NEW YORK (AP) David Quinn had been contacted by other NHL teams in recent years Womens Patric Hornqvist Jersey , and chose to remain at Boston University. When the New York Rangers came calling, it was different.As talks with general manager Jeff Gorton and assistant GM Chris Drury – both of whom he’s known for many years – progressed, he knew it was time to make the move.”It just seemed like a natural fit,” Quinn said Thursday when he was introduced as the Rangers’ coach at Madison Square Garden. ”I’m 52 years old and at this point in my life, to be able to be the head coach of the New York Rangers was an opportunity I could not pass up.”Quinn led the Terriers to four NCAA Tournament appearances in five seasons, including a trip to the national title game in 2015.”This was a hard decision because of my love and passion for Boston University. It was an incredible opportunity for five years,” he said. ”This is really the only situation I would have left Boston University for.”Quinn spent the lockout-shortened 2013 NHL season as an assistant on Joe Sacco’s staff with the Colorado Avalanche, and also coached in the American Hockey League. Now, he becomes the 35th head coach in franchise history, replacing Alain Vigneault, who was fired April 7 just hours after the Rangers missed the playoffs for the first time since 2010.Gorton said he considered five to 10 people for the vacancy, but ruled out veteran NHL coaches while looking for someone to relate to the team’s younger players as it goes through a rebuilding mode.Quinn was high on his list from the beginning.”We were looking for somebody with fresh ideas, a fresh approach,” Gorton said. ”It just kept coming back to David as the guy we wanted and could see as we move forward with the Rangers and do what we have to do.”The things that stick out for us were obviously his communication skills will be important as we move forward. His feel for the game, the way he wants to play has meshed well with what we want to do here.”Through his discussions with Gorton and Drury, Quinn said he also felt they ”seemed to be on the same page.””Every time they said `this is what we’re looking to do,’ I would say to myself `I do that. That’s kind of my coaching DNA,”’ he said. ”As time went on it just seemed more of a natural fit.”The new coach stressed practices will be hard with an eye toward improvement, and players should come in with that mindset.”I like to think I’m fair and demanding,” Quinn said. ”There’s no gray area with me with players. They want to get better, they want to be held accountable, but the message has to be this is in your best interest. This is not about me being the big, tough coach. It’s about me letting them know everything that we’re doing is to make them better players.”Rangers defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who played at BU when Quinn was an assistant there and also under him with Lake Erie of the AHL, agreed with the coach’s assessment.”He treats players with a lot of respect but he expects you to show up to work every day and he wants to work on something every day,” Shattenkirk said. ”I think that’s something that we need here.”The Rangers made the playoffs in four of five seasons under Vigneault, including a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2014. This past season, they finished last in the Metropolitan Division, 20 points out of the Eastern Conference’s two wild-card spots while missing the postseason for the first time since 2010.Though several key players were dealt at the trading deadline in a youth movement, there is still plenty of talent on the roster, including veteran goalie Henrik Lundqvist Phil Kessel Jersey , forwards Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Hayes and Mika Zibanejad, and defensemen Shattenkirk and Brady Skjei.”There’s a lot of good core players here, older and younger,” Shattenkirk said. ”A lot of them, they’re young but they have NHL experience. We’re not bringing in a lot of 18- and 19-year-olds who don’t know what the lay of the land is in the league.”Gorton said he and Quinn have begun compiling a list of potential assistant coaches, but there is no timetable for filling out the staff. The status of Lindy Ruff, hired as an assistant under Vigneault last year, has not been determined.Shattenkirk, recovering from surgery on his left knee in January, said his rehab is on schedule and he could start skating in a month and be ready for training camp in September.—Follow Vin Cherwoo at www.twitter.com/VinCherwooAP— NEW YORK (AP) — Fittingly, Liam Hendriks wore his cap backward. A reliever is going to start a team’s postseason opener.A pitcher with no wins in the regular season.A pitcher cut from the 40-man roster in June who spent two months toiling in the minor leagues.A pitcher from Down Under who was happy to get medieval in New York.