Report: Gerard Gallant enters COVID protocol; Kris Knoblauch promoted to coach

By 
Jan 9, 2022
gerard gallant jack adams
Dec 3, 2021; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant speaks to the media after a 1-0 win against the San Jose Sharks at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

The Rangers have won four of their past five heading into Monday’s road game against the Los Angeles Kings. New York will have Artemi Panarin in the lineup after missing the past four games due to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. He was cleared earlier today.

Unfortunately, COVID has struck the team again.

Gerard Gallant on COVID protocol

The New York Rangers have announced that Head Coach Gerard Gallant has entered COVID protocol. In his absence, Wolf Pack bench boss Kris Knoblauch will take over behind the bench.

Igor Shesterkin, Ryan Reaves, and Julien Gauthier are also in COVID-19 protocol, and Dryden Hunt sustained an upper-body injury in the opener of the five-game road trip on Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights and was placed on injured reserve.

Assistant coach Mike Kelly is also on protocol. He was placed on the list on January 2 and should be eligible to return soon.

Gallant, 58, is 23-9-4 this season in his first year with the Rangers.

Kris Knoblauch was named the Head Coach of Wolf Pack in 2019. This season, the 42 year-old is 15-9-2-2 and has the Rangers AHL affiliate in a prime position to make the playoffs.

This is nothing new for Knoblauch as he spelled David Quinn last season for six games. The team went 4-2 during that span, all wins and losses were credited to Quinn.

kris knoblauch
Mar 17, 2021; New York, New York, USA; Handling coaching duties for the New York Rangers against the Philadelphia Flyers are Hartford Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch (pictured here) and Wolf Pack associate head coach Gord Murphy and Rangers associate general manager Chris Drury at Madison Square Garden. Due to the NHL COVID-10 protocol, the Rangers coaching staff were not available for tonights game. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Bennett/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports
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By Anthony Scultore

Anthony Scultore is the founder of Forever Blueshirts and has been covering the New York Rangers and the NHL since 2014. His work also appears at YardBarker and MSN. Some of his past features have been linked on Sportsnet, NBC, TFP, NY POST, NEWSDAY and more.