Keith McCambridge Hints Interest as Assistant Coach for the Rangers

Wolf Pack Flickr

We can now toss in Keith McCambridge as a candidate for an assistant coach position with the New York Rangers.  The first year head coach of the Wolf Pack is hoping that the organization will look into him and bring him up to the big leagues.

Resume

Keith McCambridge’s coaching resume list started in the 2006-07 season after he retired from a playing career from 1991-2006.  In the early stages of being on the bench, he started off as the assistant coach of the Alaska Aces of the ECHL.  A year later, he became the head coach of the franchise for two seasons.

Then in 2009, Keith McCambridge made the jump to the American Hockey League with the Manitoba Moose.  In his first two years with the Vancouver organization, he was the assistant coach.  As the team moved to St. John’s Canada in 2011 and re-branded as the Ice Caps, Keith McCambridge became the head coach of the organization.

This time he was leading the future players of the Winnipeg Jets.  He was at the helm of the Ice Caps for four seasons.  Then in 2015-16, the Winnipeg Jets organization moved their farm team back to Winnipeg.  That was the last year for Keith McCambridge as the head coach in the Moose organization.  He then joined Hartford in the 2016-17 season as assistant coach.  A year after, he was the head coach and recently completed his first season as the top dog in Hartford.

Who is McCambridge as a coach?

Keith McCambridge’s philosophy is all about development.  He understands the developmental standpoint of players.  Every game was a learning tool for the roster in Hartford.  Keith McCambridge was always focused on the bench and responded the right way.  When Hartford was getting blown out, he was not yelling.  Instead, he was talking to the players and explaining how they could avoid certain situations and try not to break their confidences, especially first year prospects.

He was also big on practicing hard.  If there was no effort in practice, then the player would not be playing on the team regardless how good they were.  He expects every player to work hard regardless of skill level.  One instance of his coaching was with Adam Tambellini.  He started off hot with collecting goals.  Then the forward slumped.  He demoted Adam Tambellini for a few games, which woke up the forward.  Afterwards, he worked himself up on the lines and began to play better.  There was also one on one time in practice with the forward.

In a quote by Keith McCambridge on Howlings, he explains his interest with the assistant coach position with New York:

“I’m like the players. I want to get an opportunity in the NHL too. I enjoy working with the younger players and getting them developed and ready to get to the top level. Some coaches are in a rush to get to the NHL, I’ve been working on my craft since 2003 starting in Alaska. Training players here in Hartford has been fun, and like I said, in this business in the summer you never know.”

To me, that is an indication that Keith McCambridge is interested on going up to New York.  He wants the opportunity.  He knows that in the game, chances could suddenly happen.

Since the Rangers are beginning their youth movement and focusing on development on players, could this be time for Keith McCambridge to be going up?

How much will the Rangers benefit from the potential move?  How will this affect the upcoming season for Hartford?  Who would take place of head coach Keith McCambridge with the Pack if he’s moved?  There are many questions with limited answers.

We shall see who the Rangers pick for assistant coaches later on this off season.