 rangers have a new president and he is in studio with us and he's very familiar to ranger fans his work with sam rose and obviously i'm playing for the rangers and that is john davidson uh and i was listening to some of your press conference today john and you said this was the only job you would have left columbus for why is this so important to you it's new york it's the rangers i was here 28 years i think i know what i'm getting myself into and i know i'm up to my button alligators but that's okay um you know i i left here 13 years ago i think it was went to st louis and worked with a great staff and tried to rebuild that team and then moved on to columbus pardon me and sometimes it just fits columbus is a an underrated city a lot of people don't know a lot about columbus other than ohio state football and that is big huge there but the quality of life is special it's a very special place even when they have downturns with the economy and housing and that place doesn't change much so we were we were really enjoying ourselves there and then all of a sudden in a very short period of time this thing pops up with with glenn say they're stepping down and you you think about it and there you go and then you start thinking about the pros and cons everything's a pro there's no negatives to this either and i was very um i'm lucky in that the fact that i just left columbus but those people including ownership players coaches fans they've all been good to me i'm lucky that way i'm not i'm leaving on my terms but at the same time they're wishing myself well of course not when the two teams play in the same division but they're wishing myself and and the family all the all the best you know we we hope you do well so it's a great place i thanked them for our time there and uh i'm excited as can be to be with new york you really just wanted to get away from torts come on oh boy i love torts sort of way torts torts came in there and i had known torts for my years here when he was with the rangers was a broadcaster for a lot of years as you know and then torts won the cup the year with tampa big calgary in seven and i just we needed help in a lot of ways and he was the right guy to get in there to help change the locker room culture to hand over things to younger players to uh uh just just to go through all that process that you have to go through the the locker room belongs to players well i don't care if it's football baseball hockey whatever uh if it doesn't that means the coaches are intervening sometimes they have to do it to help them but what uh now torts has finished that work and they're in a good spot when did it start with the rangers at what point in the season was it right when glenn stepped down or yeah when glenn stepped down and and the uh the the good folks here decided to go through all the names and all that my name was there and and i had uh i had talked to columbus that if if a ranger job would be the only job i'd ever leave for sure enough it popped up and we had a great relationship with i my i did with management above me ownership above me and uh we're all on the same page about everything this wasn't a guy leaving in the middle of night this was something that right if it became a possibility it could happen and sure enough it happened i i'm ecstatic to be here how's your relationship with jim going how was it when you were brought i didn't i didn't know jim very well i knew about jim i've read a lot and things i would never have taken this job had i not felt comfortable regarding that i came quietly into new york about i think it might have been two weeks ago i don't even know and sat down with jim we went two or three hours and went over everything from a to z the man wants to win he wants uh he wants to give us as a group everything we need resource wise to put things in into place to to help us try to become a winner uh that's all you can ask for and we we also talked a lot about what the rangers have done here in uh being very transparent telling everybody that they're going to go through this it's a hard thing to do i did it in the saint louis i went there with davie checkets and mike mccarthy who i knew well from the garden they uh they were owners of that club and they gave me an opportunity i was pretty green learned a lot some of it the hard way uh was tutored a little bit by larry plow who was the assistant general manager here with the rangers when they won a 94 and i'll never never ever forget what he did but we we got the job done to us in in a sense where they didn't even know if the blues were going to stay in st louis we ended up helping reestablish the franchise made a lot of good choices some others weren't it's a hard business and i look at them now in the finals and i wish them well against the really good boston does does it make you feel uh an extra sense of excitement that this fan base seems to be prepared for that process like you said they've been transparent the fans seem to get it yeah but what's going to happen here because it's new york sports is people get impatient right and that's natural and that's what it is and i understand that but it's my job to also understand that you have to have resolved and you have to have patients at the right way the right level to go through this rebuild thing if you do it right and you build that foundation but i went to columbus i called it a brick at a time and that's what we did you know you make a trade you'd make a draft pick you you do this you do that and and and you fit them and if it doesn't fit you try something else and if it does get built properly that foundation should be there for a while that's what it's about what is the challenge though of coming in while the plan was already put in place and already moving forward before you got here i don't i don't know if it's a challenge i think what it i've i've gone through two franchises over 13 years and doing exactly that st louis was at the very bottom of the league it couldn't go any lower because the the sale had happened they got rid of a lot of terrific players like a chris pronger for instance so we we we had to find players we were begging for a goaltender in august just to get a goaltender and many legacy actually from detroit came over and played well for us that's just part of it and then going to columbus where where the columbus club wasn't quite as low as st louis was because they had some parts example bob rofsky the goaltender but we still had to go through that whole thing of finding the young players