WHEN the Islander owners likely decide they’ve had it with Mike Milbury after the season, they should give the utmost consideration to hiring Neil Smith as president and general manager.
Before Islander fans gag at the thought of bringing in the 11-year Ranger chief to run the franchise, they should remember that Smith’s roots are actually with Long Island’s team. As an Isles scout from 1980-82, Smith was part of two Stanley Cup championships. As a player, he was drafted by the Isles (13th round) in 1974.
But more important than Smith’s Islander past is his proven ability to rebuild them in a timely fashion. Whatever failures he produced in his final years with the Rangers, there’s no denying that Smith’s aggres- sive and savvy moves brought a Stanley Cup to the Garden for the first time in 54 years.
Replacing Phil Esposito at the Rangers’ helm in ’89, Smith took a team without any chemistry and began molding a champion. How about Mark Messier for Bernie Nicholls? Has any trade ever had such an impact?
Then there was the signing of free agent Adam Graves. And the trades for Esa Tikkanen and Kevin Lowe. And the bold deals at the ’94 trading deadline for Glenn Anderson, Brian Noonan, Stephane Matteau and Craig MacTavish. And how about the way he stole Glenn Healy from the Isles, via Tampa Bay? To top it off, in Mike Keenan, he chose the right coach at the right time.
These are the kind of swift-thinking moves that, for the most part, Milbury has been unable to provide in his six seasons as GM. What Isles fan doesn’t still wince about Milbury’s shortsighted trade of Bryan McCabe and Todd Bertuzzi for Trevor Linden? Or the Bryan Berard for the washed-up Felix Potvin fiasco? And really, couldn’t the Isles have gotten more for star Ziggy Palffy and Bryan Smolinski than three unprovens and a draft pick?
But given a fresh set of owners with money to spend this season, Milbury spent the off-season overhauling the club. He traded for two-time All-Star defenseman Roman Hamrlik and veteran goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck, as well as Oleg Kvasha and Mark Parrish. Delving into the free-agent pool, he signed Kevin Haller, Garry Galley and Mike Stapleton.
Even with all of that, the Isles (granted, injury plagued) are the league’s worst team, headed directly for their seventh straight season without a playoff game.
Heeding their call for patience, Charles Wang and Sanjay Kumar appear inclined to stick with Milbury through the rest of the season. But after that, they might be leaning toward a fresh start. When given a chance Saturday to endorse Milbury for next season, Kumar refused.
“I don’t think it’s fair for me to say that anybody is here for a long time,” Kumar said. “I don’t think it’s fair for me to say that anybody’s going [to be fired] . . . Right now I’m committed to what I got. There’s always room to improve. I think we just got to wait it out and see.”
As the “Mike must go” chants continue to resonate through the Coliseum, Wang and Kumar might conclude that change is the only option. Not just with the GM, but with the entire culture of the franchise.
Neil Smith, 47, has already turned one franchise around in New York, allowing some fans “to die in peace.” Perhaps he was over-zealous in throwing unnecessary money at free agents two summers ago, but Smith did so on the orders of Cablevision and its desire to speed up the rebuilding process.
Under Wang and Kumar, Smith, a strong talent evaluator, could build at a slower, but just as effective pace as when he joined the Rangers.
Would Smith come to Long Island? What more motivation would he need than beating the team that fired him across the river?
If Milbury must go, then Smith is the optimum choice as his replacement.
For more on the Islanders, read Barry Baum’s Islander Plus in New York Post Sports Week.