Smith Out, Snow In As Islanders GM

My lower jaw hit my desk in shock a few minutes ago when I saw the news over at Mirtle's place that Neil Smith was out as Isles GM after a little less than a month on the job.

Heck, I'd been critical of some of his decisions, but you'd figure that a GM would get at least a season to see if his personnel moves worked out.

But just when the initial shock wore off, I was leveled again by the news that Islanders owner Charles Wang had named goaltender Garth Snow as Smith's replacement -- yes, the same Garth Snow that up until last season was the team's backup goaltender. I have no idea how Snow could possibly be qualified for the job, so I guess we'll have to take Wang's word on it.

Here's Wang's statement from the team Web site:

"As I made clear at the press conference last month, we are running this as a business, incorporating the opinions of our hockey operations staff - including Ted Nolan, Garth Snow, Bryan Trottier and Pat LaFontaine. Despite Neil's commitment to me that he could work in this environment, he later expressed to me on a number of occasions his philosophical opposition to our business model.

"In light of our differences, I felt that I had no choice but to make this decision in the best interests of the Islanders and our fans. I'm very proud of our draft and the roster additions our staff made this month. Our fans should know that with Ted, Garth, Bryan and Pat helping to lead the way, the Islanders are in very good hands."

In a way, I guess we shouldn't be terribly surprised. In the blizzard of hires last month, Wang named Smith GM, Nolan head coach, Trottier as head of player personnel and introduced Lafontaine as a special advisor. And lingering in the background all the while was Mike Milbury, who Wang kicked upstairs in his organization and away from day-to-day responsibilities with the team.

With so many moving parts, can we be shocked that it came apart so soon? And something tells me the Islanders had to hire from within, as I can't imagine anybody from the outside would want the job after seeing Smith shown the door so quickly.

Whatever might have happened, it doesn't look good for the Islanders.

For initial reaction from the Islanders faithful -- and that faith is being stressed to the limit today -- click here and here.

UPDATE: David Singer listened in on an interview that Wang gave with Mike Francesa and Chris Russo on WFAN in New York.

I love this take:

Just when I thought the New York Knicks were the worst run sports organization, I think the New York Islanders topped them today.

I think that about sums it up. Looks like James Dolan and Isiah Thomas are off the hook for a couple of weeks. And here's another inventive headline.

Here's what a friend of Chuq Von Rospach had to say:

laurie's immediate response: his suit jackets probably have really big shoulder pads.

I hope OLN takes Smith back. And I think somebody ought to figure out a way to get Smith to put his first post-firing interview on pay-per-view. Heck, I'd pay $2.50 for an unvarnished look into the mind of Wang.

Islanders fans are venting over at ESPN.com.

I'll close this update with some thoughts from Skip Oliva:

I'm eagerly awaiting for the first hockey blogger to be named GM of an NHL club. Because apparently, all you need is passion and knowledge, according to Charles Wang.

This is one job even a blogger would turn down.

OT UPDATE: Somewhere, Peter Laviolette is laughing very, very hard.

Spector climbs into the mind of Charles Wang:

if Wang believes Snow is well-suited for the job, why did he waste months shopping around for an experienced replacement for Milbury? Why didn't he just hire Snow at season's end? Why did he even bother hiring poor Neil Smith?

Maybe Snow can surprise everyone by fitting easily into the management chair, maybe he'll turn into one of the best GMs in NHL history and turn the Isles into a Stanley Cup contender in a few years.

Anything's possible, but given the miserable history of the Isles over the last dozen years, I wouldn't get my hopes up.

This smacks of a move made by an owner's impetuous nature than anything grounded in common sense.

That's as good an explanation as any other I've read today.

HR DEPT. UPDATE: Pat Lafontaine has quit. Nice job, Mr. Wang. It only took better than a decade for the franchise to woo one of its greatest players ever back to the fold, and you managed to shame him off Long Island in just one day.

DAY-AFTER UPDATE: Welcome to readers of Deadspin. Be sure to continue the post-mortem of this disaster with the latest news, here.

Eric 03:38 PM

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