Glen Sather Ready to Retire
Sather mulls retirement. (Barton Silverman/The New York Times)
Speculation about Sather’s imminent retirement dates back to June 2013, when reports surfaced about him relinquishing GM duties and staying on as President. Those rumors became more prevalent as we learned Sather had surgery due to prostate cancer. Now we find ourselves hearing that he is really considering the long vacation.
Jim Matheson who has been covering the Edmonton Oilers for four decades and knows Glen well, recently wrote in the Edmonton Journal that he is seriously considering it. Our sources say this actually pops up in the organization every few months or so, and they’ll believe it when it happens. However, is it that hard to believe that a man as accomplished as Glen Sather may want to let someone else fully take over at the age of 70? We think this is for real.
#NYR GM Glen Sather could be considering retirement following the season https://t.co/a44cG5Cr5L #NHL #Oilers
— Jim Matheson (@NHLbyMatty) March 17, 2014
So if Sather is going to retire, the big questions are when and who will be his successor? For that you need look no further than the man he has been grooming for the job since 2011, Jeff Gorton. No, not the NASCAR guy, but some of his moves as interim GM for the Bruins in 2006, put them on the fast track to a Stanley Cup.
Gordie Clark (l), JT Miller (c) and Jeff Gorton (r)
The names, Tuukka Rask, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand were drafted by Gorton in 2006. Think that’s good? He also signed Zdeno Chara that summer as well. All that from March to July 2006 before being let go in 2007 and scooped up by the New York Rangers. While with the Rangers he guided player development until being promoted to assistant GM in 2011.
If Jeff Gorton answers who, the question is still when? James Dolan was on ESPN Radio and bestowed praise on Glen Sather. He told Michael Kay and Don La Greca that Sather still wants to win the Stanley Cup. The move to bring in Marty St. Louis indicates that Slats is going for it. However, if the Rangers fail to bring back Lord Stanley this season, will he simply step away?
The answer is not this off-season. Sather will finish the job of signing his own RFA’s and UFA’s, make a decision on Brad Richards’ buy out and dealing with the draft and free agency market. He will do so with serious input from Alain Vigneault and Jeff Gorton. Consider it all unfinished business and leaving his last imprint on the team before stepping down. From there he will name Jeff Gorton as the new GM and stay on as President of Operation for one last year.
Glen Sather’s time has come, and he has done enough in the hockey world to cement his reputation as a Hall of Famer. It’s time to light that cigar for one last puff. It’s time for the future. It’s time for Jeff Gorton.
James Dolan on Torts, AV, Sather, Callahan #NYR at 21 minute mark https://t.co/hRGWeFMnTb
— FullTilt Rangers (@NYR_FullTilt) March 19, 2014
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