He came. He saw. He conquered. And he got out of town. All within the span of 15 months.
In a stunning move that caught the New York Rangers completely by surprise, Mike Keenan announced Friday that he no longer is the coach of the club, claiming management failed to live up to the terms of his five-year, $4.5-million contract.
At a Toronto news conference televised live throughout the U.S. and Canada, the former Blackhawks coach and general manager managed to put an unexpected spin on his widely anticipated escape from New York, asserting the Rangers had forced him to leave by “breaching” his contract.
Keenan denied that he already has an agreement in place to become the coach and/or general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, as reported throughout last month’s Stanley Cup finals. But he declared himself a free agent who will actively pursue a coaching or GM job in the NHL for ’94-95.
“I want to make it explicitly clear that I have not resigned from the position,” Keenan said. “The New York Rangers did not fulfill their contractual obligations. And as a result of that breach, I notified them that I am accepting the breach in the contract.”
That notification blindsided and enraged the Rangers, who subsequently issued a statement in which they claimed the breach in question was a one-day delay in payment of one of Keenan’s bonuses. Club President and GM Neil Smith was vacationing in Key West and believed to be unaware of Keenan’s announcement. Madison Square Garden President Bob Gutkowski refused to comment on the matter.
But a statement issued by the Garden said: “Madison Square Garden is stunned at the capricious actions of Mr. Keenan and his agent, Mr. (Rob) Campbell, and will take all actions to preserve all of its rights.”
Among those rights, presumably, is player or draft-pick compensation should Keenan sign a deal to coach or manage another NHL team. Keenan said yesterday the Rangers should receive no such compensation.
Neither Keenan nor Campbell would go into details about just what contractual obligations the Rangers failed to meet. Campbell, however, said, “By anyone’s standard, it is a significant amount of money.”
Given that the Rangers never have been known to pinch pennies when it comes to paying bonuses, their alleged failure to compensate Keenan raises more questions than it answers.
Considering their personal incompatibility, was it Smith’s way of forcing Keenan to resign rather than the GM’s risking the public backlash sure to accompany the firing of a coach who had just won the Cup? Or did it simply become the search for an escape hatch for a coach who wanted to be let out of his contract to pursue another opportunity?
For his part, Keenan continued to deny the rumors of his impending signing with the Red Wings, asserting that he has no new job lined up.