Ted Sator

Ted Sator (born November 18, 1949 ) is an American professional ice hockey coach. He has twelve seasons of National Hockey League (NHL) coaching experience, serving as an assistant coach for various teams and head coach of the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres. He has also spent time coaching in the American Hockey League (AHL) and ECHL along with coaching in Europe including stints as the Slovenian and Hungarian national ice hockey teams. He is a current assistant men's ice hockey coach at Lindenwood University.

Playing career Sator played college hockey for Bowling Green State University. During his senior year, the 1971–72 season, for the Falcons, Sator played 27 games, where he tallied 5 goals and assisted on 6 others; helping the Falcons finish the season with a record of 21-10-2. He was also selected to play with the U.S. World Team in Lake Placid, New York. and remaining as assistant coach under new head coach Mike Keenan during the 1984–85 season.

At just 35 years of age, Sator was named head coach of the New York Rangers, leading up to the 1985-1986 season. He implemented a buttoned-down defensive style, under which the team finished with a record of 36-38-6, good for fourth place in the Patrick Division. This was the same position the team had finished the prior season, although this time they had improved by 16 points, from 62 to 78. In the playoffs, the team then shocked first the Flyers and then the Washington Capitals, thus making the Conference finals. Now one of four teams left, they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Montreal Canadiens. Speculation regarding Sator's job immediately followed.

Sator's time with the Rangers was not appreciated by many of his charges. Numerous players rebelled against Sator, with both his restrictive style of play as well as his allegedly controlling personality leading three of the team's biggest stars - Mark Pavelich, Reijo Ruotsalainen, and team captain Barry Beck - to simply leave the team and go home. Another star player, popular sniper Pierre Larouche, was benched. Only 19 games into his second season as head coach, the new general manager fired Sator, after the team began the season in last place, posting a 5-10-4 record. He was replaced by Tom Webster.

Sator quickly found a new position when he was named head coach of the Buffalo Sabres for the following year, 1987-1988. He coached to two third-place finishes but was unable to get the team past the Stanley Cup finalist Boston Bruins in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and was relieved of his coaching duties in 1989. Sator's time in Buffalo was marked by a dispute with team captain (and future Sabres coach) Lindy Ruff that led to Ruff being traded to the New York Rangers.

Over the next two seasons, Sator was an assistant coach with the Boston Bruins before traveling to Italy to become head coach of the HC Devils Milano of the Serie A in 1991. In the team's first season in the Austrian Hockey League the team qualified for last Playoff seed. The team stunned top seeded Graz 99ers in the Quarterfinals, winning the series in six games, before suffering elimination to eventual champions EC Red Bull Salzburg in the semi-finals. For the 2011-2012 season, he was hired aas assistant coach of the Lindenwood University men's ice hockey team. He joins the team under head coach Rick Zombo, a former NHL defenseman who played for the St. Louis Blues during Sator's tenure as assistant coach for the Blues in the early 1990s.

Coaching statistics (NHL head coach) Team Year Regular season Postseason G W L T OTL Pts Finish W L Win % Result NYR 1985–86 80 36 38 6 – 78 4th in Patrick 8 8 .500 Lost conference finals (MTL) NYR 1986–87 19 5 10 4 – 14 4th in Patrick – – – (fired) BUF 1987–88 80 37 32 11 – 85 3rd in Adams 2 4 .333 Lost division semifinals (BOS) BUF 1988–89 80 38 35 7 – 83 3rd in Adams 1 4 .250 Lost division semifinals (BOS)Total 259 116 115 28 – 11 16 .407

Coaching statistics (North American other) Season Team League Type GP W L T OTL PCT Playoff Result 1983–84 Philadelphia Flyers NHL Assistant Coach 1984–85 Philadelphia Flyers NHL Assistant Coach 1989–90 Boston Bruins NHL Assistant Coach 1990–91 Boston Bruins NHL Assistant Coach 1993–94 St. Louis Blues NHL Assistant Coach 1994–95 St. Louis Blues NHL Assistant Coach 1995–96 Hartford Whalers NHL Assistant Coach 1996–97 Syracuse Crunch AHL Assistant Coach 1996–97 Vancouver Canucks NHL Assistant Coach 1997–98 New Orleans Brass ECHL Head coach 70 36 24 10 0 .586 Lost in Round 1 1998–99 New Orleans Brass ECHL Head coach 70 30 27 13 0 .521 Lost in Round 3 1999–00 New Orleans Brass ECHL Head coach 70 36 27 0 7 .564 Lost in Round 1 2000–01 New Orleans Brass ECHL Head coach 72 35 25 12 0 .569 Lost in Round 2 2001–02 New Orleans Brass ECHL Head coach 72 36 32 4 0 .528 Lost in Round 1

Note: Sator was fired after 23 games in the 1986–87 season, and replaced by Tom Webster. Note: Sator was the Assistant Coach for Team USA in the Canada Cup in 1984 and 1987.