Messier wants Rangers GM job at On the Wings

Messier wants Rangers GM job

Published

on February 7, 2007

I almost commented on this yesterday, but didn’t want to overreact and end up sounding too snarky. However, more has come out about it and now I can say what I wanted to say: Read this TSN report and tell me it isn’t further proof that Steve Yzerman is the better man. Sure, the Captain has stated he’d like to work in management, perhaps even the general manager spot, but he obviously expects to have to pay some kind of dues. Messier, on the other hand, is apparently expecting to be the immediate successor to Glen Sather and decided to tell the world about it before letting the Rangers know. Also, see Matt’s take at Battle of Alberta. I have to agree with that last bit there.

9 Responses to “Messier wants Rangers GM job”

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1 Brian
February 7, 2007 at 7:31 pm

Sure, Messier probably hasn’t handled this well. But don’t forget the Rangers’ possible role in this. I mean, Yzerman was courted into his front office position by the Wings years before he ever retired. That could be a reflection of the Wings’ class. In contrast, it sounds like the Rangers have not been as pro-active as the Wings were with Yzerman promoting Messier’s front office career. It’s not exactly out of the blue news to the Rangers, as there are quotes in the TSN article mentioning previous discussions on the matter.

So we don’t know how classy Yzerman would’ve come off if he had been in Messier’s shoes and had been dealing with the Rangers. It could be apples to oranges likely in how the franchises are being run, so I don’t want you to get away with such a simplification.
2 Matt Saler
February 7, 2007 at 8:25 pm

In contrast, it sounds like the Rangers have not been as pro-active as the Wings were with Yzerman promoting Messier’s front office career.

That’s the point: the Rangers weren’t thinking of him as future front office material, obviously, as Sather’s comments make clear in both articles. That’s their decision to make, and if they chose not to give him a suit job after he retired, that’s their right, just like it’s his to want a job. It’s the manner in which he went about asking for one that I don’t like.

The Wings saw potential in Yzerman, which is why they were so proactive. Maybe the Rangers didn’t see the same in Messier and given his personality’s reputation, I wouldn’t be surprised.

They’d talked about it before, but since Messier wasn’t gung-ho about it then, the matter had been dropped. And now he suddenly wants the job and has caught the organization by surprise, though, I’m sure they’ll work with him now that he’s made his interests clear.
3 Brian
February 7, 2007 at 9:03 pm

We don’t know how Yzerman would’ve dealt with the Wings rejecting him. That would be speculation. Just because things went smoothly between Yzerman and the Wings doesn’t automatically make Yzerman classy and the “better man.” That was actually my main point.

Also, don’t eliminate all possibility that the Rangers are partly to blame for the situation coming to this. I’m saying it could be a function of Messier being arrogant, the Rangers failing to communicate and/or not respecting a former Cup winner and leader, etc, i.e. more than just because Messier is arrogant.

That’s all I have to say.
4 Matt Saler
February 7, 2007 at 9:22 pm

You’re right, we can’t know exactly how Yzerman would have reacted, though his record indicates that he wouldn’t have gone to the press about it before talking with the team, or even after that. You can’t deny that he’s not one to stir the pot and create controversy.

I was basing my comments on evidence we have for the personalities of both Yzerman and Messier, which have been attested by many who apparently know. It may seem like too much of a generalization, but Messier has been characterized as arrogant by most observers in contrast to Yzerman, and it seemed to me like this was another example of his conceit.

Of course, all the perceptions about Messier and Yzerman could just be polar opposites of their true character, couldn’t they? Only if you choose to disbelieve people profess to know, but there’s no basis for doing that. So, I’m going to say Yzerman would have behaved differently.

There are plenty of reasons to call Yzerman classy or the “better man” beyond his easy transition from player to front office worker.

Believe it or not, the Rangers don’t owe Messier a job. They respected him plenty with a hugely long retirement ceremony, discussions about a spot after retirement, etc. So, it’s not a matter of respect or lack of it. If it was miscommunication, that’s one thing, but if they honestly didn’t see him as fit enough for a front office job to pursue him any further after the initial discussions last summer, that’s their prerogative.
5 Brian
February 7, 2007 at 10:22 pm

“If it was miscommunication, that’s one thing, but if they honestly didn’t see him as fit enough for a front office job to pursue him any further after the initial discussions last summer, that’s their prerogative.”

Agreed.

“You’re right, we can’t know exactly how Yzerman would have reacted, though his record indicates that he wouldn’t have gone to the press about it before talking with the team, or even after that.”

Agreed, I just thought it wasn’t necessary (or appropriate) to compare the situation to Yzerman’s and use it as a platform to say he’s the “better man.” Different situations, different organizational policies, and we don’t know the complete story or everything the Rangers did to precipitate Messier’s action.

If you had just reported the story without comparing it to Yzerman, I likely wouldn’t have been inclined to reply. I’m no Messier appologist, make no mistake. I’ve heard stories about him pumping his fist and taunting the opposition in celebrating an empty net goal. Ugh.

“Of course, all the perceptions about Messier and Yzerman could just be polar opposites of their true character, couldn’t they? Only if you choose to disbelieve people profess to know, but there’s no basis for doing that.”

Thanks for playing along with the devil’s advocate side of the story.
6 Matt Saler
February 7, 2007 at 10:52 pm

Yeah, in the end, I know the Yzerman comparison was a little weak, but I always like to get in digs against Messier and propping up Yzerman as an ideal leader is one of the best ways to do it, even if it’s more rhetoric than anything else. I get tired of seeing him claim all kinds of credit, though it’s worse to see people give it to him.
7 Megan
February 7, 2007 at 11:08 pm

First of all, the articles give no indication that Messier is outright demanding the job. He is just saying he would LIKE the job. He wants the job. And he’s not rushing Sather to retire, either. He said it could be five, ten years, whatever. Even Sather said that he thinks Messier would be a good GM, and is willing to go through an “apprenticeship” with Messier. This so-called apprenticeship would be a form of ‘paying dues.’ We don’t know all that has gone on within that organization. It seems like you are making a whole lot of assumptions about the situation without much evidence and presenting them as fact.

Yes, Messier is conceited, as he has shown many a time. But that doesn’t necessarily take away from the fact that a lot of the credit he gets is actually earned. He was a great player. He did lead New York to the Stanley Cup. He won Cups with Edmonton. You cannot deny that he was a great player. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no Messier fan. But that doesn’t change the fact that he was a good player.
8 Matt Saler
February 8, 2007 at 5:14 am

He can demand it all he wants, I just think it’s wrong to go to the press about it before talking to the team and the ESPN article makes it clear that’s exactly what he did. Those comments about apprenticeships are reactions to the news, not necessarily laid out plans from before.

No one is denying he was a great player. I’m talking about him as a human being.