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Rangers don't get their man Robinson withdraws from coaching searchPosted: Thursday June 26, 2003 12:12 PMUpdated: Thursday June 26, 2003 3:17 PM NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- Former New Jersey Devils coach Larry Robinson took himself out of the running for the New York Rangers' head coaching job. Robinson spoke with Rangers general manager Glen Sather on Thursday morning and told him of his decision. Robinson said the job was never formally offered. "I didn't think I could change my personality, and I didn't know if my personality suited what they had," Robinson said. "I was looking forward to the challenge, but I didn't have that real excitement when I thought about taking this job." Sather took over behind the Rangers bench last season after firing Bryan Trottier. The Rangers went 11-10-4-3 with the GM doubling as coach. Sather said Thursday that he would retain the coaching job if he determines he is the best person to do it. "It's a process," Sather said. "It's one less guy. Larry is not the only guy. There are other guys I've been speaking to." Robinson, a Hall of Fame defenseman who has two years remaining on his contract with New Jersey, was an assistant coach on the Devils team that won the Stanley Cup in 1995, then coached the Los Angeles Kings for four seasons. He returned to take over the Devils for the final eight games of the 1999-2000 season and led the team to the Stanley Cup. He coached the Devils for one more season and then was replaced by Kevin Constantine in 2002. He returned to the team as an assistant coach and later became a consultant. Robinson said he's interested in coaching in the NHL, but would prefer a younger team rather than a team composed mainly of veterans, like the Rangers. "I just didn't feel comfortable going there," Robinson said. "I enjoy teaching. I don't know if you can always teach old dogs new tricks. It was more of a gut feeling than anything else.
"I'm an emotional person, and I take everything to heart. If I
couldn't turn these guys around, it would bother me. When you look
at who they've got and what they've got, you wonder why they're not
winning more."
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