Shutouts are becoming common Broadway these days. On Tuesday night, Henrik Lundqvist pitched his fourth shutout of the season – and the sixth shutout for the Rangers this season. But a far rarer occasion greeted members of the media after the game: Rangers’ owner James Dolan spoke to the Rangers media.
It’s peculiar that a shutout in January against the Nashville Predators would pull Dolan into the spotlight. Dolan hasn’t formally addressed the Rangers media in six seasons—so when he speaks, it tends to get people’s attention. He didn’t disappoint.
"… Glen [Sather] and I made a pact,” Dolan told members of the media. “I gave him something, which I won’t reveal today, but I gave him something to seal the pact. I said ‘You can’t give it back to me until we win the Stanley Cup.’ And I think we’re pretty close to getting that thing back.”
But wait, there’s more. Aside from telling the world that he thinks the Rangers are “pretty close” to winning the Cup, he went on to wax poetically about the greatness of general manager Glen Sather:
“For me it’s all about the system he built -- of course its great coaching -- but it’s about the farm system, the scouting system and the development -- going with kids -- and sticking with that philosophy even at times when it didn’t look so good.” Dolan told reporters. “So, I’m very proud of him and the organization.”
Predictably, John Tortorella brought the hammer down after Dolan’s lofty comments. “I have my owner up here talking about a Stanley Cup. That’s a bunch of bull----. We need to take one game at a time.”
In summation: the Rangers owner thinks his team is close to winning the Stanley Cup, he thinks his general manager put together a great organization from top to bottom, and John Tortorella is still awesome.