Rangers announce Lindy Ruff, David Oliver, Greg Brown as assistants

Veteran Lindy Ruff and newcomers David Oliver and Greg Brown were announced on Tuesday as the members of the coaching staff for new Rangers head coach David Quinn.

Ruff, 58, is a holdover from prior coach Alain Vigneault’s staff. He had been a head coach for 19 seasons before joining Vigneault’s staff last summer to handle the team’s defense, and he was the only assistant not let go when Vigneault was fired at the end of the season.

Brown, 50, was the associate head coach at Boston College for the past five seasons and had been on the Boston College coaching staff for the past 14 seasons. He also played alongside Rangers legends Mike Richter and Brian Leetch on the U.S. Olympic team in 1988 and played with Richter, Leetch and Quinn on the 1986 U.S. team that won the bronze medal at the World Junior Championships.

While at BC, Brown coached two current Rangers, Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes. In a tweet by the Rangers, Kreider said, “I’m incredibly excited. I had a good rapport and good relationship working with [Brown] @BCHockey. I can attribute a good portion of my development to working with him and the entire coaching staff.’’

Oliver, 47, played 233 games for five NHL teams, including 14 regular-season games and three playoff games for the Rangers in 1996-97. He comes to the Rangers from the Colorado Avalanche, where he spent the last 11 seasons, including the last four as director of player development. During his time with the Avalanche, Oliver served in a variety of roles, including as general manager of the Avalanche’s AHL farm team, the Lake Erie Monsters.

He was GM of the Monsters when Quinn was hired to coach the team in 2009, and he served as an assistant coach to Quinn with the Monsters in the 2011-12 season.

The three assistants join another holdover to the staff, goaltending coach Benoit Allaire, who has been with the team since 2004.