Believe it or not, the Tom Wilson story takes a back seat

The New York Rangers will take on the Washington Capitals in a nationally televised game that already had a ton of drama  surrounding it. When Jim Dolan fired John Davidson and Jeff Gorton it only added another huge element to the story.

The Rangers finally issued a statement confirming the transition, announcing the departure of Davidson and Gorton and the formal hiring of Chris Drury as the President and General Manager of the team.

The release also said that former President and GM Glen Sather will  assist Drury as he transitions into this new position.  Sather had remained with the organization as special advisor to Dolan.

Here’s the quote from Dolan:

"“We want to thank JD and Jeff for their contributions to the organization. They are both great hockey professionals who worked hard for the Rangers, however, in order for the team to succeed in the manner our fans deserve, there needs to be a change in leadership,” said James L. Dolan, executive chairman, MSG Sports. “Chris is a very sought-after executive and a strong leader, who has proven himself to be one of the top young minds in hockey. We are confident he will effectively guide the team to ensure the long-term success we promised Rangers fans.”"

Larry Brooks of the New York Post reported that the change came after a disagreement between Davidson and Dolan when the owner what JD to fire Jeff Gorton.  Brooks reports that Davidson refused and that led to Dolan firing both of them.

The whole insanity leads to a number of questions that will ultimately be answered.

1. What was Glen Sather’s role in this shake up?
2. How secure is David Quinn’s job?
3. With  Drury officially President and GM where does that leave Mark Messier who clearly wants a role?
4. How much will Jim Dolan “interfere” with the daily operations of the Rangers?  Anyone who has followed the New York Knicks should be very afraid.  They’ve had nine coaches in 13 years and six GM’s in the same time period.
5. What does this do to the rebuild timetable?  Will Drury be forced to try to accelerate the time frame?
6. Who was responsible for the content of the team’s tweet about the Tom Wilson situation and what role did that play in the departure of Davidson and Gorton?

Tonight’s game

With all of today’s attention on the upper management situation, the focus has shifted from the Tom Wilson situation.  With the game about to take place on national television, the situation takes center stage.

How will the Rangers react? David Quinn says he knows what they are going to do and he is comfortable with it. The team did not call up Mason Geertsen from Hartford, the only player in the system who can be called a fighter.   With Panarin out of action,  the Rangers lineup will be chock full of rookies and their usual menu of finesse players.

In a perfect world, the Rangers come out with spirit, play with abandon, punish the Capitals with physical play, hitting anything that moves.  They focus their attention on Wilson and the Caps most skilled players. They take the high road and play a clean game and they win.

Unfortunately, it’s not a perfect world and there is no way of knowing what tonight holds for us.

Join the live conversation

With only two more games after this, the season is really coming down to a close. Join the live conversation here at Blue Line Station in the comments section below.  There is more than enough to talk about.

The game starts at 7pm and will televised on the NBC Sports Network with the radio call on WEPN 1050AM.