NHL RANGERS GET THEIR MAN... NOT TORTORELLA

 Here, there … mostly everywhere …

Four days after he was discarded by the Pittsburgh 

Penguins the New York Rangers hired MIKE 

SULLIVAN to succeed PETER LAVIOLETTE as 

coach … proving, if nothing else, 2024-25 wasn’t a total 

loss for the Broadway Blueshirts, after all … The two-

time Stanley Cup champion had been No. 1 on NY 

general manager CHRIS DRURY’s wish list as far back 

as 2021 when he made his first of two previous hires and 

had to settle on GERARD GALLANT … who lasted 

two seasons before Laviolette survived two more.

Rumors that former Ranger coach JOHN 

TORTORELLA (fired by the Flyers) would join 

Sulllivan as member of his new staff proved incorrect. 

They had worked together (along with assistant GM 

Drury) earlier this year on the American team that was 

runnerup in the 4-Nations tournamemt.

A meeting with NICK SABAN has President DONALD 

TRUMP supposedly considering an executive order that 

would (among other things) force NCAA schools to have 

all NIL money be distributed equally among all athletes. 

Smart guy, Saban … the former Alabama coach (retired) 

knows paying last off the bench of, say, girls field hockey 

as much as football’s high-profile quarterback will lead to 

such a negative reaction that NIL donors will stop giving 

and, therefore, rescue the games undergraduates play 

from the current chaos. Hopefully.

There also has been a report TOMMY TUBERVILLE, 

Auburn football coach turned U.S. Senator, would like to 

run for governor of Alabama… and that Saban would 

make an excellent replacement – if he’s interested, that is. 

To date he has not said yea or nay.

Name to remember … TAYLOR ELGERSMA. A 

quarterback, he was recipient of Canada’s version of the 

Heisman Trophy … and currently is making the rounds of 

NFL teams like Buffalo’s Bills and Green Bay’s Packers, 

who seem to be most interested.