The New York Islanders have quietly and methodically going about their business of choosing a coaching replacement for Ted Nolan. Given how Puppet GM Garth Snow and Charles Wang Dang Doodle have managed the team in the past, I'm rather surprised that the Isles have been so patient in their process.
After a painstaking interview process in which he spoke with eight known candidates and contacted a few others, an NHL source indicated Snow has narrowed his list to three finalists. Former Atlanta coach Bob Hartley (pictured), former Toronto coach Paul Maurice and current AHL Providence coach Scott Gordon still are in the running, and Snow is expected to name one as the Isles' next coach early this week.
So, we have two retreads and an unknown (to most of us) coaching prospect. How do the candidates stack up?
John Tortorella is out of a coaching job, and the New York Islanders are looking for a new coach.
Put two and two together, and you get the Coaching Rumor of the Day, courtesy of Tampa Bay Online.
Former Lightning coach John Tortorella could be in line to take over the vacant head coaching position with the New York Islanders.
The Islanders have contacted Tampa Bay seeking permission to speak to Tortorella, the Tribune has learned. The Lightning have granted the Islanders their request to talk to Tortorella.
Do you really think such an arrangement would work? If Garth Snow couldn't get along with Ted Nolan, don't you think the fiery Tortorella would be an even more explosive combination in the Isles five-headed front office? I'd expect the Isles wouldn't allow Tortorella the same level of power to their new head coach, but who knows what the Isles are thinking at any one time?
Now, I can't be the only one who hopes this hiring happens. Tortorella on a losing team equals hella-fun post-game conferences. Just imagine the tirades the guy would go on after putting up with the Isles for an entire season!
When Ted Nolan was fired, I was rather shocked. Coaches usually aren't fired in mid-July, and I figured Nolan was doing decently enough with a rather poor Isles squad.
Then, our own Mirtle M.D. pointed me to this blog post, written on July 6th, by Chris Botta, a man who worked within the Isles organization for 20 years. Apparently, tensions have been brewing for a few months, and the parting of ways between coach and team shouldn't be as surprising as I thought.
Right now, there isn't much of a relationship between Ted and Islanders management. Despite Ted's success as a coach in junior, I don't believe the Islanders are confident he really buys into the youth movement.
The other tall hurdle is the immense damage from last season. From March 1 on, when the ship was sinking, awkward moments came daily. You didn't have to be the PR director of the team to see the stains.
It seems that Nolan was quick to point the finger, all too often, at his boss for putting out a poor lineup, rather than do what a head coach should do and take the brunt of the criticism. Unfair, but part of the job description.
After the jump: FanHouse bloggers discuss the firing and Nolan's future.
Of all of the NHL coaches who we could consider on the Hot Seat, Ted Nolan wasn't one I expected to be fired any day soon. The Isles seemed to love the guy enough to bring him out of his blacklisted exile, and he was a key component of their five-headed management strategy.
New York Islanders General Manager Garth Snow announced today that Ted Nolan will not return next season as the team's head coach. Nolan had one season remaining on his contract.
"Ted has helped us achieve some success over the last two seasons, however it has become clear that we have philosophical differences and have decided together to part ways," said Snow. "Since last season and continuing into the summer, I have realized we do not share the same philosophies. I would like to thank Ted for his two years with the team and wish him the best.
Nolan was the darling of the NHL after leading his rag-tag bunch to a 40-30-12 record in 2006-07, and a rare playoff birth. Last season wasn't so good, however, as the Isles fell to 35-38-9 record.
It's a shame that Nolan is taking the fall for Garth Snow's poor management moves, but it's not as if Nolan is completely blameless.
Yes, the Isles don't have a great roster, but how can you explain the exceptionally poor performances from scoring threats such as Miro Satan, Mike Comrie, and Bill Guerin? The Isles Power Play finished 29th and their PK was also in the bottom half of the league.
In the end, Nolan simply didn't have his troops playing hard enough or tight enough, and Snow put together a roster full of defensive liabilities. As is almost always the case, the coach takes the fall.
