[Mercogliano] Do the Rangers have a culture problem? An exclusive look at what’s bubbling at MSG
December 19, 2024
Really interesting bits of information from Vince today.
24 comments
oh so the whole thing is rotten to the core. cool, cool cool cool.
yeah everything about this team from the roster to coaching, management and ownership is just rotten. There needs to be a complete teardown in all departments. People ask how the presidents trophy winning team who went to the ECF suddenly look awful. It’s because behind the scenes everything about the organization has become toxic, no wonder all of a sudden the players look dejected. I really hope this picks up some steam and spreads around the hockey world, because changes will only come if the noise gets loud enough
Mercogliano is on Reddit, confirmed
That bit about the PR person having dinner with a player and that internal memo is new info, and pretty crazy. Seems like a nuclear reaction from up top, and I guess it’s the reason why the only “content” we’ve seen from the team all year is Leo Trocheck asking some guys a question every other month.
But damn this shit is so messy. I hate the country club mentality that reacts so negatively to 2 bad players being shipped out, but at the same time I understand the negative reaction to the unceremonious Ramsey firing, and the whole “Big Brother” mood going on. At the same time, you can’t just fold like they have because you’re annoyed with management.
Agreed. Very interesting read. Recommend it to everyone.
“Before seeing respected teammates unceremoniously dangled or cast aside, many Rangers were taking notice of other changes. There have been dismissals within the front office, scouting, public relations and social media departments, with the latter no longer permitted to travel with the team due to an incident last spring. But the one that hit home for the largest contingent of players was the firing of longtime head trainer Jim Ramsay at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season.”
“…with the latter no longer permitted to travel with the team due to an incident last spring.” What?
I also read something about a PR person having dinner with a player or something towards the end.
“Relationships have fractured and the workplace has become far less enjoyable for players and staffers alike. Too many are spending time looking over their shoulder, rather than pulling in the same direction, and it’s costing the Rangers in the standings.”
This ending sums everything up pretty well. I don’t follow the Rangers that well, but I at least had missed many of the things mentioned in this article.
It’s ironic that the players had such a huge problem with Drury waiving Goodrow and trying to get Trouba to waive his NTC, yet when Drury sent a memo to the league bring upfront about who he’s trying to trade, the team had a problem with that, too.
I get it – they’re upset about Goodrow and upset about Trouba. Does the team realize that moving on from them was a necessity, and that if both were still here there’s a chance Igor would’ve walked or Laf wouldn’t have been able to sign? Not to mention, how badly Goodrow and Trouba failed to live up to their contracts?I get that these are human beings and the players are friends, but you still have to be a professional. When people get fired or choose to leave their jobs, that doesn’t mean you can just stop doing your job because you’re pissed about it.
I hate this organization so much
This is a great piece of reporting. You wonder if the internal memo thing is because stuff like what happened with Ian Cole screwing the canes social media person?
Least surprising thing ever. This place has screamed shitty work environment for the last 2-3 years
What I got from this article that is that Drury is the Mike Babcock of GMing. F*** him.
Kravtsov sucked but that’s no way to treat a teenager.
The Jim Ramsay situation is beyond words too. I really feel bad for him and for Kreider after reading that. And I knew something was fishy after they didn’t thank him for his decades of service. Not acknowledging him is disrespectful AF and it’s cowardly.
Anyone who complained that the core is soft needs to reflect and take that back, because this is NOT a healthy or normal workplace environment. Any one of us would probably be suffering in the same way. And it’s not going to get better until Drury’s gone.
Drury needs to go.
I didn’t know Sather officially retired. Sounds like his role as middleman between the GM and Dolan was more important that it seemed.
Whatever the “incident” in the spring was is likely why their social media manager left/was fired/etc, and why we get absolutely no content these days; no hat videos from away games, nothing even from media day apart from Leo Trocheck talking to players for 2 minutes, etc.
Staff (which I’m guessing includes athletic trainers etc) not being allowed to stay in the same hotel as the team on the road is also absolute fucking lunacy!
The Ramsey thing remains fishy as hell, too.