“Instead of the starter going six and handing it over to the bullpen or going five and handing it over to the bullpen, now we’re just reversing it,” Oakland’s Australian right-hander said Tuesday, a day ahead of the Athletics‘ AL wild card game against the New York Yankees.New York’s Aaron Boone made a more conventional choice for his postseason game as a manager, picking Luis Severino over J.A. Happ and Masahiro Tanaka. Severino created a bullpen night in last year’s wild card game but not by design, lasting just one out and leaving with a three-run deficit against Minnesota in a game the Yankees rallied to win 8-4. Oakland manager Bob Melvin has been scrambling because of injuries to starting pitchers Jharel Cotton, Kendall Graveman, Sean Manaea, Paul Blackburn, Andrew Triggs and Daniel Gossett . Yet, the A’s finished second in the AL West at 97-65, their best record in 16 years, and their relievers went 45-16, the second-most bullpen wins in big league history behind Tampa Bay’s 54 this year.“There’s been a struggle between old-school mentality and sabermetrics, and this is a way to kind of incorporate sabermetrics with effectiveness,” Oakland closer Blake Treinen said. “You can’t say going a starter for seven innings is the best way. You can’t say that going an opener is the best way. But this is what’s going to work for us, and we’re going to ride it out, and we have full faith in whoever makes the decisions. I’m excited to see what this game does because it’s kind of a first of its kind, and I think we all fully embrace that.”Yankees reliever Zach Britton, a two-time All-Star reliever with Baltimore Sidney Crosby Jersey , said this new method was unfathomable just five years ago. Views started to change when the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians used bullpens in a non-traditional manner in the 2016 postseason. Tampa Bay was 46-38 with regular starters this year and 44-34 when opening with relievers.“I think the data shows that it’s an effective way,” Britton said. “The hitters, they’re not able to get comfortable off a starter. There’s a new guy possibly every time you come to the plate. So it’s a good strategy, and you know why teams are starting to do it, because it’s effective.”Hendriks, a 29-year-old in his third season with Oakland, started for Minnesota (2011-14) and Kansas City (2014) before Toronto converted him to the bullpen in 2015. He had a 7.36 ERA in 13 relief appearances this season when he was designated for assignment on June 25 to clear a roster spot for Edwin Jackson.Then 40-38, the A’s won their next six games and 11 of 13.“Apparently I’m a pariah,” Hendriks said jokingly.After 21 appearances with Triple-A Nashville, he was brought back on Sept. 1 when active rosters expanded to 40. As Hendriks was checking into a hotel in Oakland that day, he received a telephone call from pitching coach Scott Emerson.“‘By the way, you’re going to start today,'” Hendriks recalled Emerson telling him. “I got to the field about an hour later, and it was kind of, ‘Yep, we’re going to try this opening thing, see how it goes.'”Hendriks was removed with the score 0-0 after 30 pitches and five outs, and Danny Coulombe allowed Ben Gamel’s two-run double. The A’s tied a club record by using nine pitchers in an 8-7 loss to Seattle. After that, Hendriks pitched seven shutout innings in his last seven starts, allowing four hits.His fastball velocity was 97 mph in September, up 3-4 mph from earlier this season.“I think it was a big wake-up call for him, because he hadn’t been in that position for quite a while,” Melvin said of the demotion. “Maybe a little bit more focused in what he’s doing now.”Hendriks received a text from Melvin at 10:58 a.m. informing him of the decision. The pitcher calls himself an “opener,” not a starter, and it’s unclear who will follow . The only starter expected to be on Oakland’s roster Wednesday is Edwin Jackson.What is clear is Hendriks will be only the fourth pitcher to commence a postseason game after a regular season of no wins, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.Virgil Trucks started twice for Detroit in the 1945 World Series after returning from World War II and making one regular-season appearance. Milwaukee’s Yovani Gallardo returned from a torn knee ligament in 2008 and St. Louis’ Chris Carpenter came back from surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in 2012.After arriving in New York, Hendriks went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday.“My wife wanted to go see the Heavenly Bodies exhibit, which was incredible, and then I was super ecstatic to see all the medieval armor because that’s what I love,” he said. “I am reading a book now about the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings in 1066. So it’s all about medieval French and English and all of that.”