The #1 question any team should ask about any player: Does this guy add an overall positive value to our hockey club?
Ray Emery, despite all of his latent and natural talent, has far more minuses than pluses, and he was far too much of a poison for the Ottawa Senators to keep around.
In the wake of several incidents involving both the team and member of the public over the past couple of seasons, Emery has been served with a buyout notice by the club and has been placed on NHL waivers.
If nobody decides to pick up the 25-year-old, then Emery will be bought out for one third of the remaining $6.75 million on his contract_ or approximately $2.25 million. Emery has two years left on the deal. He would then become a free agent and although several teams have expressed an interest in Emery, it's unlikely he would be able to sign anything but a two-way deal -- which would pay him considerably less were he not to stay on an NHL roster.
Some players, such as Dominik Hasek or Ed Belfour, have been able to get away with being Bad Boys because their level of player was so far above average. Emery? His play deteriorated to the point where he finished second last in the league with a paltry 89.0% save percentage. It's pretty easy to cut a guy who isn't performing.
If I was running an NHL club, I'd stay the hell away from the guy, even if he has loads of untapped talent. What coach wants to take on a guy that shows up late for practices, can't control his emotions, goes clubbing all the time, and creates a bad atmosphere in the dressing room?
Perhaps Ted Nolan and the New York Islanders? Then again, Nolan's past experience with Dominik Hasek might scare him off.
As difficult as it might be to believe, Alexei Yashin wants to return to Long Island. That's Yashin and his wife, Long Island native Carol Alt, pictured at right at a premiere of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in Manhattan back in April.
But that's not what's most unbelievable about this story. What's most unbelievable is that the Islanders are actually considering it. It was only a week ago that the team announced that it was letting go of a passel of veterans, all in the interest of giving their younger players a shot at significant minutes next season.
Not that Yashin doesn't deserve some consideration at this point, even if it's not on the Island. Playing last year at Yaroslavl in the RSL, Yashin had 16 goals and 27 assists in the regular season and added eight goals and six assists in 16 playoff games as his team made it to the Finals.
So what's the hangup? According to Gandler, the Islanders seem to be balking at his asking price, while the agent also seems to think that Yashin's fractured relationship with Islanders head coach Ted Nolan might be a bit problematic as well.
Color me shocked. So should Islanders fans be worried? Maybe. After all, Yashin had a very close relationship with Islanders owner Charles Wang, one that resulted in the team holding on to the veteran a full season or two longer than they should have. Is that relationship enough to move Wang to direct his hockey professionals to bring Yashin back? Stay tuned.
See that? That is Long Island's newest whipping boy, Andy Hilbert, somehow missing a point blank chance on an empty net during the third period of last night's game against the arch-rival New York Rangers. If he had managed to get the puck in the net, and not his stick, he would have tied the game. Instead, the Islanders could not find the tying goal and the Rangers tacked on one more to win the game, 4-2. This image is not the reason for the ranting and raving that you are about to read, it is simply the icing on the cake for Hilbert-haters on Long Island.
Hilbert has two points all season for the Islanders, despite playing in each of the team's 23 games. Two points. For a winger who is not an enforcer and is supposed to score, those numbers are simply mind boggling. He has, how do you say, as many points as six NHL goaltenders, including teammate Rick DiPietro. Yes, Hilbert has the offensive talent of a goaltender. For the sake of emphasis, it should also be noted that he has as many points as goon Chris Simon and fewer points than offensively-challenged blue liners Andy Sutton and Brendan Witt.
It's nearly American Thanksgiving and we've reached the quarter-pole of the NHL season. What better excuse than to give our some faux NHL awards? If Gary Bettman was mean and called off the season right NOW, this is who should win.
Hart Trophy (MVP) - Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay.
Prince Vince leads the NHL in assists (20) and points (34), and also sports an impressive +10. The tall centerman is arguably the best 2-way player in the game right now, and the hardest to contain thanks to his skill and size. Pat Burns approves of this choice.