This is likely all coming from Dolan because he’s the biggest nightmare to have ever lived, but if even 10% of what’s laid out in this article is Drury’s doing alone, he needs to go, and he needs to go now.
This doesn’t absolve the players — at some point you just have to suck it up and play better — but man is Dolan a piece of shit. And if the reporting is accurate then Drury is nothing but a mouthpiece for an out-of-control owner. There is a long, clear pattern of treating people across the organization like shit. Other teams don’t have to deal with this.
BTW, did y’all know Dolan made his SON the head of player performance this year? Despite having no qualifications?
It sounds like MSG is a toxic work environment. I know people have been saying that they’re making millions and should be able to put things aside, but they are just people. The article paints a really bleak picture. This seems like a case of employees quitting on bad management.
Wow, that is really messy. Really good article. Also interesting to see Sather’s impact as the buffer from Dolan now being gone as a factor.
Damn we might never see a Cup until Dolan passes way from old age because we know he’ll never sell this team with how much money they make
It seems the vast majority of this sub Reddit is ready to quarter and hang Drury to which I say, not so fast. Every NHL GM has its share of blame for their decisions but Drury had to do something about Goodrow and Trouba. Both were performing well below their pay grade (independent of who offered them their contracts) and a GM is paid to move their club into the future. Both simply had to go.
What was not anticipated was the collective hissy-fit among the remaining players. Players play, GMs manage and never the twain shall meet. It’s well past time where the players grow a pair and do their jobs.
I applaud Vince for writing this barn burner. I now on reflection 3 hours after originally reading it, wonder if he will be frozen out and not get any inside info moving forward.
Vince has become the Bizarro New York Post crew. Real sports journalism, who woulda thunk it.
So the players are upset they can’t bang social media team members anymore and the players are overall just a bunch of crybabies?
How is this Drurys fault again? Ship them all out of town
Save you the discussion.
#Yes.
Burn it all down
I thought the firing of their European scout team was odd as Drurys first official piece of business. Then he fired Quinn. Then Ramsey with no explanation. Then Gallant. Kinda seems like drurys either psychopath or he has no idea what he’s doing. Both are bad.
24 comments
oh so the whole thing is rotten to the core. cool, cool cool cool.
yeah everything about this team from the roster to coaching, management and ownership is just rotten. There needs to be a complete teardown in all departments. People ask how the presidents trophy winning team who went to the ECF suddenly look awful. It’s because behind the scenes everything about the organization has become toxic, no wonder all of a sudden the players look dejected. I really hope this picks up some steam and spreads around the hockey world, because changes will only come if the noise gets loud enough
Mercogliano is on Reddit, confirmed
That bit about the PR person having dinner with a player and that internal memo is new info, and pretty crazy. Seems like a nuclear reaction from up top, and I guess it’s the reason why the only “content” we’ve seen from the team all year is Leo Trocheck asking some guys a question every other month.
But damn this shit is so messy. I hate the country club mentality that reacts so negatively to 2 bad players being shipped out, but at the same time I understand the negative reaction to the unceremonious Ramsey firing, and the whole “Big Brother” mood going on. At the same time, you can’t just fold like they have because you’re annoyed with management.
Agreed. Very interesting read. Recommend it to everyone.
“Before seeing respected teammates unceremoniously dangled or cast aside, many Rangers were taking notice of other changes. There have been dismissals within the front office, scouting, public relations and social media departments, with the latter no longer permitted to travel with the team due to an incident last spring. But the one that hit home for the largest contingent of players was the firing of longtime head trainer Jim Ramsay at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season.”
“…with the latter no longer permitted to travel with the team due to an incident last spring.” What?
I also read something about a PR person having dinner with a player or something towards the end.
“Relationships have fractured and the workplace has become far less enjoyable for players and staffers alike. Too many are spending time looking over their shoulder, rather than pulling in the same direction, and it’s costing the Rangers in the standings.”
This ending sums everything up pretty well. I don’t follow the Rangers that well, but I at least had missed many of the things mentioned in this article.
It’s ironic that the players had such a huge problem with Drury waiving Goodrow and trying to get Trouba to waive his NTC, yet when Drury sent a memo to the league bring upfront about who he’s trying to trade, the team had a problem with that, too.
