New York Rangers: Glen Sather steps down – End of an era
By Ed Stein
Glen Sather is reportedly stepping down from his role as New York Rangers President. His retirement ends a nineteen-year career with the team.
Various media outlets are reporting that New York Rangers team president Glen Sather is stepping down. He will still be part of the organization acting as a special advisor to Madison Square Garden CEO James Dolan. Sather’s departure from an active role ends 53 years of hands-on involvement in professional hockey.
Slats came to the New York Rangers in 2000 as the team’s president and general manager. Previously he was the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers during their heyday in the mid-’80s and transitioned into the GM role. The start of his Blueshirts career was a bit rocky.
Going with someone he knew, Sather brought in his former Edmonton head coach Ron Low to be the Rangers bench boss. It was a curious movie because Low never had a winning record. That continued into his Big Apple years, posting two straight losing seasons.
Is Glen Sather stepping down as president of NYR? Multiple sources suggest it’s likely to happen in the near future, that this is Sather’s call and that he would still be an advisor to James Dolan, executive chairman and CEO of MSG, but NYR would be looking for a new president.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) April 4, 2019
Sather’s next coaching move may have been one of the most controversial things he ever did. Replacing Low was former Islanders legend, Brian Trottier. From the get-go, it was a bad move. The New York Rangers faithful hated the former crosstown star. To make things worse, NYR was bad during Trottier’s tenure despite having stars such as Pavel Bure and Eric Lindros on the team. Trots was gone after 54 games.
More from Empire Writes Back
- Caesars New York Promo Code: Win $250 Bonus GUARANTEED on ANY Bet!
- Last Chance Caesars Promo: Claim $1,250 Bonus for ANY MLB Bet!
- Caesars New York Promo Code Gives TWO Chances to Win Betting on Your Yankees!
- PointsBet New York Promo: FIVE $100 Bonus Bets to Back the Yankees or Mets!
- Caesars NY Promo: $1,250 Bonus to Celebrate the Return of Judge!
Things stabilized for the franchise after the 2003-04 season. The previous year Sather made himself the head coach and his experience, while not successful (33-39-11-7 through 2004), gave him a better feel for the product on the ice. From 2004-05 until 20016-17, the New York Rangers posted a winning record. A streak of 12 straight seasons. In that period the Blueshirts went to one Stanley Cup and two addition Conference Finals.
One of Sather’s legacies with the Rangers was that he didn’t shy away from big personalities or controversial players. He brought Mark Messier back to New York for the final four seasons of the great Rangers captain’s career. Anti-heroes were also part of the team. Sean Avery, Daniel Carcillo, and John Scott, to name a few, played on Broadway during Slats’ tenure. Lest we forget he hired “colorful” head coaches such as John Tortorella and Alain Vigneault.
The backing off process began in June of 2015 when Sather turned over the general manager reigns to assistant Glen Sather. Even though he wasn’t running the day-to-day operations of the New York Rangers, he was still involved. That included a letter from him and Gorton last March to season ticket holders announcing the Rangers couldn’t win with their current team so they were going to trade established players away and rebuild their organization.
Assessing NY Giants 2019 NFL Draft Needs and Targets. dark. Next
After 19 seasons with the Rangers and 53 years of professional hockey, Sather rides off into the sunset at 75 years old. No replacement has been named as of yet. With the team in the middle of a rebuild, his replacement has a big job ahead of him.