This morning, the New York Rangers put out an open letter to all of their fans:
Read this letter. Read it as many times as it takes to fully understand where Glen Sather and Jeff Gorton are coming from. The New York Rangers have only missed the playoffs once in the Salary Cap Era. They list off their accomplishments and like the Canucks were very close to winning the Stanley Cup during this time.
However, when it was clear that they were not good enough to compete for the Cup, they made an honest assessment of the current team.