What To Make Of James Dolan's Ownership Of Rangers

Most fans believe that when it comes to Rangers decision-making that the buck stops at Prez-GM Chris Drury's desk.

Not quite; it goes a few floors higher at Madison Square Garden to Jim Dolan's office. He's the owner and The Boss. 

"Drury may have okayed Igor Shesterkin's crazy, new contract but it was Jimmy Dolan who had to give the green light," asserts The Old Scout.

Which brings us to a compelling feature in The Athletic whereby all 32 NHL ownerships get a report card, including Jim Dolan and his Rangers.

Put it this way, TA is not crazy about Dolan's stewardship of the Rangers. It starts with this slapdown of Jimmy: "Another polarizing figure in a major sports market."

Having been labelled a "polarizing figure" myself, I'm unsure what The Athletic means. 

Dolan's major teams – the Rangers and Knicks – sell out forever so I'd like to know who or what is Jimmy polarizing? People pay big money to see them because they love Dolan's teams; so he must be doing something un-polarizing

The Athletic: "The Rangers have made the playoffs in 11 of the past 14 seasons and gone to the conference finals or Cup Final five times in that span. The on-ice success has often been there, even if they haven't been able to win a championship."

TA's review is based on polls of fans. The Blueshirts were ranked 25th in organizational stability and 28th treatment of the fan base. Means the square-root of zero!

TA'S CONCLUSION: "Dolan has done an OK job with the Rangers. He shouldn't get points for caring too little about the Rangers to destroy them as much as he's destroyed everything else."

THE MAVEN'S CONCLUSION: More nonsense: Rangers players get top dollar because Dolan does care. And he knows his hockey right down to Matt Rempe's increasing potential. That savvy and caring are a couple of pluses. 

Drury and Lavvy are left to their devices; which is another Dolan plus. However, Dolan's choices – such as Drury – have been problematic. This distressing season is not Dolan's fault but it is a combo of Drury-Laviolette ineptitude. What's more, Jimmy is letting them work the team into the playoffs.

BOTTOM LINE: Fans need a fall-guy in every sport. Like his dad, Chuck Dolan, Jim pays little to no attention to the press and goes with his instincts. He makes mistakes but he cares and the fact that he likes hoops more than pucks has little effect on the Rangers.

A year ago the Blueshirts finished atop the NHL. Now they're battling for a playoff berth. Same owner; same modus operandi.