developing young players culture torts helped with that i also brought in on people rolled their eyes i brought in yarmul kakalainen he's a fin to be our general manager but what people didn't understand is he worked for us in st louis great evaluator of talent and a great drafter in the draft for young talent had lived in in michigan for 15 years played college hockey over here um and and in turn had gone back to europe and was running a team called joker it which is the number one team in finland so here's a guy that had all this experience on both sides of the pond it was a no brainer for me yet he came over green uh he's gotten his experience and does a heck of a job and he's he'll take over that that situation with with uh with columbus that that's see i i think doing it twice already has given me somewhat of an advantage to come here to work with these people and have the experience of doing that for 13 years so with john davis a new president of the rangers we've seen it happen the last couple weeks in new york you know a gm that doesn't hire a coach these are not your gm's these this is not your gm this is not your coach part of the rules of engagement taking this job i want gorton and i want quinn with him when i talk to jim dolin i can do what i want to do okay and i'm not one that walks in and oh there's the president attention i don't at ease folks i'm not i don't walk in with a with a hand-grain and blow things up i want to see how people work i will say this that and i've since i've left here 13 years ago i've watched a lot of ranger games because of my association with sam rosen the network still have a ton of friends over there wonderful people it's a great network they they do a terrific job um when i saw the way that they went to this game plan and when i saw the way uh coach quinn had these people work last year i think the culture is going in the right direction here i really do now i'm going to try to be helpful and and analyze everything if we make changes and i'm not talking about coaches and general managers i'm talking about trying to help in various areas all the way through it that that includes analytics data it includes scouting includes everything from a to z and i've got to look at it that's my job and that's the only way we're going to we're going to get better through my experience had you had any relationship with gorton at all before i knew i knew jaff i've talked to him a number of times when you get out in this position i was only two hours from plimoth michigan okay that's the home of the us uh program for for young players and they have a lot of tournaments with worldwide teams coming in there i'd always go to them and he was always there we'd always say hello and what you do when you go to those things as as a as a man running a franchise you look around and see who's there who's not there who's working who's just there to shake hands and gab he was always there and uh i also know that he made some pretty prominent moves when he was with boston before he got to the rangers so so i uh i i respect what he's done what what can you give just a little bit on what the title of president of a team truly means i don't i don't fully understand i know generally the president watches 10 to 12 hours of cable news drinks while i'm in i'm a hands-on guy i want to know everything that we're doing within our franchise everything i want to know i'll go on what we call ring that on the computer and see where scouts are going what countries are going into who they're going to see why they're going to see him when we've already seen him 12 times all that stuff and then i'll communicate also every day with with uh with jeff the general manager with the chris jury who runs the hartford club uh example chris jury is just going to be coming back after the world championships working with the us team i liked that he went over and did that winter lose you see all those players on every team you get to know new coaches so you act like a like a sponge trying to get information um i'll have all have thoughts and ideas i know i want people to know their seat on the bus when you're the gm you're the gm you're assistant gm you're that you're a scout you're that do your jobs and and we'll figure it all out i think i can help in a lot of different ways because of what i've gone through for even as a player when i had to retire early as a broadcaster getting to know the league inside out for all those years um knowing and having having connections around the world of our game i can i can call and talk to people and then turn give that information to our general manager etc i i i don't want to go and sit in a rocking chair and watch things go and say this and that and this i want to be a hands-on i want to work it's the only way it's going to get done our league is so damn close the parody in our league is just absolutely insane just look at the blues there were the worst team in the league on january third and they're going to compete for the stanley cock we didn't get into the playoffs in columbus until the last second last night of the year here in new york yeah the ranger scored with six seconds left to tie us i almost had a heart attack and then we won in a shootout and got in and then our club was within a hair of beating boston in game six which i wish it went seven because that series deserved it yeah absolutely now when the letter was sent last february it was made clear you know we're not in the business of trading first round picks anymore you know we're going to try to grow but what was kind of unknown is free agency and where you stand on that i know you can't speak specifically of the the free agents that are coming out especially one that you actually had in columbus but how active do you anticipate to be in free agency i think it has to make sense it does if you're going to bring in an older free agent and sign him to a long-term contract when your team is not ready for it it's not good for him or for you but if you can find a way to look at players who aren't that old that fit needs that you have that have the character you're looking for that aren't beat up physically some are some are guys that have been around the block and they're going to come in with a bad knee or a bad back you've got to do a lot of that that research and and and do something that makes a lot of sense and not not get ahead of yourself either uh i think that when we look at the NHL it's it's become factual that it's gotten a lot younger it's a lot younger