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Rangers Sather needs to relinquish a position
By Scary Barry Rodriguez and Tony "The Tiger" Hayes April 5, 2004 |
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He coaches one of the greatest hockey players to ever wear either a Edmonton or New York Ranger sweater-Mark Messier. He's coached in Edmonton and now New York. But the New York Rangers, one of the most storied clubs in the NHL, will miss the playoffs again after the final horn Saturday at the MCI Center in Washington. Rangers Head Coach Glen Sather has the task of being the team's President and General Manager, in addition to running the bench. That’s right, Sather had all that weight on his shoulders. The Rangers front office, at least those beneath Sather, quietly point the finger at him for not making the playoffs and finishing fourth in the Atlantic Division-just 13 points above the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team who nearly set an NHL record for the most consecutive losses. Rangers’ fans are not oblivious to the record with 67 points, well below first place New Jersey’s 98. Sather has too much responsibility and its going to catch up to him. Every daily newspaper in the city is either ragging, has ragged, or is tired of ragging on him. The only other New York Ranger that holds any kind of veto power over Sather is their building Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer-James Dolan. In light of the heavy publicity from the local dailies, to the Hockey News and ESPN and worst of all the customers who pay for a ticket to get into Madison Square Garden, it looks like the franchise is ready for some sort of change. Messier is rumored to be finishing his 8 year career, with a break in service in Vancouver, with the Rangers. That won’t be saying much. Messier has seen his better days, but his contribution and his drawing appeal, while it lasted, was some help for the Rangers. Sather has been under the gun this year to make deals before trading deadlines, sign free agents and scout young talent in the minor league system and players who would fit into the Rangers play book, so the Rangers could get their name etched into the annals of post season history. “If you’re going to suck” said one Ranger fan leaving the Garden last month, “suck in the post season.” The point gets lost if you’re the team President, GM, and Head Coach. Dolan has stepped out of the way and said, "Its all yours Glen, run with it." The Rangers have to come to the realization that one man can not share all those duties. The result of wearing all three hats is the Rangers’ abysmal final regular season record. Sather is the club's 12th President and 10th GM. He started his coaching career with the Edmonton Oilers in the `79-`80 season, though he was out of coaching in 88-89, only to return for one season with Edmonton again in `93-`94. He joined the Rangers in 2002. You wonder why he does it. The Ranger gave him a once in a lifetime opportunity, to take the reigns of one of the most storied franchises in NHL history. Sather took it. The results just haven't been there-especially when you finish below .500 by 14 games. The Rangers have Messier, who scored his 694th career goal in his 1756th game, and has been in the NHL since `79-80. Although, he might have played his last game last Wednesday at MSG in a 4-3 Buffalo win. It seemed oddly fitting that the Rangers would drop their last home game after the kind of season they have had. So who do you blame the President, the GM or the Coach? For Sather the sound of the buzzer going off at the MCI Center will be a relief. If Dolan will allow him-he will stay on the club. But Sather will have shed two of the three positions he holds. Mainly the New York media can be very ruthless on an easy target like Sather. Slather is a great guy, but the Rangers need to regroup in the off season: share the wealth, split up the duties and get some real players on the roster to make them more competitive. The sad thing is that at the ending of the Rangers season, being in the number one media market, the Rangers might have to wait until 2005-06 instead of September `04 because the players will mostly likely be locked out by the owners for next season. But at least it gives New York time to plan and evolve. Scary Barry does commentary and covers the 49ers and Giants and Tony “the Tiger” does Sports commentary on this site as well as host Sportstalk Radio. This article was sponsored by Kinko’s, your sign and banner center. Visit Kinko’s at 160 West Santa Clara Street, in downtown San Jose for all your oversize needs. |
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