Craig MacTavish Craig MacTavish ( born August 15 , 1958 in London , Ontario , Canada ) is the head coach of the National Hockey League ' s Edmonton Oilers . He is a former NHL centre who played 14 NHL seasons with the Boston Bruins , Edmonton Oilers , New York Rangers , Philadelphia Flyers and St . Louis Blues . He has also served as assistant coach with the Rangers and Oilers . He was known for never wearing a helmet . Career . MacTavish is the last player in NHL history to play without a helmet . He is also remembered as the player who took the last faceoff for the New York Rangers in Game Seven of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals against the Vancouver Canucks with 1 . 6 seconds remaining , to solidify the win and break the Rangers ' 54 - year Stanley Cup " Curse " . MacTavish played two years of NCAA hockey with the University of Massachusetts Lowell , from 1977 to 1979 . He was drafted by the Boston Bruins in the 1978 NHL Entry Draft with their 9th pick , 153rd overall , and spent the next several years splitting time between the Bruins and various American Hockey League teams . He finally made the Bruins for good in 1982 - 83 and played two full seasons with them . MacTavish missed the 1984 - 85 season after being convicted of vehicular homicide , having struck and killed a young woman while he was driving under the influence of alcohol . MacTavish pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol in an accident the night of January 25 , 1984 in Peabody , MA . Kim Radley , 26 , of West Newfield , ME , died four days later of injuries sustained in the crash . ) MacTavish spent a year in jail as punishment for this offence . While incarcerated , he did manage to watch most of the games that were televised . After MacTavish was released from prison , the Bruins , feeling he deserved a fresh start , subsequently offered to let him out of his contract . MacTavish accepted . Widely viewed at the time as a personal favour from Edmonton general manager Glen Sather to his best friend , then - Bruins ' general manager Harry Sinden , the Oilers took a chance on MacTavish and signed him for the 1985 - 86 season . Sather ' s gamble turned out to be a good one , as MacTavish spent eight full seasons with the Oilers , helping the Oilers win three Stanley Cup s and serving as team captain from 1992 to 1994 . MacTavish was traded to the New York Rangers in 1994 , just in time to help several other former Oilers ( including Adam Graves and Mark Messier ) win the Stanley Cup for the Blueshirts . The next season MacTavish signed with the Philadelphia Flyers as a free agent , and was traded to the St . Louis Blues during the 1995 - 96 season . MacTavish retired following the 1996 - 97 season . He had been the last helmetless player , having begun his career before helmet s became mandatory ( then - current players were allowed to remain bare - headed under a grandfather clause ) . MacTavish didn ' t leave the game , however , returning for the 1997 - 98 season as an assistant coach with the Rangers . After two seasons in the Big Apple , he joined the Oilers as an assistant coach in the 1999 - 2000 season . He was subsequently promoted to the top job after head coach Kevin Lowe moved into the general manager position . In the 2005 - 06 season , MacTavish led the Oilers to the Stanley Cup Finals . In the first round of the playoffs , MacTavish shocked the hockey world by utilizing a trapping defensive system to neutralize a potent Detroit Red Wings offense . This closed defensive system , while popular in the pre - 2004 lockout NHL , had been deemed by many to be unworkable under the league ' s new anti - obstruction regulations . The Oilers were able to deny scoring chances by blocking shots with their bodies – something for which MacTavish was known for during his playing career . This proved effective ; the eighth - seeded Oilers won the opening round 4 - 2 , against the # 1 seed , the Detroit Red Wings . Along the way the Oilers defeated the San Jose Sharks and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim , by scores of 4 - 2 and 4 - 1 respectively . The Oilers then lost a thrilling seven - game 2006 Stanley Cup Playoff Finals series to the Carolina Hurricanes . The Oilers had not reached the Stanley Cup Finals since 1990 – during MacTavish ' s playing tenure in Edmonton . On November 4 , 2006 , one day after the Oilers lost to the Dallas Stars due to an apparent blown call in the last five seconds of the third period by referee Mick McGeough , MacTavish was fined $ 10 , 000 for expressing his anger after the game , referring to the call as " retarded " . After this incident , Oilers fans collected over $ 10 , 000 and gave it to MacTavish , who subsequently donated the money to charity .