than it used to be you'd have all kinds of guys in the mid 30s now you got them in their mid 20s and below and so i don't think it takes quite as long as it used to when you're trying to rebuild a franchise but you still have to put the legwork in and roll up your sleeves and find the right guys and go through all kinds of different here an example would be kratz off the the good pick from last year he came in i think it was yesterday and he's going to be here for the duration and he's going to learn the language because he's he's from russia doesn't understand english that well he's gonna i like that he's going to come in and work with people and can teach the conditioning teach nutrition all there's a guy it sounds to me like he's pretty darn committed that's the type of stuff you want now you have the second pick in the draft yeah i know you're not going to say which way you're rooting but are you rooting one certain way that the devils take one guy and you want another guy this is this is going to be a win-win for both teams and whatever happens across the river they do you know we'll we'll take care of business so it's like magic and bird they take magic it's so good for hockey in the area too right oh it is it is mind you i wish one would be in the west somewhere that's okay i get it um different types of players ako's a bigger a bigger forward uh and and hughes is not quite as big and he's faster and more a little more dynamic type of thing they're both terrific talents they're both going to be game changer what level are we talking about i mean is this are we talking about a seed ovi level um i wouldn't say that but uh i'd say top players you know you you go a plus you go a's it's going to depend on them but there's they're going to be very very very good players they're going to they're going to make an imprint on on the in the tri-state area for sure uh jd what about hank you know he's got you know time left on his contract he's getting older is a sport i guess that's the one and the one the one position where you don't yeah you you need to be older rather than younger but still he's such a forever player with this organization in a rebuild he might be a piece to move but is that a challenge to be able to to keep him he wants to be a part of this but i'm sure also wants to win so how is that going to be something after he's playing very well yeah with the worlds right now very well i watched quite a few of the sweden games um he's never had injuries really where you you worry about his knees going hips going back going etc so that's been a real plus he's an ultimate as far as professionalism goes with the way he trains and gets himself ready i will find time for sure and have a good solid talk with hank about what we think we are where we're going what he thinks he wants to do i know that there's been a huge commitment by the club to him because of there's respect there for sure and it's and there should be so we'll get on the same page whatever that is don't know yet but uh i'll be i i'd love to see him come back and play 50 games and and win 30 of them plus it'll be awesome but we have to get on the same page with all that stuff as to where we are now you're replacing an iconic guy and in hockey history and glenn say there will he have some emeritus role yes he will yeah glenn's a friend of mine um we actually were teammates in the early 70s in in st louis he conned me into buying a place that was his he did a good job he's a good businessman i was 19 at the time but uh no he's there's a lot of experience there uh he won't be around all the time but i'm going to lean on him for sure and i have a lot of respect for what he did when i went back to canada after i'd retired here i broadcasted calgary flame games and ebbs and euler games and that was as good as it gets with gratsky messier years up there and he ran that show and then calgary built a team to beat them that was phenomenal the the rivalry and uh glenn's got all that experience now to lean on him i'd be foolish not to lean on him we had messier in here yeah and he said he was interested in the job that you got will you involve mark at all in anything i don't know i will talk to mark he's a friend too and i'd like to pick his brain and see what his thoughts are i have a great deal i mean how can you not have a respect for mark messier he he stared down adversity in new york and write down uh i was with him when i was talking about those teams in ebbs and i consider my friend of mine and i have a lot of respect for him well you're the president so are you gonna i mean you can just wave your hand and say i'm doing a game in the booth with sam is that gonna happen oh i don't know if i'd be able to do that that came so fast him and joe do they do a great job i saw sam today our families or friends we've uh you know you know it's a sport it's a very important business but it's life you got to love it i mean i you guys have to love what you do you have to love what you do with the hangings you gotta have a love for it you gotta respect people for what they do and i'm in the middle of that i i want to do well with the rangers i want us to win but i also want to enjoy the ride but you were calling ranger games you were iconic you were calling stanley cup final games i mean do you miss that did you miss broadcasting yeah i did and uh the the big events in particular the stanley cups the olympics i did five of those i really enjoyed those that was great especially when you're over europe somewhere trying to uh to call games on whether it was abc nbc cbs it was it was awesome um it kept me in the game i was lucky very lucky i think i worked harder as a broadcast and i did as a player just that's just what it was you know what i miss you the most was satellite hot still without track well we had some battles there didn't we but you had to know you knew the entire league was yeah that was every saturday what i would do is come into the city here and go to a studio and tape it and then they'd run it that night with hockey night and canada saturdays uh that was like monday night football to canada hockey night canada saturday nights and we do the second intermission we get after each other pretty good that was that was a lot of fun everybody enjoyed that well we welcome you back and we thank you for coming into the studio i know you it's been a long day for you we wish you the best of luck hey you know rangers are on our air we'd love them to win i appreciate it very much thanks guys thank you john