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Islanders fire new GM Smith, hire Garth Snow
Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 8:49 pm
by E5150_ca
Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 9:10 pm
by inSTAALed
Isn't that crazy.
I've heard that he quit though, not fired.
Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:01 pm
by flea
LOL....that must have been the fastest ending job in NHL history, not???

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:48 pm
by Minstrel
Wow, that was impressive... at least Smith won't miss any television work now
40 days was enough for Noah's Ark and enough for Neil Smith to decide he didn't like their "business commune" idea of running the team I guess:
"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, Bryan Trottier and Pat LaFontaine," said Wang. "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."
The Hawks have fired several Head Coaches in the same if not shorter timeframe but yeah GMs usually at least make it through a year...
Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 11:01 pm
by Shadd666
It seems stupid and ridiculous... But it's Milbury's work,so...lol
It also seems that Smith didn't like the way the Isles work,so he should have had some difficulties to do a good job,what lead him to be fired...
Snow made a good work on the free-agent market actually,but maybe not an outstanding one...
Do they really think they will win the cup someday?...
And is there still any Islanders fan who think they'll win again a day?...

Will they be patient enough,as the Rangers fans were,to wait 54 years between two titles (last ones were 80 to 83).
But who knows?... Maybe Snow will be the GM the Isles waited for so long...
Time will tell...
Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:13 am
by Weirdness
Patty LaFontaine also left. Looks like the Islanders are also in the running for worst off-season meltdown, along with the oilers
Dont get me wrong, I quite like the Islanders. They beat the evil Pittsburgh Penguins back in the '93 playoffs, and i was glad cuz those black jerseys scared me

Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 3:00 pm
by Gillies9
Funny thing is - Smith added a few quality players in his 6 weeks on the job, so...
The Isles could end up being far better on the ice this year than in the front office.
We'll see.