“This is something that, as an organization, we felt like we went through a certain point and we had to look in the mirror and find out what was next,” Gorton said in June. “This is part of that. … Is it daring? I don’t know. We’re doing what we think is the right thing moving forward, going where we want to go.”
Let it be known, though, that not only is a rebuild a courageous move, especially in New York, but it doesn’t guarantee anything. It may not be quick, it may not be completely successful – though it looks pretty good so far.
Since the Islanders’ dynasty began in 1980, only one team has won a Stanley Cup, torn it completely down, and won again. That was Pittsburgh, which happened to have the good fortune of getting Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin after years of terrible hockey. And since the Edmonton dynasty ended in 1990, pretty much every Cup champion has first gone through several, if not many, seasons of suffering before building a roster that made it through four playoff rounds and got rings.
One of those teams was Boston, which was built in part by an interim GM named Jeff Gorton, who traded for Tuukka Rask, drafted Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Phil Kessel and Milan Lucic, and signed Zdeno Chara.
It will be certainly interesting to see if the fan base in New York has the patience that the front office has, and will require.
But it had to be done, and Gorton, so far, has shown the fearlessness and fortitude to do it.
