach of the Penguins.

Trottier had stints as an assistant coach with the Penguins and Colorado, as well as head coach of the American Hockey League club in Portland, Maine, before being hired by the Rangers last summer.

The move was not well-received by many Rangers fans -- Trottier got into the Hall of Fame mostly because of his work with the archrival New York Islanders -- and he was fired Jan. 29, after the Rangers had sputtered to a 21-26-6-1 record.

Repeated attempts to contact Trottier for comment were unsuccessful.

Trottier, a member of the Penguins’ Stanley Cup-winning teams in 1991 and 1992, began his coaching career as an assistant with the Penguins in 1994 and stayed with the team through the 1996-97 season.

He subsequently spent one year as head coach of Washington’s top minor-league team in Portland, then served as an assistant to Bob Hartley with Colorado for four seasons before being hired by the Rangers.

Trottier is considered one of the finest two-way centers in NHL history, and earned four Stanley Cup titles with the Islanders to go with the two he got with the Penguins. He picked up No. 7 when the Avalanche won the championship in 2001.

Dave Molinari can be reached at 412-263-1144.