New York Rangers HC David Quinn excited about playing in a playoff series

New York Rangers head coach David Quinn is happy to be talking about hockey again. He and his team are preparing for the NHL to begin the next phase in their Return to Play format which should begin sometime in June.

Quinn’s weekly show, “Home Ice with David Quinn” airs Sunday night at 7:00 p.m on the MSG Network. The second-year coach had some good things to say about his hockey team and the excitement everyone is feeling with the possibility of getting back to work.

The Rangers opponent in the Qualifying Round, the Carolina Hurricanes, has had some negative things to say about how fair the process was regarding the 24-team playoff format the NHL announced last week. The Carolina Hurricanes were one of two teams to vote no to the NHL proposal.

Quinn was asked if the proposed return to play plan is fair?

“I think we all have to be very careful when we are talking about fair. Because when I think about fair right now I think about the 100,000 people that have lost their lives and the loved ones that have been affected by it. I think about the first responders who have been exposed to this terrible disease mentally and physically. I think about the 30-40 million people that have filed for unemployment. I think about the small and big business that have been shut down. I think about the seniors in high school and college that will never experience one of life’s great moments. So I think we all have to be very sensitive to the word fair. And we have been very fortunate that we continue to play a game that we love and coach a game that we love. I understand fairness in the small context of our sport, but I think we all have to keep the word fair in perspective.”

Quinn was very optimistic when he was asked about his reaction to the plan saying,

“We’re just excited about the progress that we continue to make and hopefully we are inevitably playing in a playoff series. And obviously it’s a difficult time in the world today and the NHL has been working hand in hand with the government to do this in the proper way and the safest way possible. So we’re just excited that a plan has been laid out and the fact that we’ve made some progress.”

Quinn continued with the exciting theme when he talked about his players.

“We all were excited about the good news that we were able to play again. And have a chance to play again. We’ve been in constant contact with our players over the last two and a half months. And our guys are excited about the possibility of playing again. Our guys are in a good mindset. We’re feeling really good about the way we were playing.”

The Rangers were two points out of a wild card spot when the league paused and eventually concluded the regular season. The NHL’s announcement this past Tuesday earned the Blueshirts their first playoff appearance since 2017.