News Article: Dolan on the Rangers

[Kwayry]

NY post had an interview with Dolan and it touched on many things, including the Rangers, Sather, Torts.
http://nypost.com/2013/11/22/james-dolan-dishes-on-isiah-his-garden-teams/

Surprisingly he knew something about the Rangers style of play:

I miss John Tortorella. I’d visit Torts before a game and we would trade barbs for 10 minutes, he’d tell me about his [lousy] cable TV service and I’d be sitting there saying, “You can’t clear the puck out of your zone, what the hell’s wrong with you?†and he’d strike back and then play the game and I miss that.

Here is the rest of the Rangers portion

MV: Let’s talk about the Rangers a little bit. Is there a line of succession in place when Sather retires? Will he choose his replacement?

JD: Ultimately it’s got to be my call but I have a tremendous amount of respect for Glen and still feel very lucky to have him. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience and I don’t know if there’s anyone else in the NHL that’s better than him, but he’s got to be close to the top. His understanding of the game, his understanding of what makes a great player, and also he’s pulled off some trades I looked at him and said, “How did you do that?†As long as he’d like to stay I’d like to have him.

MV: A few years ago you took the mic at a postgame press conference and proclaimed the Rangers were on the right track for the Cup. Do you still feel that way?

JD: Yeah, I do. This is going to be an interesting year because we have a new coach and a new system. I’m heartened by what I’ve seen, it looks like the team is picking up on the coach’s strategy looks like they’re starting to jell, [Rick] Nash is coming back [Tuesday], we’ll see how that impacts the team. I like what I see. So much of hockey is playoffs, just like basketball, we’ve made the playoffs a bunch of times now but we haven’t … the closest we came was conference finals.

MV: While you’ve owned the Knicks and Rangers, the Yankees, Giants and Devils have all won championships, the Mets have been to the World Series. What do you feel when you see other teams’ successes?

JD: I don’t pay a lot of attention to the other sports. I’ve been here 15 years. So much of it is, it’s rare in a season when you see a team go through a season and dominate and go all the way through to the end. You want to be in those final four teams and then be hot, lucky, healthy … so the goal is to get there and then get the rest of the way.
Modal Trigger

John Tortorella was fired as Rangers coach in May.

MV: It seemed as if John Tortorella was on the brink of perfect New York stardom — no matter what, you had an opinion on him, good or bad. Are you sorry that didn’t work out?

JD: I miss John Tortorella. I’d visit Torts before a game and we would trade barbs for 10 minutes, he’d tell me about his [lousy] cable TV service and I’d be sitting there saying, “You can’t clear the puck out of your zone, what the hell’s wrong with you?†and he’d strike back and then play the game and I miss that. I’m developing a relationship with Alain [Vigneault] and he’s also a good guy, but Torts and I had a special relationship. It was fun for me. He banned me from the locker room for a while, all in fun. I miss that.

Click to read more...

 

[Calad]

Surprisingly refreshing read. Granted, I don't agree with everything he said, but he doesn't sound completely oblivious.

 

[Ex Officer Friendly]

Lol about torts cause that totally sounds like something he would do... AV would just be polite to him back

 

[wolfgaze]

Wow it sounds like Dolan has a broken heart after his breakup with Torts...

When Torts was complaining about his cable service, do you think he had FIOS or Optimum?

(I'm guessing the latter)

 

[2Leetch_94]

Wow it sounds like Dolan has a broken heart after his breakup with Torts...

When Torts was complaining about his cable service, do you think he had FIOS or Optimum?

(I'm guessing the latter)

Maybe he was upset he couldn't get MSGHD for the longest time. It's important to be able to watch those Rangers in 60's in that glorious HD. In SD it actually looks like Stu Bickel is an NHLer.

 

[Clown Fiesta]

Lol about torts cause that totally sounds like something he would do... AV would just be polite to him back

AV's got a good sense of humor so you don't know. That's the kind of thing I wish Torts would have shown more, love him or hate him as a coach he's a solid guy when he isn't playing tough.

 

[Ail]

There is no one better than Glen Sather; oh well except all those other guys who built teams to win Cups and remain competitive in the cap world.

This guy is actually clueless. Glen may have a ton of hockey wisdom but he sure as hell isn't applying it.

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

I feel like I have to take a shower after reading that interview.

My favorite part was the hypocrisy about how he had to fire Grunwald because he was "too much of a classic GM." Said something about hiring a firm and using "technology," whatever that means. I assume it means data-driven, evidenced based research to reach decisions. Thats a great thing.

Trouble is, he has a GM running his hockey team thats about as classic and old school as it gets, yet he has a job for life.

 

[Crease]

Yeah I don't get the "he's the best in the business" nonsense. How many times now has he gone to Dolan hat in hand asking for some cash to buyout a contract he wrote up?

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

Yeah I don't get the "he's the best in the business" nonsense. How many times now has he gone to Dolan hat in hand asking for some cash to buyout a contract he wrote up?

Maybe Dolan thinks it 1988, or even earlier.

I learned more about the Eagles than anything else in that interview.

 

[OrbitalDynamics]

So basically the Rangers actually do have a GM for life.F'ing great.

