Two of hockey's all-time greats, Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, are interested in coaching the New York Rangers, the website Sportsnet.ca is reporting.
Both played for the Rangers during their career. The last four years of Gretzky's Hall of Fame career were in New York. Messier was on the 1993-94 Rangers team that won the franchise's last Stanley Cup.
The Rangers fired outspoken coach John Tortorella earlier this week.
Gretzky has a 143-161-24 record as a coach, all four of his years coming with the Phoenix Coyotes from 2005-06 to 2008-09. The Coyotes never made the playoffs during his tenure. He has not been involved in the league since his ouster.
Messier has no previous coaching experience, but he has coached a pair of Canadian national teams to second- and third-place finishes in two tournaments in 2010.
Messier currently serves as a special assistant to Rangers president and general manager Glen Sather since 2009 and turned down an offer to coach the Rangers, when Messier still was playing.
Sather is under fire for the Rangers' lack of success, having served as president and general manager for 13 years. The team has won just five playoff series and has never made an appearance in the NHL finals under his watch.
Hiring a big name such as Gretzky or Messier could temporarily quell rumblings of his ouster.
According to USA Today, the Rangers have not reciprocated interest in either Gretzky or Messier.
Sather is expected to move quickly on hiring a new coach before the June 30 NHL draft. The Rangers have received permission to speak to former Vancouver Canucks coach Alain Vigneault and American Hockey League coach Dallas Eakins, according to TSN. Former Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff and Coyotes coach Dave Tippett are other names that could be in the conversation, USA Today reports.
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