The Rangers Organization And Their Lack Of Accountability

There is something very disturbing about the New York Rangers that most fans have noticed. It’s lack of accountability taken by the organization. The Rangers are one of the most respected franchises in hockey, and yet management doesn’t do nearly enough for the fans to recognize that. The way the Rangers organization is run is atrocious because the people running it never have to be seen in public, or even announce transactions. If any Canadian team was run this way there would be public outcry and rioting in the streets. Sadly, Rangers fans instead of fighting this have learned to accept it. But it’s not just the Rangers who are suffering under Dolan, it’s also the Knicks. Both franchises under Dolan’s ownership have struggled tremendously with lack of playoff success and lackluster organizational moves. But the worst is that when things aren’t too good for the Rangers no one is to be seen. Dolan cannot be blamed, Sather can’t be interviewed and coach John Tortorella won’t answer a question fully. It’s really  a shame that this continues because the fans deserve better. I’m not saying that I need to see Glen Sather and the rest of upper management every minute on MSG Network but is a little weekly update too much to ask for?

Read more on the lack of accountability after the jump.

What’s unique about the Rangers and what differs them from any franchise in sports of the top of my head except the New York Yankees, and the New York Knicks (which technicall don’t count as they are property of Dolan also)  is that they own the arena in which they play in, and they own the TV network they play on. This gives the Rangers ownership complete control of the franchise  which is good in some cases and very bad in others.For instance you don’t really hear Sam Rosen and the other commentators be critical of the Rangers. I wouldn’t be critical if I were them either because look what happened to Marv Albert when he made comments about the Knicks on-air which led to him being let go by MSG.

I can only name two instances recently when I heard Glen Sather speak. The first of which was during the Traverse City Prospects Tournament which MSG showed a pre-recorded interview of him on a golf course talking about anything but hockey. He actually ended up talking about the golf course he was playing instead. The other was during the Winter Classic announcement when he predicted the Rangers would win the Winter Classic and the Yankees would win the World Series against the Phillies. The latter obviously didn’t happen, but let’s hope his first prediction remains true.

The lack of accountability finally makes it down to the coaching staff. John Tortorella’s post game interviews are extremely laughable. He always manages to finish them in about two minutes flat because he won’t answer half the questions that are thrown his way. He will never talk about how one individual player played which is something that he has never done ever in his coaching career but yet I still don’t know why. Also, Mike Sullivan is becoming more like Torts which is bad because he at least would talk to the media at intermission about the Rangers play the past period.

The level of success the Rangers have or don’t have shouldn’t play a factor in how the organization is run from top to bottom. The Chicago Cubs haven’t won a World Series in 103 years but yet still manage to treat their fans top notch, so their is no excuse for the Rangers not to treat their fans better. The Rangers have some of the most loyal fans in the NHL and they will not stop going to the games no matter how poor the franchise performs. Is it really so difficult for the people who run the franchise to get in front of a camera once in a while to talk about the team? The fans deserve better for their money and loyalty, yet the franchise will not show the fans that they truly care about the team.