Rangers clean house, fire president Davidson and GM Gorton

In shocking fashion on Wednesday afternoon, the New York Rangers have announced that they have have fired president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton. 

It has been mentioned that Chris Drury will remain with organization and will have prominent role.

This takes place just one day after the Rangers surprised everyone as they put out a statement on the NHL’s decision following Monday’s incidents in the game against the Washington Capitals. On Monday night, the chaotic scene that took place between the Capitals and Rangers was not as bad as what happened the next morning which resulted in Capitals’ forward Tom Wilson only getting a $5,000 for punching Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich in the back of the head while he was facedown on the ice, while also throwing star Artemi Panarin to the ice in the ensuing scrum. The Rangers demanded that the NHL fire the head of the NHL’s Department of Player Safety George Parros, who failed to suspend indefinitely a repeat offender like Wilson.

TSN's Frank Seravalli points out that sources claim that Davidson and Gorton "scurried to distance themselves from the team statement that was issued on Tuesday night, telling other executives that they did not know it was in the works until after it was released."

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman and TSN's Darren Dreger go out to mention that the firings of both Davidson and Gorton are reportedly not related to the way the Rangers handled the Tom Wilson fine on Tuesday. 

"Like many of you, I assume this had to do with the events of the past 48 hours. I don’t believe Davidson/Gorton had anything to do with last night’s NYR statement; it was Dolan-driven," writes Friedman on Twitter. "However, there is word Dolan was unhappy with this NYR season and wanted to make a change. Seems crazy to me, because they have a come a long, long way in two years...but he’s the owner."

Dreger concurs with this: "I’m told the firing of Gorton and Davidson by NYR is coincidental and not related to the statement issued yesterday related to Tom Wilson. Another source says ownership felt the Rangers underachieved this season."

You have to admit this is a tough week for the Rangers...