Snow had been the Islanders' GM and President since July '06 -- until Lamoriello was hiredGETTY IMAGES
New Islanders President of Hockey Operations Lou Lamoriello yesterday relieved GM Garth Snow and coach Doug Weight of their duties, "naming himself GM and starting the search for the organization's 17th coach," according to Andrew Gross of NEWSDAY. Lamoriello said that Snow and Weight "would remain with the organization in to-be-determined advisory roles." Snow had been the Islanders' GM and President since July '06 -- "until Lamoriello was hired." The NHL free-agent market "opens on July 1 and Lamoriello's hiring was seen as an aggressive push by ownership to keep from losing" C John Tavares. Lamoriello "denied removing Snow and Weight from their current jobs had anything to do with trying to resign Tavares." The only reason Lamoriello would ascribe to the moves was "changing the team's culture" (NEWSDAY, 6/6).
INEVITABLE DECISION? The AP's Stephen Whyno noted the end of Snow's tenure "seemed inevitable" after co-Owners Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin "brought in Lamoriello." Snow was former Owner Charles Wang's hire, and the Islanders "missed the playoffs eight times in Snow's 12 years" as GM, including the past two seasons. Snow "has four years left on the contract he signed when Wang still owned the team" (AP, 6/5). THE HOCKEY NEWS' Jared Clinton noted Snow was the "fourth-longest tenured GM in the NHL and the target of the fan-driven 'Snow Must Go' billboard campaign" as the Islanders' season slipped away (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 6/5). On Long Island, Mark Herrmann writes Snow "had strong moments, such as drafting Tavares," but overall, it "just did not work." In 12 years, Snow had "so lost the confidence of the customers" that Ledecky and Malkin "agreed they needed an overhaul" (NEWSDAY, 6/6). The N.Y. Daily News' Peter Botte tweeted, "Have covered on and off so many years of dysfunction across the board with the Islanders. It's beyond weird to see them operating with accountability, with decisiveness, with competence, with professionalism. It's rather refreshing." ESPN's Linda Cohn: "Let’s just say the majority of Islanders fans are happy right now." Hockey podcaster Dimitri Filipovic: "All it took for the New York Islanders to finally show some much needed signs of life was hiring a 75 year old" (TWITTER.com, 6/5).
