Doug Weight: Islanders Head Coach Accountability is Thy Name
After and during a humiliating 7-0 loss on Saturday night, New York Islanders head coach Doug Weight let the players have it. Both with an on the bench outburst and a bag skate at the next practice. It’s a breath of fresh air.
After years of Capuanonsense in post-game interviews, it’s nice to get honest talk from the Islanders interim head coach Doug Weight. It doesn’t rectify the result that just took place, but it at least instills belief in the fanbase that he saw what we saw.
For years Isles fans dealt with the post-game shenanigans of Jack Capuano. An era where puck-luck and 5-on-5 effort reigned supreme. Dough Weight seems to operate much differently. See if you can spot the difference.
Not only did Weight shed light on what happens when a team doesn’t play well: “if you don’t play well in this league you’re going to get spanked around a little bit.” He also had that wonderful moment at the end of the third period when he cussed out the players for what was some terrible terrible play.
In contrast to Jack Capuano, the post-game was filled with cliche hockey talk and deflections. And rarely did you see him huddle the players together, especially when the game was well and truly in the bag for the other team with eight minutes left in the third period.
He then called out what was going to happen two days later on Monday (today). Saying that a “real good practice” was coming.
Bag skates aren’t generally the answer to lackluster play. But when the Isles have a four-day break before heading out on a West coast road trip, the timing is perfect to let the boys have it.
What I’m trying to point out here is that Doug Weight seems to know when to get old school and when not to.
Next: Trade Deadline Decision Time
He’s already enamored himself to the fanbase that two embarrassing losses in the span of two weeks go relatively unnoticed. He’s far from being coach of the year, but his tactics when it comes to motivating players seems on point. Hopefully, his tactics come round so 7-1 and 7-0 losses in two weeks are a thing of the past.