{"id":390561,"date":"2026-01-06T05:54:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T05:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/390561\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T05:54:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T05:54:07","slug":"james-dolan-backs-chris-drury-as-rangers-try-to-establish-new-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/390561\/","title":{"rendered":"James Dolan backs Chris Drury as Rangers try to establish new culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

James Dolan is standing by Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury despite the team\u2019s struggles and inability to score this season.<\/p>\n

The Rangers owner was asked in a WFAN interview Monday if he still believed in Drury. Dolan didn\u2019t hesitate: \u201cYes, absolutely. He and Mike Sullivan are installing a new culture into that club and that does not happen overnight. I\u2019m being patient.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been especially patient with Drury, who got a multiyear extension in April.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Dolan made it clear his opinion of the executive hadn\u2019t changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cChris Drury is a winner and a competitor,\u201d Dolan said. \u201cHe won himself. He can\u2019t stand to lose. He\u2019s probably not happy right now. I know he\u2019s not happy right now. Neither is Mike.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

That\u2019s as the Rangers sit in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division, tied for 13th in the Eastern Conference and with one of the worst home records in the NHL.<\/p>\n

\"AJames Dolan breaks media silence on WFAN radio on Monday, speaking about the Rangers and Knicks. X @SNYRangers<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not out of it by any means,\u2019\u2019 Dolan said. \u201cWe\u2019re very much in it. Culture doesn\u2019t turn around overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Dolan reiterated that a change was necessary after Sullivan replaced Peter Laviolette as head coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team has to gel together,\u2019\u2019 Dolan said. \u201cThey have to see they can win. They have to believe in themselves. I think the team last year didn\u2019t believe in themselves. That made it hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that led to Sullivan coming in to replace Laviolette.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought they needed a change in the coach,\u201d Dolan said. \u201cThis coach is a culture coach, a collaborator and a builder of teams. I think that\u2019s gonna take a little while for Mike to get in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChrisChris Drury, during a press conference at the Rangers training facility in Tarrytown, New York. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

So far, the results have been mixed.<\/p>\n

Entering Monday\u2019s game at MSG against Utah, only St. Louis had scored fewer goals per game than the Rangers and only Vancouver had fewer home wins.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s another culture thing,\u2019\u2019 Dolan said of the inability to win at the Garden. \u201cAlso, the shots on goal are low. They play pretty well and then they have moments when things don\u2019t go well and they find it hard to pull themselves up. They have to learn to do it. As an owner, you have to be patient.\u201d<\/p>\n

J.T. Miller was a full participant in practice Monday since suffering an upper-body injury. He\u2019s been out since Dec. 20 and had been in a red noncontact jersey prior to Monday\u2019s optional skate in Tarrytown.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead the expert take on the Blueshirts\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Rangers, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Sullivan noted there wasn\u2019t much contact in the skate and the captain was not activated for Monday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

Noah Laba, still week-to-week with an upper-body injury, has resumed skating and is \u201cgetting closer\u201d to a return, according to Sullivan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think his status has changed, but he is on the ice, which is encouraging,\u2019\u2019 Sullivan said.<\/p>\n

Gabe Perreault has impressed Sullivan as he has gotten playing time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s getting better with every game he plays,\u2019\u2019 Sullivan said. \u201cIt\u2019s evident with his poise with the puck. His vision and ability to make plays are the strengths of his game.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Sullivan believes Perreault\u2019s \u201chockey IQ\u201d will set him apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s opportunity for growth with a lot of subtleties of his game,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cHe\u2019s an undersized guy, so what strategy does he use for puck battles in corners?\u201d<\/p>\n

Both of the Rangers goals in Monday\u2019s 3-2 overtime loss to Utah came on the power play, including one with a two-man advantage.<\/p>\n

The Rangers are 5-for-8 on the power play in their past three games \u2014 coinciding with the return of Adam Fox from injury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"James Dolan is standing by Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury despite the team\u2019s struggles and inability…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[178216,75829,4823,385,99],"class_list":["post-390561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-chris-drury","tag-james-dolan","tag-new-york-rangers","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}