I get it – they’re upset about Goodrow and upset about Trouba. Does the team realize that moving on from them was a necessity, and that if both were still here there’s a chance Igor would’ve walked or Laf wouldn’t have been able to sign? Not to mention, how badly Goodrow and Trouba failed to live up to their contracts?I get that these are human beings and the players are friends, but you still have to be a professional. When people get fired or choose to leave their jobs, that doesn’t mean you can just stop doing your job because you’re pissed about it.
I hate this organization so much
This is a great piece of reporting. You wonder if the internal memo thing is because stuff like what happened with Ian Cole screwing the canes social media person?
Least surprising thing ever. This place has screamed shitty work environment for the last 2-3 years
What I got from this article that is that Drury is the Mike Babcock of GMing. F*** him.
Kravtsov sucked but that’s no way to treat a teenager.
The Jim Ramsay situation is beyond words too. I really feel bad for him and for Kreider after reading that. And I knew something was fishy after they didn’t thank him for his decades of service. Not acknowledging him is disrespectful AF and it’s cowardly.
Anyone who complained that the core is soft needs to reflect and take that back, because this is NOT a healthy or normal workplace environment. Any one of us would probably be suffering in the same way. And it’s not going to get better until Drury’s gone.
Drury needs to go.
I didn’t know Sather officially retired. Sounds like his role as middleman between the GM and Dolan was more important that it seemed.
Whatever the “incident” in the spring was is likely why their social media manager left/was fired/etc, and why we get absolutely no content these days; no hat videos from away games, nothing even from media day apart from Leo Trocheck talking to players for 2 minutes, etc.
Staff (which I’m guessing includes athletic trainers etc) not being allowed to stay in the same hotel as the team on the road is also absolute fucking lunacy!
The Ramsey thing remains fishy as hell, too.
This is likely all coming from Dolan because he’s the biggest nightmare to have ever lived, but if even 10% of what’s laid out in this article is Drury’s doing alone, he needs to go, and he needs to go now.
This doesn’t absolve the players — at some point you just have to suck it up and play better — but man is Dolan a piece of shit. And if the reporting is accurate then Drury is nothing but a mouthpiece for an out-of-control owner. There is a long, clear pattern of treating people across the organization like shit. Other teams don’t have to deal with this.
BTW, did y’all know Dolan made his SON the head of player performance this year? Despite having no qualifications?
It sounds like MSG is a toxic work environment. I know people have been saying that they’re making millions and should be able to put things aside, but they are just people. The article paints a really bleak picture. This seems like a case of employees quitting on bad management.
Wow, that is really messy. Really good article. Also interesting to see Sather’s impact as the buffer from Dolan now being gone as a factor.
Damn we might never see a Cup until Dolan passes way from old age because we know he’ll never sell this team with how much money they make
It seems the vast majority of this sub Reddit is ready to quarter and hang Drury to which I say, not so fast. Every NHL GM has its share of blame for their decisions but Drury had to do something about Goodrow and Trouba. Both were performing well below their pay grade (independent of who offered them their contracts) and a GM is paid to move their club into the future. Both simply had to go.
What was not anticipated was the collective hissy-fit among the remaining players. Players play, GMs manage and never the twain shall meet. It’s well past time where the players grow a pair and do their jobs.
Fire Dolan. Sell the team. It’s the only way.
The Sather comments[really make me think of this](https://theonion.com/de-blasio-well-well-well-not-so-easy-to-find-a-may-1847151201/)
I applaud Vince for writing this barn burner. I now on reflection 3 hours after originally reading it, wonder if he will be frozen out and not get any inside info moving forward.
Vince has become the Bizarro New York Post crew. Real sports journalism, who woulda thunk it.
So the players are upset they can’t bang social media team members anymore and the players are overall just a bunch of crybabies?
How is this Drurys fault again? Ship them all out of town
Save you the discussion.
#Yes.
Burn it all down
I thought the firing of their European scout team was odd as Drurys first official piece of business. Then he fired Quinn. Then Ramsey with no explanation. Then Gallant. Kinda seems like drurys either psychopath or he has no idea what he’s doing. Both are bad.