A hockey lifer has passed on, as former Rangers coach Tom Webster died Friday at the age of 71.
Webster, known as “Hawkeye,” was hired as the Rangers’ coach in 1986 but only coached five games before an inner-ear infection left him unable to fly. The road duties were then split between general manager Phil Esposito and assistants Eddie Giacomin and Wayne Cashman, while Webster coached home games only. He returned to full-time coaching in January, but a relapse left him unable to coach and he resigned at the end of the season.
Webster took over as coach of the Kings in 1989, and with Wayne Gretzky on his team, they won the Smythe Division in 1990-91. In the next season while the Kings were playing in Detroit, Webster got infuriated with referee Kerry Fraser and threw a stick on the ice, hitting Fraser in the skate. Webster was suspended for 12 games. That season was his final one as an NHL head coach.
The Rangers sent out a tweet Friday afternoon, stating they were “saddened to learn of the passing of former head coach Tom Webster. Our thoughts and prayers are with Tom’s family and loved ones during this difficult time.”
Webster was drafted by the Bruins in 1966, and played 102 games in the NHL. But he made his name as a player during the inaugural season for the New England Whalers of the WHA, scoring 53 goals in the club’s first season of 1972-73.He played six seasons for the Whalers and left just before they moved to the NHL in 1979.
When the Whalers moved from Hartford to become the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997, Webster was an assistant coach on that first staff under Paul Maurice. Maurice, now the head coach of the Jets — another relocated franchise — said Webster was “the guy” when it came to his coaching influences.
“He was my junior coach who I eventually hired as an assistant coach in the NHL. He would absolutely be the man who influenced me the most,” Maurice said earlier this season, according to the Winnipeg Sun. “Really, really intense guy but a big family guy, very emotional guy. Systems. That was kind of the first time I heard of the word systems, like, ‘Hey, we’ve got a plan here.’ ”
Webster had many other jobs in hockey, including as an assistant coach for the Flyers from 1994-96 and two different stints as head coach of the OHL Windsor Spitfires, winning a league title in 1988, and then making his final coaching run from 1999-2003. Before retiring, he was a scout for the Flames, who honored him at the NHL Draft in 2013 in Philadelphia, where Webster got a standing ovation before making the team’s final pick in the seventh round.