Islanders at Blues morning open thread: Carry that Weight

The Blues aren’t the only team this season who has had to replace their coach thanks to lackluster performance. Back in mid-January, the Islanders let long-time coach (and proud Flowbee owner) Jack Capuano go. Capuano was second all-time in wins for Islanders bench bosses, behind only Al Arbour. This speaks more to the tenure of the coaching staffs than it does to Capuano’s greatness, but as a coach who led his team to the playoffs three of the last four seasons Capuano didn’t do poorly.

As we are all aware, history is what gets coaches hired; current performance is what gets them fired. Capuano’s team was at 17-17-8 at the time of his dismissal, good for last in the Eastern Conference. As GM Garth Snow put it:

“We need to turn this ship around,” General Manager Garth Snow said. “I don’t know that Jack fell short of expectations. When you’re a head coach in this league, sometimes you’re a victim of different circumstances.”

Sometimes you’re a victim of your own GM’s personnel and contract decisions. Hm.

Since Doug Weight’s taken over the helm, the Isles have improved to 32-23-11 and are in the last wild card spot. 6-3-1 in their last ten games, the Islanders are making a playoff push that some didn’t see happening at the start of the season. Maybe the Isles should hire former Blues as head coaches more often.

This is your morning open thread. Check back later on for your game day slate of posts, and head back for tonight’s second game of a back-to-back.