Former New York Rangers winger Tony Amonte was on the Cam & Strick Podcast recently and laced into Mike Keenan. According to Amonte, the Blueshirts only Cup winning bench boss wasn’t much of a coach at all. “Mess ran that team, when he was ready to go he would turn his head – look at Keenan and he’d say Mess’s line next.”
Tony Amonte rips Mike Keenan on podcast
In 1994 Mike Keenan was brought in to help the team win a Stanley Cup. In the process of completing the feat he ruffled a ton of feathers and at the same time ran some players out of town. One player was young winger Tony Amonte.
On the Cam & Strick Podcast he recounted a tale where Keenan brought him into his office and showed him a whiteboard list with his name on the bottom. He asked Amonte where he felt he should be to which he pointed right under Messier and Graves. “He’s like f*** no! Sit the f*** down,” Amonte recalled. “You’re just a rich prick from Boston.” That set Amonte off because his family didn’t have “two nickels to rub together.” Bringing up the his father was basically the last straw.
“He’s the worst coach I ever played for,” he said. Amonte explained that it was Messier that did all the X’s and O’s and all Keenan did would rip players apart. Then he relayed a story I’ve never heard about Adam Graves whom Keenan would dress down often. “There was a fight in from of the bench and Gravy beats the tar out of him – probably threw 50 punches – throws the guy down. Now he standings in front of the bench – points his finger at Keenan and says ‘You’re f***ing next asshole!’ And Keenan never messed with him again.”
Amonte also said it was tough to be traded and watch the team win the Cup. Spoke glowingly of Messier and his time in New York,
Henrik Lundqvist working on a comeback
Henrik Lundqvist continues to work on a return to his NHL career. On NHL Network he opened up about having heart surgery and recalled how surreal the experience was.
“I remember laying there, outside the operating room, and you start to think, is this really happening? Like, am I going in that room and they’re going to open my chest? And a machine is going to keep me alive?” the 39-year-old Lundqvist told NHL Network in an interview with former Rangers teammate Kevin Weekes. “It was some pretty heavy stuff to take in, but at the same time, you know me, I like control. I like preparation. I like certain things to be a certain way. So in that moment I think the key was to just let go of all the control.”
via NYPOST
While the Capitals are keeping an eye on the trade market for some additional goalie insurance, they are also awaiting news from Lundqvist. Per Frank Seravalli on TSN’s Insider Trading, he said that Henrik is “quietly” working out. The 39 year-old net minder is also awaiting word from doctors this week on his short and longterm future. Depending on what the prognosis is the Caps are not ruling out a return this season.
If Lundqvist were to make a return it would go down in history as the greatest comeback of all time. Here’s to rooting for his health and return to the ice at some point again.
New York Rangers get vaccinated
The New York Rangers did not hold a practice today. Instead they used the time to get players vaccinated against COVID-19.
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