Islanders fire Snow as general manager, Weight as coach

NEW YORK -- Garth Snow and Doug Weight were fired by the New York Islanders as general manager and coach, respectively, Tuesday.

President of hockey operations Lou Lamoriello will take over as GM and begin the process of hiring a coach.
"We've had meetings and conversations certainly throughout the past two weeks since I've been here," Lamoriello said. "It is my opinion at this point that there is a culture change that's needed and there's new voices needed in different areas, and because of that the change is made."
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Weight and Snow will remain with the organization.
"They understand the decision that's made," Lamoriello said. "I feel they can be valuable in me picking their brain, asking them their opinion in certain areas. As far as exactly what that role will be, the three of us have decided we'll determine that as we go along. But I'm not going to be afraid to reach out with them. I already have done that. That's the way we'll proceed."
Lamoriello said there is no timetable to hire a coach, nor did he name any possible candidates.
"We're going to get the best coach available," Lamoriello said. "I think that we've been in the League long enough to know different coaches, and as I said, different coaches are for different teams. But right now, if we had the coach, he'd be here. Whether I know him or not is not going to enter into the decision."

An offseason priority is re-signing center John Tavares, who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
"That certainly has not and did not enter into any of the decisions that are made," Lamoriello said of Tavares' situation.
Weight played 19 seasons in the NHL, including his last three with the Islanders. He retired after the 2011 season and was named an assistant coach and senior adviser to the general manager May 26, 2011. He took over for after Jack Capuano was fired on Jan. 17, 2017 and coached the Islanders to a 24-12-4 finish, missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs by one point.
The Islanders regressed this season, going 35-37-10 and finishing 17 points behind the New Jersey Devils for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. New York allowed 296 goals, most in the NHL, and a League high 35.6 shots-against per game.
Snow, who played 12 NHL seasons (four with the Islanders), was hired as president and GM on July 18, 2006. The Islanders made the playoffs four times since but have missed the past two seasons. Their first-round win against the Florida Panthers in 2016 is their only playoff series victory since 1993.
Lamoriello was hired by the Islanders on May 22 after three years as GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"If I felt like I was rushing, I wouldn't do it," Lamoriello said. "I'm a believer that when time's on your side that you use it. But when you know what you feel what the right decision is, you make it."

The Islanders have the No. 11 and No. 12 picks in the first round of the NHL Draft, which is June 22.
"I've spent a considerable amount of time with Garth and the scouting staff," Lamoriello said. "I just got back from the [Scouting] Combine and the amateur scouting meetings. I'm very comfortable with the job that they have done. The draft is in the hands of the scouts."
Toronto went 118-95-33 and improved each season under Lamoriello, who resigned as president of the New Jersey Devils to become the 16th GM of the Maple Leafs on July 23, 2015. He won the Stanley Cup three times (1995, 2000, 2003) with the Devils and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.
"The bottom line is, there are a lot of tremendous people here," Lamoriello said. "There's been a lot of changes for different reasons. Right now, it's just kind of stabilize anything, start off with a fresh face, start off with a fresh mind, a fresh coach and just go forward."
NHL.com deputy managing editor Brian Compton contributed to this report.