The NHL / Julie Cart : Thin Ice Under Sator Gave Way Amid a Clash of Styles With Esposito

The strange saga of Ted Sator and the New York Rangers came to an end last Friday when Ranger General Manager Phil Esposito fired Sator and his two assistants.

Esposito said he had considered the move for 2 1/2 weeks, after an early season of acrimony off the ice and little success on it.

Sator was hired last season and led the Rangers to the Stanley Cup semifinals. His contract was extended through 1988 last summer.

Also last summer, however, Esposito was named general manager, and there was an immediate clash of styles. Esposito, a rough and wild player, is emerging as a freewheeling and unorthodox general manager. Sator is a cold and steely new-age coach, at home with computers that Esposito could not understand.

The rumors that Sator would be fired began even before the season did. Early on, there was considered to be a lack of communication on the team.

But it was the lack of communication between Sator and Esposito that was at the core of the Rangers’ problems.

Consider the recent benching of leading scorer Pierre Larouche, for example. Sator said Larouche wasn’t working hard and that the benching had been a joint decision with Esposito. Esposito, who obviously didn’t like the move, said it had been strictly the coach’s idea.

Sator had confidence in college players and wanted them to play enough to gain experience. Esposito called college players inferior and favored players from the junior ranks.

Other incidents in recent weeks foreshadowed the firing. The first week of November, Esposito took away the walkie-talkie equipment used by assistant coach Jack Birch in the press box to talk to assistant coach Reg Higgs behind the bench. Esposito claimed such communication was not necessary in his playing days and therefore not necessary today.

The headsets were resurrected by the coaches in a game Nov. 16. but banished again when Esposito saw them.

About that same time, Esposito traded one of Sator’s favorite players, defenseman Bob Brooke, to Minnesota.

Then there were the exercise bikes. The use of the bikes as a training aid came to symbolize the contrasting philosophies of the coach and general manager.

Sator had studied the hockey training techniques of the Soviets and Europeans, who stressed weight training and physical fitness. As part of Sator’s regimen, Ranger players rode exercise bikes.

Esposito could not have been more disgusted. He said the bikes were tiring the players and that the emphasis on strength was detracting from the players’ skating ability.

“I don’t care if they ride all the way to Pittsburgh,” Esposito said. “They got to play hockey here. We’re getting back to the grass roots here.

“I looked terrible when I played. Bobby Orr and I couldn’t have passed a physical these guys take today. Look at (Wayne) Gretzky. I always said I had the worst body in the league.”

There seemed to be differences at every turn. Esposito likes a wide-open offense, but Sator built the team around defense and tight checking. His reining in of Larouche, who at one point last season was sent to the minors, was seen by Esposito as a waste of talent.

“Pierre played like he was handcuffed,” one player said.

Whereas Esposito is a garrulous back slapper, Sator is hard-working and had little time for chatter with his team.

Sator’s demeanor apparently drove off at least three players, who left the NHL rather than play for the coach. Mark Pavelich was the first to leave last season, after calling Sator and his assistants “mean.”

Barry Beck and Reijo Ruotsalainen left before this season. With Sator gone, there is a chance that Beck may return.

“I hated to do it, but at least this way you have some hope,” Esposito said after firing Sator. Esposito took over as interim coach and on Wednesday named Tom Webster as head coach.

Webster served for three years in the Ranger system as coach of the Tulsa Oilers from 1982 to 1985 and coached more recently with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League.

In his 1 seasons with the Rangers, Sator compiled a 41-48-10 record and was 5-10-4 this season. The Rangers are 7-11-4 and in last place in the Patrick Division.

NHL Notes

Ted Sator’s attorney met with Ranger officials earlier this week to discuss the buy-out details of Sator’s contract. . . . Former coach Don Cherry, now a commentator, said Esposito fired the wrong guy. “(Sator) didn’t get stupid over the summer,” he said. “The guy who should be nailed to the cross is John Vanbiesbrouck (Ranger goaltender). He signed a fat contract over the summer and then came to camp unprepared.” . . . Left wing Terry Ruskowski has been named captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was also the captain of the Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks.