In March 2000, Smith was fired along with head coach John Muckler, and, that summer, James Dolan hired Glen Sather to replace him. By the end of the 2000–01 season, the Rangers had landed a lot of star power. Mark Messier had returned to New York, Theoren Fleury joined the Rangers after spending most of his career with the Calgary Flames, and Eric Lindros was traded to the Rangers from the Philadelphia Flyers. The Rangers also acquired Pavel Bure late in the 2001–02 season from the Florida Panthers. It was the rookie season of goaltender Dan Blackburn, who made the NHL All-Rookie Team even as the Rangers fell back to last place in the conference. Despite these high-priced acquisitions, the Rangers still finished out of the playoffs. Later years saw other stars such as Alexei Kovalev, Jaromir Jagr, Martin Rucinsky and Bobby Holik added, but in 2002–03 and 2003–04, the team again missed the playoffs. Blackburn started strongly in 2002–03, but burned out after 17 games. He then missed 2003–04 due to mononucleosis and a damaged nerve in his left shoulder. Blackburn could not rehabilitate the damaged nerve, and was forced to retire at age 22.