"He Lost The Room."

That sentence reverberates almost every time a National Hockey League coach gets fired. 

Not surprisingly it accompanied the punting of Peter Laviolette; only this time it has an asterix* attached to the assertion.

In this case the asterix=he lost the room back in November. That's when the endless slump sunk the Rangers out of playoff contention.

"The club began playing as if they didn't have their heads on their shoulders," says The Old Scout, "and whatever Laviolette was saying went right through their ears and out the window."

The how and why the Blueshirts distanced their brains from their coach is a moot question. 

It's an equally moot question as to when Laviolette realized that he was coaching a truly lost team.

One clue would be available from his postgame quotes when they began sounding like the drone of bagpipes. That became evident in the homestretch. 

Another issue is the communication – or lack of it – between the coach and his boss, Chris Drury. 

"It's possible," adds The Old Scout, "that Pete got tired of Drury's machinations – Goodrow, Trouba, the letter to managers – that undercut team morale. Those negative moves could have been a major cause of dissension."

This much is certain; somewhere along the way, the coach lost the room and the club lost its way.

Compounding the dilemma was the fact that the stealth GM never got around to naming a captain who might have led the players out of the morass!