New York Rangers Owner Comments on Firing Team President and GM

During this wild week in the NHL, New York Rangers owner James Dolan has been right in the middle of it. He first released the boldest team statement in the history of sports as he tried to have the NHL fire George Parros from his position with the Player's Safety Department, then Dolan decided to fire team President John Davidson along with Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton.

Dolan, who is never short on words, has finally come out and addressed the crazy week and his decision making and had this to say about why he decided to shock the NHL and fire his two executives:

I saw a weakness in the team that was not being addressed, and I knew it needed to be. I knew that we were missing a key component to us being a Stanley Cup contender. And that is the overall spirit and culture that goes with being a team. I believe that as good of a job as JD and Jeff have done, in speaking with them, it is clear to me that Chris Drury was going to be the right guy to lead the team forward. I started thinking about it 20 or 25 games ago at a time when the team really needed to show heart. And we had key games - I won't be specific - where we had to show up and had to come out strong, and even if we lost, it had to be our best effort. And we clearly had nowhere close to our best effort.

Chris Drury has since been named both President and GM of the team and the team has already been rumored to be preparing another trade offer for Jack Eichel this summer. In Dolan's defense, the team has missed the playoffs three of the past four seasons, however, many felt the team was turning a corner the past year and a half.