The Islanders have not been contacted by the NHL or law enforcement officials about the unraveling Rick Tocchet betting scandal, so owner Charles Wang’s main concern right now remains hiring a new general manager to replace Mike Milbury.
Wang said yesterday that he will not rush to fill the position by the March 9 trading deadline. His only deadline to hire a new GM remains the June 24 draft, thereby leaving Milbury to guide the team through what is expected to be a busy period following the Olympic roster freeze.
“I think the most important thing is to get the right person,” said Wang, expected to interview former San Jose GM Dean Lombardi during the break. “That takes time. The Islanders have [had] only had three GMs in all [their] history. I’m not going to be the one who has gone through two or three of them in the short time I’m here. I’m going to do it right, and diligently go through this process and then decide.”
Wang, saying, “we’re not throwing in the towel,” dismissed the idea of breaking apart the Islanders at the trade deadline to leave the new GM a fresh canvas to work with.
“I don’t know if it’s a dismantling,” Wang said. “Whatever it is, we’re not dismantling anything. This team is a good team. It’s a good, solid team. We have not played up to the potential that we have and I think everyone will agree with that. Certainly, that has been echoed by many of the GMs that I’ve talked to. This is a good team, so let’s go do the best we can with it. We still have a third of the season.”
The No. 12 Islanders, 4-4-2 in the last 10, are seven points behind No. 8 Toronto for the final playoff spot in the East with 27 games left, including tomorrow’s pre-Olympic finale at the Devils.
Brad Shaw skated them hard yesterday, finishing practice with a long period of full-length suicides that brought several players to their knees, the result of a poor showing in Wednesday’s 5-2 loss at Philly.
“I don’t think we necessarily played a very good game, I don’t think we were prepared to put [out] the necessary effort,” Shaw said, noting that a better game against the Flyers would have earned a day off. “Sometimes you forget what hard work is.”