Islanders: Checking in on their coaches of the past decade

The New York Islanders cycled through three head coaches last decade before hiring Barry Trotz. Though unable to achieve much success with the Islanders, these three are still involved with hockey to some degree.

The past decade was not very kind to the New York Islanders. From the 2009-10 season to the 2018-19 season, the Isles finished last in their division four times and failed to qualify for the playoffs six times.

Though they made the playoffs in each of the other four seasons, they never advanced past the second round. In total, they won just two out of six playoff series.

When a team constantly disappoints, like the Islanders did for much of the last decade, usually, the head coach is among the first in the franchise to go.

As such, the Islander used four different coaches in the past decade between Scott Gordon, Jack Capuano, Doug Weight and now Barry Trotz. While the first three were canned, they are still involved with hockey.

So, what went wrong and where are they now?

Scott Gordon

Term with the Islanders: 2008-10
Record: 64-94-23 (.417)
Playoff appearances: None

Scott Gordon became the coach of the Islanders prior to the 2008-09 season. He had just been named AHL Coach of the Year the previous season with the Providence Bruins. Though he had an illustrious tenure in Providence, Gordon never tasted similar success with the Isles.

During Gordon’s first two seasons on the Island, the Islanders compiled losing records and finished last in their division. It appeared the Islanders were en route to a similar fate during the 2010-11 season when they got off to a 4-10-3 start. Nonetheless, General Manager Garth Snow had seen enough and fired Gordon just 17 games into the season.

Following his dismissal, Gordon became a special adviser to Snow for the remainder of the 2010-11 season. The next season, Gordon was hired as an assistant coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Gordon lasted three years in Toronto under two head coach regimes before being fired following the 2013-14 season.

Two years later, Gordon became head coach of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers. So far, he has been successful and has led the team to the playoffs in two of his four seasons there. His best season was in 2017-18 when he led his team to the third round of the playoffs. Gordon has coached current Flyers stars, like Carter Hart and Travis Sanheim, while they were in Lehigh Valley.

Gordon even had a brief stint as the interim head coach of the Flyers during the 2018-19 season. During this period, he amassed a 25-22-4 record. This record would have been better had the Flyers not lost ten of their final 13 games that season. Following that season, Gordon returned to Lehigh Valley, where he is still the head coach.

Gordon has now proven on two occasions that he can win in the AHL. Time will tell if he gets another chance to prove himself in the NHL.

Jack Capuano

Term with the Islanders: 2010-17
Record: 227-192-64 (.536)
Playoff appearances: Three

After Gordon was dismissed in the 2010-11 season, Jack Capuano became the interim head coach of the Isles. Capuano had been the head coach of the Islanders’ AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

When Capuano first became the Islanders interim head coach, there was no idea how long he would hold this position. Nonetheless, he managed to remain as coach of the Islanders for the next five and a half seasons.

Capuano had an interesting tenure with the Islanders. He was just good enough to keep his job, but never good enough to get the Isles deep into the playoffs.

During his tenure, the Islanders made the playoffs in three seasons but failed to advance past the second round. Still, he may be most fondly remembered for leading the Isles to their first playoff series win in 23 years when the Isles defeated the Florida Panthers in six games in 2016.

Aiming for greater success, however, Snow relieved Capuano of his coaching duties midway through the following season. Capuano had gotten the Islanders off to a 17-17-8 start.

The next season, Capuano became an associate coach of the same team he had previously defeated in the playoffs, the Florida Panthers. Capuano lasted two seasons in Florida and failed to help bring the Panthers back to the playoffs in either season.

Fortunately, Capuano did not have to wait very long for his next coaching opportunity. Prior to the start of this season, he signed a three-year deal to become an associate coach of the Ottawa Senators. With a young and inexperienced team in Ottawa, Capuano will have a tough project on his hands.

Doug Weight

Term with the Islanders: 2017-18
Record: 59-49-14 (.541)
Playoff appearances: None

Doug Weight became the interim head coach of the Islanders in the 2016-17 season after Capuano was fired. Weight had been an assistant coach on Capuano’s staff.

After a successful playing career, it appeared Weight would have similar success behind the bench. He went 24-12-4 as the interim head coach and almost led the Islanders to a surprising playoff spot. Their 94 points that season was just one below the 95 points held by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second wild-card position.

On the heels of his success as interim head coach, Weight became the official head coach of the Islanders the next season. Nonetheless, he amassed a losing record and a sixth-place finish in the Metropolitan Division during the 2017-18 season.

After that season, both Snow and Weight were relieved of their duties. Thus, Weight would have the shortest tenure as coach of the Isles since Brad Shaw‘s 40-game tenure in the 2005-06 season.

After firing Snow and Weight, new Islanders’ President of Hockey Operations Lou Lamoriello announced that Weight would remain with the Islanders in an advisory role. Nonetheless, Weight does not appear in the Islanders’ current business directory, and it is unclear if he will ever get another opportunity to coach in the NHL.