New York Islanders: Isles finally end the misery, fire Garth Snow

The New York Islanders are finally starting to listen to their fans. In the best thing this team has announced in a while, new GM Lou Lamoriello has fired Garth Snow and Doug Weight.

The New York Islanders are finally laying down the law. The team has officially announced that now ex-general manager Garth Snow and now ex-head coach Doug Weight have been fired. Effective immediately.

This is the best news to come out the Islanders organization in quite some time. There is likely one man to thank, Lou Lamoriello.

Garth Snow, as a general manager ran its course like eight years ago. This change is long overdue and comes at the perfect time. Lou Lamoriello will now be the general manager.

With the draft coming up in just a few weeks on June 22, I fully expect Lou to make a lot of moves now. Instead of dreading the draft, I am now looking forward to it. I hope a lot of Islanders fans are now too.

To say Garth Snow accomplished nothing in his 12-year tenure would be a little harsh, However, to say he accomplished anything of significance would be more accurate.

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Sure, the team won a playoff series one time in his 12 years. However, that series is not because of him. Their playoff series win against the Florida Panthers in 2016 was more because John Tavares took over than anything else.

As for Weight, his firing is smart too. He was not given much time to prove himself but his only full year as coach is such a disaster that it makes sense to move on. Not to mention it is always smart to move on from a coach too when the GM is fired.

This is not an ending for the New York Islanders. Rather this is a beginning. The team and even Lamoriello still have so much to prove to the fans. But if this was Lou’s first real decision in charge, I really like the direction he is trying to go.

Of course, what head coach he hires next is really significant too. He needs to be better than Doug Weight was. That is not the toughest task but it is still a tough league.

Lamoriello does have some great thing to work with on this team that are worth keeping. The Isles have a fantastic top line. Mathew Barzal is likely going to win the Calder and be a massive piece for years to come.

But, he also has a GM’s dream. A plethora of draft picks including two firsts. This is the draft that is going to make or break Lou in terms of how long he will last here. He needs a great draft and now has all that to work with.

Today is a great day for the New York Islanders and their fan base. They no longer will be a team scrapping into the playoffs every few years and having no direction. The GM is no longer going to place together players who are patch pieces to fix needs.

Lou is going to try to build a dynasty. This team is due for a rebuild. Something they have not done in years.

Tavares can or cannot be a part of it but either way, firing these guys influences his decision on whether or not to stay.

The Isles have a chance to have a much better team when their arena in Belmont opens. They have a chance to be really great one day.

Yes, there are a lot of things that can still go wrong. But a lot of the Islanders’ misfortunes in the last decade have been their own fault. This includes keeping bad hockey guys around too long.

This move is the beginning of what seems to be going back towards that. Will they ever win 4 in a row again? Absolutely not.

However, “drive for five,” the movement that’s been dying for years, is back. Even if Lou tenure is short-lived and he fails, firing Snow is something no one else would have done.

This is a great day for the Isles and their fans. There is finally a change where things were not working for a while.

This team is interesting again. The Isles can steal the offseason or do nothing now. There is no way of knowing, That is exciting and interesting.

One day, when it’s all said and done, and this team is not miserable to watch and support, remember this day. The day Garth Snow and the demons he has with him was fired.

Next: Isles should not sign Kovalchuk

Good times on the Island. Let’s see how it works out. Things can only go up from here. What a day.