The Rangers goaltending guru is hanging up his skates.
Benoit Allaire, who worked for the Blueshirts as a goaltending coach from 2004-2024 before scaling back his workload and transitioning to their director of goaltending over the last couple seasons, will retire, the Rangers announced in a statement Saturday.
“Benoit Allaire’s contributions to the Rangers over the past two decades have been immeasurable,” general manager Chris Drury said in a statement released on X. “Whether it was teaching a Hall of Famer or a rookie just starting his career, Benny made everyone he worked with better.
Benoit Allaire and Jesper Fast mess around during a practice session on an off day during the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs at Staples Center on June 6, 2014 in Los Angeles. Getty Images
David Leneveu, Henrik Lundqvist and goaltending coach Benoit Allaire take part in a
Rangers practice session on an off day during the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs
at Staples Center on June 6, 2014 in Los Angeles. Getty Images“On behalf of everyone in the Rangers organization, we wish him and his wife, Lyne, all the best in retirement.”
The news doesn’t come as a shock given Allaire scaled back his responsibilities two years ago, with Jeff Malcolm being promoted to replace him as the organization’s goaltending coach.
Still, Allaire has been synonymous with the Rangers for 20 years, and played a huge role in developing both Henrik Lundqvist and Igor Shesterkin.
Even if he wasn’t around as much the last two seasons — and even if Shesterkin has been one of the few Rangers whose performance hasn’t dropped off in that time period — Allaire is a staple of the organization.
One they’ll now be without.
