Ex-Rangers coach shares thoughts on KHL hijinks: ‘What am I f*****g doing?’
Gerard Gallant lasted about five months this past season in the KHL, his first pro coaching gig since the New York Rangers fired him following the 2022-23 season. And by the sound of it, his tenure with the Shanghai Dragons was long enough.
Officially, Gallant stepped down as coach in mid-January for health reasons, and returned home to Prince Edward Island in the Canadian Maritimes. But as Gallant explained on the Tri-State Hockey podcast this week, he was never a good fit in the KHL, especially with the Dragons organization that asked him to go way out of his comfort zone to help promote the team.
He should have known what was up when his introductory video — complete with over the top anime, AI, and Gallant dressed in traditional Chinese warrior garb — was released by the team on social media in August.
“I just tried to be a good guy, a fair guy, but every time they wanted me to do something, I’d go into the room and go ‘What am I f*****g doing?!'” Gallant explained with a laugh. “It was frustrating, but we wanted to get some people in the building and you’re trying to help out the organization. But that was definitely not me.
“Wearing that fur coat in Siberia. That stuff, and the AI stuff. It was interesting. They had fun with it, but I wasn’t laughing.”
Gerard Gallant seeks next NHL job after being fired by Rangers three years ago
After failing to land an NHL coaching job for two years following his dismissal by the Rangers, Gallant was admittedly “pissed off” and decided to accept the KHL opportunity last summer just to get back behind a bench.
Whether he helped himself by taking that Shanghai gig is debatable, especially not finishing out the season. However, NHL insider Chris Johnston recently reported that Gallant could be on the Edmonton Oilers radar after they fired coach Kris Knoblauch.
Gallant is 369-262-70 with four ties coaching in the NHL. Along with the Rangers, he coached the Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights. He won the Jack Adams Award as top NHL coach in 2017-18, when he guided the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season.
He was 99-46-19 in two seasons as Rangers coach, after replacing the fired David Quinn in the 2021 offseason. His .662 points percentage over two full seasons is second-best in Rangers history, behind only Mike Keenan (.667), who coached them to the Stanley Cup championship in 1993-94, his only season in New York.
Despite all that NHL success, Gallant never quite felt comfortable in the KHL this past season.
“It was a shock, there’s no doubt about that,” Gallant explained. “To get over there, see how things were. That’s not me. I’m a guy that comes in every day and knows what to expect, and I’m an easy low-maintenance type of guy. Once we got over there, it was a big shock to me and opened my eyes up a lot. It’s just a different culture over there.
“I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy it, but there were a lot of things over there that were a lot different from the NHL. So, I tried to adjust as best I could.”
That included one road hotel which Gallant described as “the worst hotel in history of the game” and the only one in that particular KHL city.
So, there’s no doubt where the former Rangers coach hopes to resume his career, hopefully sooner rather than later. That’s in the NHL.
“Hopefully something comes up soon.”
