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Weird Happenings on Lawn Guyland

Frayed Knot Jul 18 2006 11:55 PM

and no, I don't mean Joey Buttafuco's back. - The Islanders had their General Manager - Mike Milbury - for going on about 10 years now, all the time growing increasingly unpopular. - So owner Charles Wang decided over the last year to finally replace him ... although they took forever to decide on one - EVENTUALLY they hired ex-Ranger GM Neil Smith ... even though Milbury is going to remain within the organization in some murkily defined capacity - They also decide to reach back into their past and hire several ex-players to serve as "advisors" ... again, not too clearly defined on who's in charge of what So now one month into Smith's reign he gets canned, reportedly over seperation of power issues and whatnot {Surprise!} And then one of the ex-player/advisors, Pat LaFontaine, who was reportedly part of the conflict with Smith, resigns. And you might think we've exhausted the weird parts ... but you'd be wrong. - To replace Smith, current backup goaltender Garth Snow announces his retirement and is named club GM. Obviously he's never held a hockey front office position before since he was .. how you say PLAYING This all makes Wilpon's kitchen cabinet of crusty old baseball men seem downright sane and stable.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 19 2006 09:20 AM

Take your GM by the hand And don't do anything as planned Take your GM by the heel And back out on that recent deal We got Snow in place At the Islander dais Did an a-bout face And I, you and everyone we knew Could believe, do, the front office screw I said... Wang all day, Love Wang all day Take your GM by the hair And make him listen to Trottier And take your GM by the ear A fire him within a year We got Snow in place At the Islander dais Did an a-bout face And I, you and everyone we knew Think a goalie could do, whatever it is you do I said... Wang all day, Love Wang all day Take your GM by the wrist And drive him to a psychiatrist And kick him like a kangaroo Cuz you hate him and he hates you Cuz you hate him and he hates you Cuz you hate him and he hates you We got Snow in place At the Islander dais Did an a-bout face And I, you and everyone we knew Could believe, do, the front office screw I said... Wang all day, Love Wang all day!

Edgy DC Jul 19 2006 10:38 AM

Wow. Front office turmoil in sports blows my mind. In what other multi-million-dollar business to they hire so impulsively? Has anybody ever been in the right place at the right time like Brian Cashman?

Frayed Knot Jul 19 2006 10:48 AM

But at least Cashman had paid his dues as he had been working in the MFY offices since he was about 21 y/o and steadily moving up the chain as he went. This is just total turmoil and flying without a plan by an owner who admits he doesn't know the sport yet seems reluctant to cede even partial control of it to a qualified professional with a successful track record - even after he was patient beyond all reason with the previous one.

Edgy DC Jul 19 2006 11:01 AM

]But at least Cashman had paid his dues as he had been working in the MFY offices since he was about 21 y/o and steadily moving up the chain as he went. No doubt. He still seemed to get tapped, though, because he was the last man standing.

metirish Jul 19 2006 11:01 AM

What a country this is, in the morning you're the backup goalie and by the afternoon the GM, except Wang runs the whole mess.

Edgy DC Jul 19 2006 11:07 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 19 2006 11:09 AM

"Murkily defined capacities" are also fun, although I little doubt there's plenty of execs on the outs in the rest of corporate America pulling their salaries in such postitions. I generally don't like former All Stars and potential future Hall of Famers being brought on board as special assistants to the GM. it always smells like window dressing. Define the role and hold him accountable to it.

MFS62 Jul 19 2006 11:08 AM

WFAN's Steve Somers ( a virulent Ranger lover and Islander hater) must be kvelling. Later

Gwreck Jul 19 2006 11:48 AM

I don't really follow hockey all that much but I listened to Charles Wang with Chris Russo on WFAN. Wang made Russo look really stupid and did a good idea of selling the concept of having not one "GM" but a few different people. Snow's job will be "contracts, pro scouting and trades," with other player development personnel, etc. Interesting, but as Wang put it -- (paraphrasing here) it's a different way of running a business, he thinks it's worth a shot, and it's his team to try it on.

seawolf17 Jul 19 2006 12:07 PM

Gwreck wrote: Wang made Russo look really stupid Not easy to do. SC=660

Frayed Knot Jul 19 2006 04:05 PM

"Wang made Russo look really stupid and did a good idea of selling the concept of having not one "GM" but a few different people. Snow's job will be "contracts, pro scouting and trades," with other player development personnel, etc. " I didn't hear Wang-v-Russo but the problem is that these 'multiple GM' arrangements rarely work. Omar seems smart to have averted the Wilpons' first request that he be part of one. And the main snag seems to be that either Smith didn't understand that this was the arrangement going in, or they changed the rules on him after he came aboard. "WFAN's Steve Somers ( a virulent Ranger lover and Islander hater) must be kvelling." Somers hockey interests (pro-Rangers, anti Devils & Icelanders) are at least 99% schtick. The overnight guy at FAN (which Somers did for years) always gets a disportionate amount of younger hockey fans as compared to the rest of the day and he honed his act of poking and prodding the various factions back then as a way of keeping the calls coming. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if he had little or no hockey interest prior to working that shift. Besides, he's on vacation this week.

PatchyFogg Jul 22 2006 11:20 AM

Here's our interview with Isles beat writer Evan Grossman from Thursday night: http://hosted.filefront.com/patchyfogg