The New York Islanders have announced that the team has fired head coach Jack Capuano. Assistant general manager Doug Weight will take over and serve as the interim coach. Capuano is relieved of his duties in his seventh year as head coach, which had him as the fourth-longest tenured head coach in the NHL.
During Capuano's seven years in New York, the Islanders went 227-194-64 which included three playoff appearances.
Capuano's record places him second on the Islanders' all-time list in games coached (482) and wins (227). Unfortunately for Capuano, the team has found itself in last place in the Eastern Conference with 42 points and a record of 17-17-8 this season.
Islanders GM Garth Snow released a statement on Tuesday regarding the coaching decision, "The New York Islanders would like to thank Jack for his tireless work throughout his seven seasons with the organization as head coach. His leadership guided the team to the playoffs in three of the past four years, which included two 100-point seasons. He is a great coach and an even better person.
We wish him nothing but the best moving forward."
Following his dismissal, Capuano released a statement of his own on Tuesday, "It's an honor to have served this historic franchise and its passionate fans. I'd like to thank Garth and our ownership group for the opportunity to be the head coach of the Islanders. I'd also like to recognize our coaching staff, training staff and players for all of their hard work."
The Islanders really stumbled out of the gate to begin the 2016-17 season and were never able to recover. As New York stumbled, they fell further and further down the standings, ultimately to last place in the Metropolitan Division, and then to bottom of the entire east.
There has been no indication of how long Weight will serve as the interim head coach, nor has there been any potential candidates named for the position. Despite that, front office personnel that make their way down to the bench in a coaching position rarely work out in the long term.