Islanders Fire Bowness, Hire Milbury

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

March 11, 1998 / 11:43 PM EST / CBS Sportsline

The New York Islanders kept pace with the rest of the NHL's Atlantic Division on Wednesday -- they fired their coach.

Rich Bowness was the victim this time, becoming the fifth coach in the seven-team division to lose his job this season. He was replaced by Mike Milbury, the general manager now in his second stint as Islanders coach.

"It wasn't at all fun," Milbury said. "It was very unpleasant. Rick is a decent human being and a friend and a good coach, but he took it like a pro."

The players learned of the firing from Bowness before Wednesday's practice.

"It was a huge shock," defenseman Scott Lachance said. "He was all choked up. I don't recall what he said after he was let go because I was in shock myself. Basically, everybody sat for about five minutes with our mouths open."

The dismissal came after the Islanders played Buffalo and star goaltender Dominek Hasek to a 2-2 tie Tuesday night. That left the team at 22-32-9, seven points behind Ottawa for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 19 games left.

"It doesn't matter how the players feel about me as long as they work hard and perform," Milbury said."I'll be what I am, and if we're going down, we're going down kicking."

The Islanders, who have not made the playoffs since 1994, are fifth in the Atlantic Division, where only first-place New Jersey and third-place Washington have the same coaches that started the season. Philadelphia, the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay and Florida also changed coaches.

The Islanders started well this season, going 15-15-5. But they went through a 10-game losing streak and haven't recovered despite trades that brought Trevor Linden, Joe Sacco, Mark Janssens and J.J. Daigneault.

Bowness, an assistant under Milbury in Boston, was Ottawa's first coach and stayed there three years. He replaced Milbury as coach of the Islanders on Jan. 24, 1997. His overall record with the Islanders is 37-50-12.

Milbury took over as head coach on July 5, 1995, and assumed the general manager's job on Dec. 12 that year. He had a 35-83-19 record as Islanders coach, and an overall record of 125-122-40 including a sting with the Bruins from 1989-91, when they made the Stanley Cup finals once and the semifinals once.

Milbury said he'll also use the coaching job to experiment for next season.

"If it doesn't work out where we make the playoffs, at least I have a different perspective in viewing our personnel," he said."One thing I'd like to change in our style of play is to get a better forecheck going. I'd like us to be a little more aggressive there."

Milbury will retain assistant coach Wayne Fleming but has given scouting duties to Bowness' other assistant, Brad McCrimmon. Player personnel director Gordie Clark will become Milbury's other assistant.