Train wreck on The Island

In a stunning move, The Islanders have fired GM Neil Smith after a month and hired... are you sitting down? . . . . Garth Snow.

Snow retired earlier today to take the role as the Isles' new GM.

Repent; the end is near.

In a related story, former great Pat LaFontaine retired from Wang's Politboro (Wang is the Islanders' owner, and apparently, really like Josef Stalin) probably because he understands this move about as much as we do.

The Fish Sticks made another great move today, first Poti now this. Hahahahahaha Thank God I am a Rangers fan

u have no idea how much i wish u were joking but here is the article. why? why? why?

Former Islanders goaltender Garth Snow has retired as a player to become the new general manager of the New York Islanders.

"I spoke with Garth at length throughout the spring about the general manager's position and he really impressed me with his passion and his knowledge," said Islanders owner Charles Wang. "When the job opened up, the choice was an easy one. Garth knows the league as well as anyone, has an eye for talent and understands how our staff works as a team. Most importantly, Garth is a man of integrity, someone I trust will work hard, be creative and represent the Islanders with dignity."

As Islanders GM, Snow will be the point person for trades and oversee the pro scouting department. Snow becomes part of a hockey operations staff that also includes head coach Ted Nolan, senior advisor Pat LaFontaine, player development director Bryan Trottier, chief amateur scout Tony Feltrin and pro scouting director Ken Morrow.

"This is a proud moment for me, a dream come true," said Snow, who will be 37 on July 28. "It's an opportunity I wanted more than anything. I look forward to working with Ted, Pat, Bryan and the scouts. Islander fans can be assured that this franchise is going to do everything in its power to bring another Stanley Cup to Long Island."

Last season was Snow's fourth with the Islanders and 12th in the NHL. The goaltender was 135-147-43 with a 2.80 GAA and .901 save percentage over 368 games with Quebec, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Pittsburgh and the Islanders. Originally selected in the sixth round by Quebec in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, the native of Wrentham, Mass. signed with the Islanders as a free agent on July 1, 2001.



A STATEMENT FROM ISLANDERS OWNER CHARLES WANG

Islanders owner Charles Wang announced today that Neil Smith has been relieved of his duties as general manager.

Said Wang: "As I made clear at the press conference last month, we are running this as a business, incorporating the opinions of our hockey operations staff - including Ted Nolan, Garth Snow, Bryan Trottier and Pat LaFontaine. Despite Neil's commitment to me that he could work in this environment, he later expressed to me on a number of occasions his philosophical opposition to our business model.

"In light of our differences, I felt that I had no choice but to make this decision in the best interests of the Islanders and our fans. I'm very proud of our draft and the roster additions our staff made this month. Our fans should know that with Ted, Garth, Bryan and Pat helping to lead the way, the Islanders are in very good hands."



i guess if any good can come from this... Snow's not in net anymore and Dubie has been signed

What about the wild? They hired as their director of operations some sports writer who has been one for a year who coincidentially last named snow as well

phatteus said:

In a stunning move, The Islanders have fired GM Neil Smith after a month and hired... are you sitting down? . . . . Garth Snow.

Snow retired earlier today to take the role as the Isles' new GM.

Repent; the end is near.

In a related story, former great Pat LaFontaine retired from Wang's Politboro (Wang is the Islanders' owner, and apparently, really like Josef Stalin) probably because he understands this move about as much as we do.

Click to expand...

I can't believe they fired him after only 1 month on the books! That's gotta be nearly a record.....

And if his thoughts on how things should be run were so different, why'd they consider hiring him in the first place? Don't you think they might've asked questions leading into that before they signed on the dotted line????? 😕

the more i think about this move the better i feel. honestly, how much worse can Garth do than Milbury? not much right?

ok... i have thought long and hard about this and i now know exactly what happened. Smith and Wang were having a heated argument during a board meeting. there was much tension between the two because of their strategic differences. fed up from all the yelling, someone in the room yelled out " Ya kno what Smith?!!? You suck at this job! i bet the friggin back up goalie could do better!" this got Wang thinking. "hmmm... ya know what? your right! Smith! Your Fired!!! . get Garth on the phone!!!" this is the only logical explanation.

