Doug Weight Era Begins

Oh coaching changes. They happen all the time in the sports world. When a team isn't playing up to potential, the change has to be made. Thus, the coaching tenure of Jack Capuano with the New York Islanders had to come to a head. It started in November 2010, when he took over for Scott Gordon getting fired. He was named head coach for good the following season, a post he held until Tuesday when he was let go by the Islanders. During his run with the Islanders, Capuano coached 483 games and finished with a record of 227-192-64. But that's now done with and enter Doug Weight.

The only thing I found a little curious was the timing of the firing. He was let go after a 4-0 shutout win in Boston against the Bruins, the first time the islanders have ever shut out the Bruins in Boston. It just seemed a little strange that the firing came after a big shutout win. But the record was an indication of the way things have gone for the team this season. When Cappy was let go, the Islanders sat at 17–17–8. That was good for last place in the Eastern Conference. This coming a year after the Islanders made the 2nd round of the playoffs for the first time in 23 years.

I still put a lot of the blame on the general manager, Garth Snow, for not having the same talent level on the team as to why they have struggled this year, but that's another argument for another time. Let's stick with the topic at hand shall we. That topic is new head coach Doug Weight.

Weight had a pretty good playing career, finishing with 1,033 points in 1,238 games. Solid numbers for a solid hockey player. As a coach, its going to be interesting to see how things turn out. Well it certainly has gotten off to a good start. It started off on an interesting note at practice, when Islanders teammates Ryan Strome and Calvin de Haan dropped the gloves during a drill, though no punches were thrown. It started to show that the Islanders are starting to put up a little more fight and have a little more fire in their belly. Then they follow it up with a game against the Dallas Stars, a team that had come off a loss against Buffalo and almost blew a huge lead in a 7-6 win over the Rangers. Well it didn't work out well for Dallas in Brooklyn, as the Islanders gave Doug Weight a win in his first day as coach, a 3-0 Islanders victory.

Sure, the Islanders still have a shot at the playoffs, they sit eight points out of a playoff spot right now. They are going to have to play pretty much lights out hockey over the final now 39 games of the regular season if they want to have a possible chance of making the playoffs. This stretch of the season will answer two questions. How much metal does this Islanders team have and try and make the playoffs? And how good of a head coach is Doug Weight? Both will be answered in time, but right now it looks like they are off to a good start.