And of course, the Rangers canned GM Jeff Gorton and team president John Davidson on Wednesday and have promoted Chris Drury into those roles. [ESPN]
Is George Parros at any risk job-wise, given the comments from the Rangers? It doesn’t sound like it. TSN’s Frank Seravalli: “According to multiple team and league sources, the Rangers’ statement galvanized support for Parros and the Department of Player Safety from other teams and general managers in feedback that was delivered to the commissioner’s office. That support did not wane after gloves littered the Garden ice on Wednesday night. Nearly half of the NHL’s general managers – the gatekeepers of the league who collectively influence the policy that governs Parros’ department – were canvassed for this story and not one expressed concern or doubt about Parros’ competence.” [TSN]
The New York Rangers’ pointed statement calling for the head of George Parros, the NHL s dean of discipline, may go down as the most expensive words typed in hockey history.
The Rangers were fined $250,000 by the NHL on Thursday – or $2,212 for each of the 113 words, still nothing that billionaire owner James Dolan will lose sleep over.
But it is among the heaviest fines in league history, considerably more than the $100,000 levied upon the San Jose Sharks in 2013, the last team to publicly disagree with a disciplinary decision.
In the NHL’s view, it was one thing for the Rangers to disagree with Parros’ decision to fine but not suspend Tom Wilson for Monday’s melee at Madison Square Garden, but another to call it a “dereliction of duty” and claim that Parros is “unfit to continue in his current role.”