Rangers fire GM, head coach

 The Rangers, 1-8-1 in their last 10 games, fired president and GM Neil Smith and head coach John Muckler with four games left in their season.

 Off-season acquisitions such as Theo Fleury ($8.5 million this season), Sylvain Lefebvre ($2.6 million), Stephane Quintal ($3.95 million), and Tim Taylor ($1.2 million), and re-signing Leetch to a huge contract ($6.68 million) failed to pay off.

 "It did not work out," Dave Checketts, president and chief executive officer of Madison Square Garden, said of the off-season big-ticket signings. "The bottom line is the results here. The results should have been better. We should have had more scoring, we should have had more defence, we should have had more wins, we should have had more leadership.

 "And we should have had more pride in being a Ranger. And I did not see that and decided to move based on that."

 In all, the Rangers have 12 players making more than $2 million this season including Adam Graves ($3.5 million), Kevin Hatcher ($3.1 million), Valeri Kamensky ($6 million), Petr Nedved ($3.5 million), Mike Richter ($5 million), Mathieu Schneider ($2.75 million) and Kevin Stevens ($3.2 million).

 Checketts said there were no immediate successors, although assistant coach John Tortorella would be behind the bench the final four games. The Garden boss said he would first hire a GM, who would then select a coach "and rebuild the organization."

 The Rangers next play Saturday at Boston.

 The Associated Press, quoting a source close to the team, said Wayne Gretzky would be involved in helping select a new coach and general manager.

 "I don't know anything about that," Checketts said in a conference call. "He's a former Ranger and one of the great all-time players but I don't expect him to be involved in that process."

 Former Rangers coach Mike Keenan said former Ranger goalie John Davidson, like Keenan a broadcaster now, could be a candidate.

 Checketts said the decision was made to clean house after a 6-0 home loss Monday night to Detroit.

 "Once you make a decision like this, the sooner the better," he said when asked why he didn't wait until the end of the season before making changes.

 "We made a decision about this last night and frankly I didn't see any reason to wait."

 The Rangers are 29-38-11-3, 11th overall in the Eastern Division and five points out of a playoff spot going into play Tuesday night.

 "Our record since the all-star break . . . is clearly what has brought this all to a head," Checketts said.

 Asked why team had performed so poorly, he replied: "I wish I knew. But I am going to find out and I think the next two weeks will give me an opportunity to do that."

 But he said the team's goal had been to retain young talent while signing veterans to augment the youth. The mix didn't work.

 The loss to the Wings on Monday night was their fifth straight loss. On Sunday night, the Wings beat them 8-2 in Detroit.

 "I thought we were a playoff team," captain Brian Leetch said after the latest loss. "We've given a lot of points away where we shouldn't be in this position right now where the slump has killed us."

 The team has been outscored 18-3 in the three games since Checketts spoke to the players last Wednesday at their training centre in Rye, N.Y.

 "This decision . . . was about results," he said. "Certainly the Detroit series was disappointing, embarrassing. Our fans deserve better than that. And we're just not going to stand by and let that happen to an organization as proud as this one."

 Checketts said he planned to spend most of the next two weeks with the Rangers to assess what was needed.

 Monday's loss assures the team of a third straight losing record at home, the first time that has happened to the Rangers since 1957-58 through 1959-60 and only the third in the franchise's 74-year history.

 "Empty seats and an atmosphere of thinly disguised contempt abound at a building that was filled and electric no more than three years ago," wrote the New York Post on Tuesday.

 The Rangers have crumbled in recent days. There was the 14-2 combined defeat against Detroit, a 4-3 loss to Florida in which they gave up the third-period lead and a flat 4-1 loss to Washington.

 Smith was in his 11th season as the team's general manager. He put together a Stanley Cup-winning team in 1994, the Rangers' first title in 54 years, but the team has struggled since then.

 Since making the conference final in 1997, the Rangers have missed the playoffs the past three seasons, including the final two in the NHL for Gretzky.

 Muckler was hired with 25 games left in the 1997-98 season, and has compiled a 70-79-24 record as Rangers coach.

 "We thank Neil for his decade of service to the team and for his many contributions to the success of the Rangers," Checketts said. "Neil and John are both high-quality people and this decision does not minimize their past accomplishments or their abilities as professionals.

 "We wish them well."

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