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Same as it ever was

April 10, 2018, 1:00 AM ET [420 Comments]
Noel Fogelman
New York Islanders Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Follow me on Twitter @thefirstnoel19

I am currently on vacation with my family at Disney World and wasn’t able to watch the live stream of the Islanders brain trust’s press conference, apparently no one was. Clearly this is a Mickey Mouse organization.

The end of the season exit interviews culminated with a brief statement read by owner Jon Ledecky and a Q and A with general manager Garth Snow and head coach Doug Weight.

“We are committed to long-term success. Any decisions we make are for the long-term success of our hockey club. We win and lose together as an organization, not as individuals. Missing the playoffs is beyond disappointing. At the same time, we believe we have a strong core of players that will be the basis for our success on the ice. Obviously, our definition of long-term success is competing for a Stanley Cup and eventually winning a fifth ring.

Our season has just ended and as an organization, we will be evaluating all aspects of our hockey operations. Then we will make decisions on what is best for the future of our club. I am not here today to talk about any specific individuals, including players, coaches, and the general manager. We believe it is essential to our success to have a thoughtful evaluation process, to look at the past and, more importantly, assess the future of our team on and off the ice.

As for the past season, as owners, we have failed. We sincerely apologize to our fans. We want to express that our ownership group is totally committed to winning and providing the resources to do just that.”

Ledecky’s bizarre statement is alarming. Their season ended six weeks ago. The evaluation of the hockey operations should have began in March. Perhaps it will begin once the search for a team president has concluded.

The comedy of errors now shifted to Snow and Weight, who both were led to believe that they are returning next season. Snow was questioned whether he should return for his 13th season as Islanders general manager. “For me, 2006 when I took over this position, it was a situation where it was an all-out rebuild where we had to bring in talent through the draft,” Snow said. “Now we’re in a situation where we feel we can compete for a Stanley Cup.”

Garth seems to be living in Fantasyland. You cannot compete for a Stanley Cup if you missed the postseason eight of the 12 seasons under his watch, including the last two seasons. Snow failed to improve the defense when Calvin de Haan was injured in December and then blamed the team’s struggles on injuries. He has traded three first-round picks and two others are stuck in Bridgeport. Speaking of the Sound Tigers, they missed the postseason for the fifth time in six years and haven’t won a series in fifteen seasons. Consistency throughout the organization.

The attention then shifted to Weight, who finished his first full season as head coach. Weight seemed in over his head for pretty much most of the season. His coaching staff struggled through the season to make any adjustments to fix the team’s putrid defense. Speaking of the coaching staff, Weight expects the entire staff to return. That included Jack Capuano holdover, Greg Cronin, who led the worst penalty kill unit in the league. You truly cannot make this crap up.

Ok, back to my vacation of mouse ears and turkey legs.
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