Willing to Sacrifice: Rangers’ Alain Vigneault set to coach 1,000th NHL game

Alain Vigneault paused for a moment when asked what advice he would give a younger version of himself — one who had yet spend a single game behind an NHL bench as a head coach.

“You sacrifice a lot things on a personal level,” he said. “The balance people have in life between their family lives and their work is really tested and put to the limit. I’ve never felt I worked a day in my life because I love the game.

“I was willing to make that sacrifice.”

Vigneault will coach his 1,000th NHL game on Friday when his New York Rangers visit the Edmonton Oilers, a milestone he has reached despite a roller-coaster career.

The Quebec City native was in his late 30s and leading the Montreal Canadiens in the 2000-01 season when he was blindsided by an abrupt firing just over three years into his tenure.

“‘Challenging’ would be an understatement. It was six months where even though I had sent my resume to tons of people and I had just been up for coach of the year with the Habs, I couldn’t find a job,” said Vigneault. “I was six months out of work, I was going through a challenging (marriage) separation, two young daughters, a lot of bills.”

After a brief career as an NHL defenceman, Vigneault got his start coaching in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and as an assistant with the expansion Ottawa Senators. He knew he would have to take a step backwards to get another crack at the big time after Montreal, so he signed on with the QMJHL’s PEI Rocket before the Vancouver Canucks hired him to coach their AHL affiliate.

And when then-Canucks general manager Dave Nonis fired Marc Crawford in 2006, Vigneault was the man entrusted with getting the club to the next level.

“To say that I was very confident that I would get back (to the NHL) would not be the truth,” he said in Vancouver earlier this week prior to the Rangers’ game against the Canucks.

Vancouver made the playoffs and Vigneault won coach of the year in his first campaign, but the team missed out on the post-season in 2007-08, with Nonis paying the price for that failure with his job.

Mike Gillis came on board as GM and supported Vigneault during a rough stretch in 2008-09 when many were clamouring for him to be fired.

“(Gillis) never buckled,” said Vigneault. “He was right by my side.”

Gillis’ faith was repaid and two years later Vigneault led Vancouver to the best record in the league and within a game of winning the Stanley Cup.

Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows, who played eight seasons for Vigneault, said honesty is one of the coach’s greatest attributes.

“There’s no grey areas,” said Burrows. “If you’re a shooter you better shoot, if you’re a grinder you better grind. He tells you how it is.”

A second Presidents’ Trophy followed in 2011-12, but Vancouver bowed out in the first round of the playoffs that season and again in the spring of 2013, leading to Vigneault’s dismissal.

“Hockey’s a tough business and expectations here were high,” he said. “I understand the organization doing what it had to do. I have nothing but good memories.”

Vigneault — who has record of 538-349-112 as he prepares to become the 23rd coach in NHL history to reach 1,000 games — landed on his feet with the Rangers, but got off to a slow start in New York.

“I’ve had a lot of different coaching styles,” said Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist. “What really struck me the most was his patience when he came in his first year and we were struggling.”

Vigneault stayed patient and led the Rangers to a Stanley Cup appearance in 2013-14 before losing out in the Eastern Conference final last season.

The 54-year-old has never been approached by Hockey Canada to coach internationally, but won’t touch the subject any further.

Vigneault has flown under the radar for much of his career. That doesn’t seem to bother him, at least on the surface.

“This is a tough business to get into,” he said. “In my case, it’s tough business to get back into.”

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