At 70 you'd think he would want to retire.

 

[bubba5]

Sather is the smartest man in the world. Who else can pull off having a job for so long and nothing to show for it. Not to mention the millions of dollars he has wasted of Dolan's money and he still is here. So for everyone who thinks Sather doesn't have a clue, think again!

 

[OrbitalDynamics]

Should have asked if he was concerned with Lundqvist getting frustrated with the GM for life dragging his feet in negotiations and opting to test free agency...

 

[Florida Ranger]

How about the signings of Drury, Gomez, Redden and Holik? He should've asked how he felt about those signings by this guy who has a "wealth of knowledge".

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

Should have asked if he was concerned with Lundqvist getting frustrated with the GM for life dragging his feet in negotiations and opting to test free agency...

Should have asked a lot of things. Should have asked him if he thinks his touring schedule with his stupid band is effecting the way hes running the Knicks/Rangers - and if thats why the vultures are swirling in regards to Cablevision's sagging stock.

But I understand why Vaccaro would throw softballs at somebody as reclusive to the media as Dolan.

 

[NYROrtsFan]

Anyone who thought that Sather was going anywhere doesn't pay attention. If you are going to call for Sather's firing, you may as well just talk about Dolan selling the team. Both aren't happening.


He's lost and it sucks.

It's also a little frustrating to read that Torts had to ban the ******* from the lockerroom. Torts realized that things have to appear as though everything is going through the head coach. OTherwise it eventually becomes divisive.

Hopefully AV is smart enough to tell Dolan to **** off sometimes. If he isn't, then he won't reach the success that Torts had when he was here.

 

[McRanger]

Interesting that he seems so sure that the garden will be there beyond its current lease.

From what I've heard recently from people doing engineering/construction for Skanska the current site of the garden is already in their hands and earmarked for a huge commercial building(s).

With the old Post Office being turned into a Penn/Accela expansion and the hudson yards being turned into residential buildings, they seem to be running out of prime real estate.

 

[RGF]

Dolan - classic case of lucky sprm.

 

[OverTheCap]

"I don't know if there's any else in the NHL that's better than him."

Maybe he literally doesn't know about the better GMs out there. I'll send Dolan a package of press clippings about Stan Bowman, Peter Chiarelli, Dean Lombardi, etc.

Dolan doesn't have the faintest clue of about who Sather's replacement will be which is why he didn't really address the line of succession question. Wonder what Bill Torrey is up to these days...

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Dolan - classic case of lucky sprm.

Just curious is that a typo or is this board now censoring that too?

 

[ponzu4u]

God how I dislike this man. There's just so much frickin wrong with this interview. As scary as it is to think about having Sather as our GM for life, it's infinitely more disheartening to me that this man will be the Owner of the Knicks and Rangers for likely most of my entire lifetime.

Here are some gems:

"It was more about an initiative I have going on with both teams that I hired McKinsey & Company [a Manhattan-based global management consulting firm] for, because as I’ve gotten to look at both our organizations, it’s become apparent that we really need to reprocess both teams. "

Yes, he hired a consulting firm that told him he needed to fire the GM that just oversaw the best Knicks season in 10+ years.

"For Isiah, I don’t know that he’ll ever be able to work in New York. I just don’t know that he’ll ever get a fair shake, going forward in New York?"

Again, yes, Isiah, arguably the worst NBA gm of the last 20 years, is just not getting a fair shake in NY. No mention at all of the utter crap job he did while being paid millions of dollars by Dolan. A pile of dung Isiah stacked so high the Knicks are still crawling out from under. But you know guys, maybe we're just not looking at it right, we oughtta give him another shot.

"If there’s justice in this world, his knee will heal up to the point where he can play more minutes and make the contribution he wants to make."

Because that's what happens when you get older (particularly for athletes on the wrong side of 30). Their chronic injuries and ailments actually heal better than they did when they were younger... And justice? I get that Amar'e cares a lot and wants to be better, but it's not an absence of "justice" when you take a noted risk and it doesn't work out. There were a lot of teams in the league who wouldn't sign Amar'e for the exact reasons we are dealing with right now. We took a bet and we lost.


Every time I read an interview with Dolan I come away believing he both knows and cares very little about hockey and the Rangers beyond that they are part of his "business". He inherited a hockey team, and then put it in the hands of someone that everyone told him was a hockey "genius". Dolan will show up at a press conference when the Rangers are winning adn heading for the playoffs, btu other than that I just don't see him being involved very much at all.

 

[Doctor King Schultz]

His opinion on Sather is disheartening

 

[nyrpassion]

Torts is hilarious. Miss him too

 

[Kwayry]

How about the signings of Drury, Gomez, Redden and Holik? He should've asked how he felt about those signings by this guy who has a "wealth of knowledge".

We should also ask how the fans felt about those signings.
It didn't take me long to find old threads where the same people whining here were praising Sather back then.

 

[NYRFAN218]

We should also ask how the fans felt about those signings.
It didn't take me long to find old threads where the same people whining here were praising Sather back then.

The Redden one was destroyed on this board minus a few people. It didn't take a genius to figure out how terrible of a signing it was when it happened.