Back In The Day Part 7 - Isles’ Dismal 2000-01 Season
April 1st, 2008 by Tom
It’s been a while since I posted something so I figured now would be a good time to get you guys our latest from the Back In The Day series. The below excerpt comes from the Toronto Star and details the rough road ahead for the Islanders…in 2001. You can look at the article two ways - a) either it is depressing to think that in the last seven seasons the Islanders have been unable to climb the mountain and are yet again among the league’s least impressive teams or b) with a good crop of young players, a very talented goalie, a solid coach, and improved attendance at the Coliseum the Isles are not nearly as bad off as there 2001 counterparts were. Your call.
The Isles did bounce back to make the playoffs the following season - featuring the epic series against the Maple Leafs and the Shawn Bates penalty shot.
Islanders coming to end of a trying season — Team focuses on getting out of NHL cellar
Mark Zwolinski
4 April 2001
The Toronto Star
Copyright (c) 2001 The Toronto StarThe New York Islanders are making headlines for two reasons these days: they are trying to avoid the ignominy of finishing with the NHL’s worst record this season and they are interviewing some good candidates for their coaching vacancy next season.
If they beat Toronto tonight in a very crucial game for the Leafs, they’ll also go down as the club that figured as highly as any in the Leafs’ downfall this season.
The Isles downed a first-place Leafs club 3-2 Dec. 15. The Leafs have lost 21 of 48 games since to plummet into playoff desperation.
The Isles are oblivious of the Leafs’ woes since they have endured a very trying season that has fallen well short of expectations.
Owners Sanjay Kumar and Charles Wang received kudos among their peers for taking a hard line, take-it-or-leave-it approach to contract negotiations with three key players: Roman Hamrlik, Zedeno Chara and Brad Isbister, who were told that players unsigned by Sept. 1 would not be offered contracts subsequent to that date.
Hamrlik, seeking $4 million (U.S.) a year, instead settled for $11.8 million over four years while Chara and Isbister accepted small pay hikes after missing the initial deadline.
Kumar and Wang also showed patience with a club that was filled with prime young talent and tabled the NHL’s biggest average size at 6-foot-2, 209 pounds.
They extended several votes of confidence to coach Butch Goring in the midst of a protracted period from December to March in which rumours of Goring’s imminent firing circulated regularly.
Goring was finally axed March 4 following a 6-0 blowout against Tampa Bay, a loss which marked the lowest point of the season for the club.
With the dust settled and Lorne Henning at the helm in an interim role, the Isles remain a problematic club with very poor attendance and in dire need of a new building.
The first step in restoring some of the lustre to the one-time Stanley Cup dynasty came to a close this week when GM Mike Milbury interviewed the final candidate on a list to fill the coaching vacancy for next season.
Former Penguins coach Kevin Constantine was in attendance in Long Island for the team’s 4-1 win over Pittsburgh Monday and was interviewed by Milbury. Other candidates are believed to be Ted Nolan, Robbie Ftorek, Jim Schoenfeld, Bryan Murray and Robbie Ftorek.
Former Leafs coach Pat Burns is also among the list of prime coaches currently lingering in unemployment. Milbury has yet to talk to Burns and insiders don’t expect him to.
The club has scheduled a coaching announcement for June 1 with Nolan, Ftorek and Murray the current favourites.
