Isles Hire Scott Gordon as New Head Coach

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After Ted Nolan was fired on July 14th, Scott Gordon was named the new head coach of the New York Islanders this evening.

The 45 year old Gordon was last year's AHL Coach of the Year. He has spent the past 8 years with the Providence Bruins of the AHL, serving as assistant coach for 3 years, and head coach for 5 years. Gordon has never had an NHL coaching job.

In his 5 years of serving as head coach of the Providence Bruins, Gordon compiled a 221-141-20-27 record. This past season, he led his team to a 55-18-3 record, which was the best record in all of the AHL last year.

"For me, the bottom line was finding the right coach for our organization at this time," Garth Snow said. "It was a rigorous interview process, extremely thorough. I don't want any perception the other candidates weren't qualified or weren't good people because they were. I just found the candidate that's the right coach for our organization. Scott Gordon really stood out."

"Scott has been one of the top up-and-coming coaches in hockey and with good reason," Snow added. "Through his work in the minor leagues and most recently with Providence over the last eight years, he has gained an impeccable reputation. The entire Islanders organization looks forward to working with Scott."

"Garth has given me an unbelievable opportunity to coach in the NHL with the Islanders,” said Gordon. “From my time coaching in Providence, I’ve seen firsthand the talented young players in this organization. I look at the direction and the vision for this team and see a bright future.”

This comes about three days after Snow had cut the candidates down to Bob Hartley, Paul Maurice, and Scott Gordon. He obviously felt that Gordon would be the best to fit the current phase of the club. Although Gordon has no NHL coaching experience, he does bring in the knowledge of how to coach younger players. The Islanders do have plenty of young players on their team, and aren't too much better than a good AHL team. At this point, Gordon is the right choice. He is now signed on a multi-year deal.