NEW YORK -- New York Rangers General Manager Phil Esposito Wednesday assumed the team's coaching duties for the rest of the season because of an inner-ear problem rendering Coach Tom Webster unable to travel in airplanes.
Esposito said Webster and Assistant Coaches Wayne Cashman and Ed Giacomin will run practices and he will coach the games.
The plan -- outlined at a news conference before Wednesday night's game with the Winnipeg Jets -- calls for Webster to be in the press box for all New York's home games plus those road games within easy auto or rail distance.
'If he cannot make a game because of the distance and air travel required, he will still remain involved,' Esposito said.
Esposito suggested Webster can reclaim his coaching job next season if he is healthy. The general manager informed his players of the move at a pregame meeting.
'Tommy is the coach of this club and will return in training camp next fall when he is able,' Esposito said of his remarks to the team. 'Right now, we'll keep him involved and get his expertise from upstairs in the press box.'
'This may take three months or more,' Webster said of his recovery. 'There is no guarantee. Rest and being away from tension does make it improve. It's not life threatening, but it is a health problem.'
Webster, whose record this season was 5-7-4 compared to Esposito's 9-3, was hired Nov. 26 to succeed Ted Sator. Esposito fired Sator with the Rangers struggling at 5-10-4. Cashman and Giacomin are 0-2 as a coaching team.
Webster developed bouts of dizziness and nausea. Doctors surgically repaired a hole in the eustachian tube of his left ear and restricted him from team flights for a month.
Wanting to join the team during its recent West Coast trip, Webster underwent another procedure in which a tube -- designed to relieve pressure from air travel -- was inserted into the ear.
He made several trips without incident but fell ill on the flight from Vancouver to Edmonton last Thursday. He was treated in Edmonton and advised to travel home by train, arriving Monday night as the Rangers-New Jersey Devils game ended.