I am a Rangers fan but I do feel bad for the Islanders a bit b/c now you guys are stuck with Poti Man you guys are going to hate him

AN OPEN LETTER TO ISLANDERS FANS
FROM GARTH SNOW ​

Dear Islanders Fans everywhere,

I understand last Tuesday was an interesting day for you, to say the least. I'm a sports fan, too. My head was spinning for a while there. I can only imagine how you guys felt.

But now that the dust has settled and we're moving on, I wanted to reach out to you.

First off, thanks for your kindness and support during my four seasons as an Islanders player. I loved playing here, and so much of that was because of you. Long Island is a special place. My wife Erica, son Glenn and I have cherished our time here and plan on being Long Islanders for a long time.

To that end, and just as importantly, I'm not going to stand for anyone taking shots at this franchise. My philosophy during my 13 years as a player was that members of a team back each other up. It's one of the many reasons why I'm so happy to get to work with Ted Nolan. That's the way Ted's teams play. Starting in October, I have no doubt that you're going to be excited and proud to root for this Islanders team.

My philosophy as a manager is the same. Now, I don't want you to think I'm going to be a bully with the press or heckling fans. That's not my style and I accept it as part of the business. But I will make my feelings clear at all times: on or off the ice, don't take a cheap shot at our guys.

I need you to know that I'm counting on Islander fans to continue to back us up during the highs and lows. Let's not forget where the Islanders were before Charles Wang saved the franchise because he felt it was right for Long Island. Don't forget that this team went two presidential terms not making the playoffs, often not even able to compete, before Charles took over. After making the playoffs three years in a row, we fell short last season. This summer we added several quality veterans and our work is not yet done. Our one and only goal is to contend for a Stanley Cup, but we can't do it without you.

When the puck drops on October 5 in Phoenix, what happens on the ice will be about Coach Nolan, Rick DiPietro, Yash and Miro and the rest of the players. When we open at home before a packed Coliseum crowd of Islanders faithful on October 14, it will be the home debuts of Brendan Witt (I hated watching him throttle my guys!), Chris Simon (ditto), Mike Sillinger, Tom Poti - and who knows who else?

I believed this as a player and believe this as a manager: the Islanders are about the men wearing the orange and blue and the map of Long Island on their crest. As a sports fan like you, I love the home-grown guys. That's why Jeter and Bernie are immortal Yankees, why David Wright and Jose Reyes are so dear to the hearts of Mets fans. Of course, we love all of our Islanders, but how can you not be excited about DiPietro…Robert Nilsson…Ryan O'Marra…Petteri Nokelainen…Jeremy Colliton…Kyle Okposo…Blake Comeau…Sean Bergenheim…Chris Campoli…and so many others.

I shared the same ice surface with all of them. Take my word for it. Something special is happening here. Thanks to our scouts, the present and future are very promising.

Ted Nolan, Bryan Trottier and the rest of our staff are going to present a team that battles hard for each other and for the Islanders' crest. Our team will be a combination of our draft picks developed properly and veterans leading the way. Just as important, we will have players who want to be here, players proud to be Islanders and players that will get involved in our community.

I understand that I need to earn your confidence and respect over time. Over the next few weeks, I want to hear from Islander fans. I've asked the team to set up an email address where you can send questions and I'll answer as many as I can on the site. (Don't worry; my days are long enough to manage the team and address your questions). Comments are encouraged, too. Let's communicate and let's get behind the Orange and Blue.

I'll see you around Islanders Country.

<img src="http://www.newyorkislanders.com/images_frontpage/Garth-Snow-Signature.gif">

Garth Snow



good on ya Garth!!! this honestly makes me feel alot better