MTPS: Careful With That Axe, Jim
As the Rangers season goes from bad to worse, firing Chris Drury may feel like an easy decision, it may even be deserved, but does it do anything to fix the Rangers?
A guy goes to see his doctor and says, "Doc, I think I'm in real trouble here. Every part of my body hurts." He then proceeds to use the index finger on his right hand to touch his left arm and screams in pain. Then he touches his leg, screams in pain. Then he touches his head, screams in pain.
"Doc, am I dying?"
Doctor looks at him and says, "No, you have a broken finger."
The New York Rangers have lots of problems. Lots of places where it hurts, and a lot of that unquestionably lands at the feet of their general manager, Chris Drury. Yet, through it all, I remain agnostic on the idea of firing him.
Let me pause here to be clear about something: I'm not saying Chris Drury deserves to keep his job. I'm saying I don't care if Chris Drury keeps his job.
There's a difference.
Drury is no better or worse than Neil Smith, Glen Sather, or Jeff Gorton. For fuck's sake, he's not even really different than them. They all made the same terrible trades, all frittered away draft picks, all signed the wrong players. It's like listening to different singers cover the same song. There may be subtle differences, and you may like one better than the others, but they're all singing the same lyrics (note: this does not apply to Disturbed's cover of The Sounds of Silence, which completely changes the song in amazing ways). Drury, like his predecessors, is a symptom of a bigger problem—a problem I've already written about, and if we're not willing to address the broken finger, then the pain will never go away.
So, if I've already written about this, why am I writing this column? Well, it's certainly not for the big money Joe's not paying me. I'm writing it because, for the first time in a long time, there's potentially a way out.
