Sean Avery Rangers GM Talk Could Be Similar To Garth Snow Islanders Stunner
Spittin Chiclets co-host and TNT analyst Paul Bissonnette dropped a bombshell to the hockey world when he revealed that, given the team's struggles, a special someone was meeting with New York Rangers owner James Dolan.
“I’m also hearing rumblings that Sean Avery is going over to NYC to meet with James Dolan to talk about the state of the New York Rangers,” Bissonnette said. “He said I’m flying to New York specifically to meet with Dolan to talk about the state of the team.”
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There have been plenty of rumors that the Rangers' players have quit on General Manager Chris Drury for the memo he sent out to the other 31 teams that he was open for business a month ago.
On top of that, Drury found loopholes in Jacob Trouba and Barclay Goodrow's modified no-trade clauses, which left a sour taste on Broadway.Is there any chance that Avery, who donned the blue and red sweater from 2006-2012, could be the next Rangers general manager despite zero managerial experience?
The New York Islanders did it once.
On July 16, 2006, 41 days after Neil Smith took over as the Islanders' general manager, owner Charles Wang decided to make a change.
He elected to hire Garth Snow, his backup netminder (3.72 GAA, .886 SV% in 2005-06), to replace Smith.
Outside of earning a master's degree in Administration and a bachelor's degree in Business Administration during his time at the University of Maine, Snow had zero experience.
Snow held that position for an astonishing 12 years (2006-2018) before new ownership hired Hockey Hall of Famer Lou Lamoriello.
At least when the Rangers hired Drury as general manager, he had worked his way up from Director of Player Development to Assistant General Manager. He served as the general manager of the U.S. Men's IIHF National Team from 2019-2021.
We'll see what comes of Avery's meeting with Dolan, but a lack of experience in management doesn't mean it's impossible for him to get Drury's job.