The Blue Jackets have no business being in the playoffs, but Pascal Leclaire and his holy-crap(!!) 93.5SV% have kept the BJ's in the thick of things. Leclaire's stats are more impressive when you consider the shoddy defence he has to play behind. Besides, somebody with teeth that nasty looking needs a little love once in awhile. Boston's Tim Thomas and his 94.1SV% is a very close second, in my books.
When you ever make a list of the NHL's top defensemen of all time, you'd be remiss in not having Lidstrom's name in the mix after putting Bobby Orr in his usual #1 slot. Besides leading all NHL d-men in scoring, Lidstrom is still shutting down the league's best snipers (His +14 is the second best among defensemen), and keeping the Red Wings near the top of the league standings. Gonchar and Zubov put up impressive scoring totals, but are nowhere nearly as effective as Lidstrom is in the defensive end.
Q: Who makes $7.6* million a season, dates a former supermodel, and disappears the moment the playoffs start?
A: Alexei Valeryevich Yashin
It looks like Isles coach Ted Nolan has already had enough of Yashin's floaty ways and has quickly demoted his captain:
Nolan busted Yashin, 33, down to centre on the fourth line halfway through the first period of the Eastern Conference quarter-final game. Yashin played between Richard Park and Andy Hilbert, while Richard Zednik was promoted to Yashin's spot with centre Viktor Kozlov and right winger Miroslav Satan. Yashin barely got off the bench in the third period.
Yashin played 7 minutes, 7 seconds in Saturday's game, the least amount of ice time of anyone on the team except for backup goaltender Wade Dubielewicz. But it is richly deserved.
Kapitan Ka$hin has always had a reputation as a player who has disappeared the moment the regular season paycheques stop coming, and he's doing nothing this postseason to improve on that. With just 10:21 in ice time per game in this series (0 points in those 3 games), Yashin finds himself behind such superstars as Aaron Asham, Trent Hunter, and Randy Robitaille. I guess being the highest paid player on the team and having the captain's 'C' isn't enough to motivate the guy. What is?
All I know is that playoff games involve turning up the intensity a few notches and skating faster and harder. Yashin, on the other hand, is a player that has always relied on his brains and great stickhandling ability, rather than speed and hustle. In the regular season, it's easy enough for him to get time and space with the puck and float around looking for open spaces. In the playoffs, both of these elements are hard to find, and Yashin does not work harder to compensate.
If I were Nolan, I would have stripped Yashin of the C much earlier and given it to somebody like Mike Sillinger, who actually gives an honest effort most every night.
I feel a little guilty not letting my colleague Tom Luongo share with this all of you himself, but I didn't think it should wait. Here's a video clip of the last minute of the last NHL game played at the Aud, the arena that for 26 years was the home of the Buffalo Sabres:
It's hard to believe that clip is only 11 years old, especially as that was the Hartford Whalers that helped close the old barn before eventually moving to greener pastures in Carolina. And if you're quick, you'll even catch a glimpse of a very young Ted Nolan, a man who was only a year away from a Jack Adams Trophy and an NHL exile that lasted until this season when he finally got another head coaching job with the New York Islanders.
The New York Islanders have quietly and methodically going about their business of choosing a coaching replacement for Ted Nolan. Given how Puppet GM Garth Snow and Charles Wang Dang Doodle have managed the team in the past, I'm rather surprised that the Isles have been so patient in their process.
Of all of the NHL coaches who we could consider on the Hot Seat, Ted Nolan wasn't one I expected to be fired any day soon. The Isles seemed to love the guy enough to bring him out of his blacklisted exile, and he was a key component of their five-headed management strategy.
The #1 question any team should ask about any player: Does this guy add an overall positive value to our hockey club?
As difficult as it might be to believe, 
It's nearly American Thanksgiving and we've reached the quarter-pole of the NHL season. What better excuse than to give our some faux NHL awards? If Gary Bettman was mean and called off the season right NOW, this is who should win.
Q: Who makes $7.6* million a season, dates a former supermodel, and disappears the moment the playoffs start?
