NHL

Rangers defeat Predators; owner’s talk of Stanley Cup angers coach

The last time James Dolan addressed the press following a Rangers game had been at the conclusion of the 2002-03 season, when the Garden CEO pledged to cut ticket prices by 10 percent if the club missed the playoffs the following year.

They did and he did.

Last night, when Dolan made a spontaneous appearance in Madison Square Garden press room following the Rangers’ 3-0 victory over the Predators, he wasn’t talking about missing the playoffs; he was talking about winning them, talking about winning the Stanley Cup during an address that left coach John Tortorella miffed.

“I’m very proud of the organization. I’m particularly proud of Mr. Sather,” Dolan said of the Rangers general manager following the victory that lifted the team to an NHL-best 29-11-4. “Because all the way back to 2004 when things weren’t going so well and we had a lot of free agents in here and we made the decision to basically redo the strategy, Glen and I actually had a pact. I actually gave him something that I won’t reveal what it is.

“I said, ‘You can’t give it back to me until we win the Stanley Cup.’ And I think I’m getting pretty close to getting that thing back.

“Of course, great coaching, but to me it’s all about the farm system, the scouting system, the development and going with the kids and sticking with that philosophy even when, at times, it didn’t look so good,” added Dolan, who has been willing to spend big to add free agents Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards.

Proclamations of an impending championship are anathema to Tortorella, who has refused to join the ballyhoo surrounding his team. Of course, Sather did guarantee a Stanley Cup victory on Sept. 26 in Philadelphia with the announcement of the Rangers-Flyers Winter Classic matchup.

“We’ve got to go about our business,” Tortorella said after Dolan relinquished the floor. “I’ve got an owner up here talking about a Stanley Cup. That’s a bunch of bull—-.

“We’ve got to take it one day at a time.”

The Rangers last night righted the course following Sunday’s 4-1 defeat in Montreal, and received ringing ovations from their fans for getting down and dirty along the boards, for chipping pucks in and keeping pucks out.

“It’s great to be appreciated for doing those thankless jobs,” Brian Boyle said. “You definitely hear it when you’re on the ice, and then when you get back to the bench you realize how neat it is to have such knowledgeable fans that they cheer when you do the job by just chipping it in.”

Dan Girardi’s goal at 6:15 of the first gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead. John Mitchell scored in the second period and Ryan Callahan was awarded a goal late in third when he was fouled heading toward an empty net with the puck on his stick. Henrik Lundqvist was sturdy in recording his fourth shutout.

“When you hear the way our fans respond, you know that they appreciate what we do,” Girardi said. “That’s always great to know.”

Especially when one of those fans is James Dolan.