Rangers owner James Dolan patient and confident: ‘Don’t give up on my team’
James Dolan is confident that the New York Rangers have the right people in place to get the organization back on a successful track. And the Rangers owner plans to remain patient with general manager Chris Drury and coach Mike Sullivan despite uneven on-ice results so far this season.
Dolan rarely speaks publicly about the Rangers, or New York Knicks, the NBA team he also owns. But he was a guest Monday on WFAN radio in New York, appearing in studio with host Craig Carton, wearing a Rangers scarf on his way to the Blueshirts game against the Utah Mammoth at Madison Square Garden.
“You have to be patient. The team has to jell together. They have to see that they can win. They have to believe in themselves,” Dolan said about the Rangers. “I think the team from last year didn’t really believe in themselves. So, installing that kind of culture — and hockey is even harder because there are more players, right? — that’s going to take a while.”
Dolan sounded pragmatic, yet upbeat about his hockey team. That’s even though the Rangers (20-18-6) own the worst points percentage (.523) in the Eastern Conference, have the second-fewest wins on home-ice in the NHL (five), and are the second-lowest scoring team in the League, averaging 2.59 goals per game.
However, with historic parity in the NHL this season, the Rangers are right in the middle of a tight playoff race.
“I’m being patient. We’re not out of it by any means. We’re still very much in it,” he said,
“Don’t give up on my team this year.”
A couple hours after Dolan’s hopeful take, the Rangers were on the receiving end of a nasty 1-2 gut punch. Star goalie Igor Shesterkin sustained a lower-body injury in the first period. And then the Rangers blew a third-period lead and lost 3-2 to the Mammoth in overtime.
Shesterkin appeared to be seriously hurt, unable to place weight on his left leg when helped off the ice. The loss was New York’s fourth in its past five games (1-3-1).
Rangers owner willing to be patient with Chris Drury, Mike Sullivan ‘installing new culture’
Though the latest turn of events isn’t positive, Dolan sees that the Rangers are headed in the right direction in one key area: culture. That was at the heart of his answer when Carton asked Dolan if he still believed in Drury, even after the Rangers failed to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, one year after winning the Presidents’ Trophy.
“Yes, absolutely. He and Mike Sullivan are installing a new culture into that club, and that does not happen overnight.”
Carton didn’t question Drury’s role in building that failed 2024-25 team, nor how his heavy-handed approach created a serious chasm between the players and management that helped torpedo a once-hopeful season.
“What I can tell you about Mr. Drury from the day I hired him is Chris Drury is a winner and a competitor. He’s won, himself, he can’t stand to lose,” Dolan said.
It’s no secret Dolan is a fan of Drury, his hand-picked choice to replace both John Davidson as president of the Rangers and Jeff Gorton as GM in May of 2021. And Sullivan is the coach Drury always wanted to hire, before finally doing so this past spring.
So, it wasn’t surprising that former coach Peter Laviolette appeared to be the scapegoat for the culture issue last season.
“We thought they they needed a change in the coach, right?,” Dolan said. “This coach [Sullivan] is a culture coach. He’s also a collaborator and a builder of teams. “
In nearly three decades owning the two sports tenants at MSG, Dolan’s been historically more hands-off with the Rangers than the Knicks. He trusted Glen Sather, despite a rocky start to his tenure as the head of hockey operations. And clearly, he buys into Drury’s vision.
“As an owner you have to be patient. The guy sets out a plan. When I get impatient is when we veer off the plan, reach for the shiny thing and think we can win a championship or build a championship team in one fell swoop,” Dolan explained. “You know, I’ve been at this for almost 30 years and I can tell you it does happen once in a while but I don’t think that’s the way. I don’t think that’s how we’re going to win.”
