In June, 1985 the Rangers were fresh off one of their worst seasons. Though they made the playoffs (in those days EVERY team made the playoffs), but they set two teams records that still stand: most losses (44) and most goals allowed (345).
Eliminated in the first round by the Philadelphia Flyers, the Rangers went out and hired Ted Sator, a Flyers assistant coach, to be their head coach. It was an out-of-the-box selection as he had only two years NHL assistant coaching experience. His five years experience coaching in Sweden and his ability to speak Swedish was cited as one reason he was hired though the team only had three Swedish players.