The Rangers are searching for a head coach and The Maven has found the perfect leader for them.
WARNING: HOLD ON TO YOUR COMPUTER AS YOU READ THIS: My choice happens to be an ex-Ranger – of all things – BOBBY HOLIK.
"Why Bobby?" you ask.
Well, for one thing, he's not a retread like Peter Laviolette, but let's not get into the Has-Been Business.
What Bobby Holik is is what the Rangers need.
Start with motivation. This guy is motivated because he knows that he can handle this challenging job better than anybody.
Add real-time qualifications: Holik is super-qualified having played hockey at every conceivable level, starting in what then was his native Czechoslovakia.
Want more: He stepped in where others feared to tread and coached Israel's National Hockey Team to a Gold Medal on the club's particular international level.
But let's go back to Bobby's beginnings.
"I grew up surrounded by legends of international hockey," Bobby recalls. "Players and coaches such as Jaroslav Holik, Jiri Holik and Josef Augusta, among others. These men were world champions; great coaches and teachers."
Bobby picked up a few medals on World Championship teams and U-20 World Champs before leaving for the NHL at age 19. He was Hartford's first first round Draft pick from behind the Iron Curtain. The pressure on young Holik was intense.
"The pressure didn't come from the media, coaches or fans," he recalls, "but it came from within me to prove myself – and the world – that I deserved the opportunities being given to me in America."
There was prejudice to be dealt with. The Cold War was concluding and with it ignorance all over including inside locker room doors.
Holik: "I had to fight for my place on the ice – sometimes literally – and sometimes with my own teammates on the Whalers. Yet, I was determined to persevere and that, in turn, made me stronger."
Eventually he became a New Jersey Devil under Hall of Fame manager Lou Lamoriello. It was a "defining" stint for many reasons not to mention a Stanley Cup and being coached by the legendary Jacques Lemaire and Larry Robinson.
"Among the things I learned," Holik continues, "is 'Don't make the mistake by not trying – for fear of negative consequences."
After retirement, Holik continued to teach hockey to youngsters and Junior level players across America. Among his instructions were real life experiences. He explained how he played the game at the highest level for two decades.
The "Holik Handbook" includes a chapter called "Controllables" – discipline, punctuality, and structure. He has the knack of selling these ideas to players.
Or, as Bobby puts it, "Something a player can control should never be anything but 'excellent.' In other words, a player should be at his very best.
"A coach should control everything that he can and prepare his team in a well-structured environment. As for players, they must be handled and communicated with separately because each one is different."
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Bobby never stops learning. Over the past few years he has learned philosophy and studied the great thinkers of history; not to mention great leaders. All of the learning is applicable to coaching.
"In my readings," he adds, "I always pay particular attention to these great leaders and their personal accounts; in other words how they led in the best and worst of times."
Then, a pause: "Reflecting on my hockey life – and the people who surrounded me – I believe that I've acquired enough wisdom through experiences to qualify me to be an NHL coach."
The Maven agrees – and hopes that the Rangers see the light! They should after three mistaken choices in four years!