When New York Rangers owner James Dolan fired John Davidson and Jeff Gorton, it was met with unanimous shock among hockey observers. While Jeff Gorton had his detractors, John Davidson is one of the most beloved men in the hockey world and his termination was met with universal condemnation.
Rangers owner James Dolan was castigated for making an impulsive decision based on some bad losses to the Islanders and Capitals. The sentiment was that Dolan was overreacting to the Tom Wilson incident and a series of games when the Rangers were intimidated and bullied and didn’t react. The critics said that Dolan was meddling with a successful rebuild and this was a harbinger of things to come.