NHL

Dolan: Rangers GM Sather ‘best in the business’

OTTAWA — James Dolan had plenty to say Tuesday, and he didn’t relegate his comments to basketball.

Speaking to both New York sports talk radio stations after the announcement of the Knicks’ hiring of Phil Jackson as team president, the executive chairman of Madison Square Garden addressed many of the questions surrounding the Rangers — the second in line in his stable of professional franchises that call the Garden home.

First and foremost, Dolan took on the subject of Rangers general manager Glen Sather, who Dolan has said has his job for as long as he wants it.

“I have great faith in Glen Sather and think he has made some fantastic moves with the team,” Dolan told The Michael Kay Show on ESPN Radio, hours before the Rangers’ 8-4 victory over the Senators at the Canadian Tire Center. “He has pulled off some trades that I still don’t know how he has gotten the other team to agree.”

Dolan added this while talking to Mike Francesca on WFAN: “I trust Sather and think he is the best in the business. That team is competing for a playoff spot.”

One of those Sather transactions so lauded was moving Blueshirts captain Ryan Callahan at the trade deadline, sending him to Tampa Bay along with a first- and second-round pick for the Lightning’s captain, 38-year-old Martin St. Louis, who had yet to score in his first seven games with the Blueshirts.

“Ryan [Callahan] essentially was asking too much for his services,” Dolan said, “and was going to hamstring the team with that, and I think Glen did the right thing.”

Dolan also addressed his relationship with former coach John Tortorella, who was fired this offseason just two years after making it to the Eastern Conference finals.

“I had a special relationship with John Tortorella,” Dolan told Kay. “I loved him. He used to throw me out of his office. He is a great guy and he is tough.”

Tortorella was replaced with Alain Vigneault, who began his tenure behind the Rangers bench with a 3-6-0 season-opening road trip. Apparently, that put a little bit of fear in the owner — which has subsided as they have regained a spot in the playoff conversation.

“Alain has proven himself to be a very competent coach,” Dolan told Kay. “In the beginning I was a little concerned but we knew it would take some time to adjust to his style of play, and they have, and I think they are playing well. It’s a very tight race in the NHL for the playoffs. I anticipate we will make the playoffs, but it’s tight.”

Dolan said he is anticipating taking a backseat role with the Knicks under Jackson, much the same as he has with the Rangers under Sather. It was 14 years ago Dolan hired Sather, and even though he initially forgot the exact time frame — “Was it more than 10 years ago?” he asked Kay — it seems the goal hasn’t changed. Despite the hiring of Sather, the Rangers still have won just a single Stanley Cup, in 1994, in the past 74 years.

“You know, I have to say that 14 years ago I didn’t know as much as I know now about running the Garden, I had just started,” Dolan said. “I couldn’t grasp what bringing Glen on meant. It was a big move, it didn’t get as much attention [as Jackson] but it is like that, and I would love if it turns out the same way, except that I want to win a championship and Glen still wants to win a championship.”

The Rangers’ penalty kill gave up a goal for the first time in eight games, breaking a streak of 21 successfully killed power plays. The goal was from Mika Zibanejad, 12:44 into the second period.

The power played failed to score for the third straight game (0-for-10), although Derick Brassard got a goal in the second period just eight seconds after an Ottawa penalty expired. The man-advantage has now scored once in its past 19 attempts over six games.

The lineup was the same for the fourth straight game, keeping forward Derek Dorsett a healthy scratch in favor of Dan Carcillo.