From the archives: Islanders' Milbury leaves the bench

This story was originally published in Newsday on January 22, 1999

The night before, Islanders coach and general manager Mike Milbury walked into his postgame news conference after a loss to the Florida Panthers at Nassau Coliseum, a game punctuated by fans chanting "Mike Must Go," and said his team looked like it had "quit."

"There's no excuse for that," Milbury said. "That was a stinker without much sign of effort. We're going to do something about it."

Yesterday afternoon, Milbury did.

For the second time in less than two years - 728 days, to be exact - Milbury resigned as head coach of the Islanders to concentrate on his role as general manager of the beleaguered team, which has the second-worst record in the National Hockey League and last earned a postseason berth in 1994. No-nonsense assistant coach Bill Stewart, 41, a former NHL defenseman, was named as his replacement about three hours before the Islanders met the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"It's obvious," Milbury said, "things didn't go very well. When things don't go very well, changes have to be made. I thought the message I received from the players last night was a pretty strong one and not a good one. There didn't seem to be passion. There didn't seem to be discipline."

As Milbury, who made the decision after a conversation yesterday with Islanders co-owner Steven Gluckstern and president David Seldin, said, "The team quits on the coach, it's an awfully tough thing to get them back."

The 46-year-old Milbury, who was given a three-year contract extension last summer and has more than four years left on a contract at $ 750,000 a season, said he informed the players at the team hotel at 4 p.m. "I didn't get applause for it," he said, with a note of sarcasm, adding: "But they might do that later."

"Obviously," Islanders captain Trevor Linden said, "we feel responsible. It's a tough situation for Mike. It's a tough situation for us."

Though he had been a huge success in Boston, where he led the Bruins to the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals, Milbury found little success after he was hired to coach the Islanders for the first time on July 5, 1995. After a combined record of 90-49-21 in two seasons with the Bruins, Milbury, was 57-111-24 in parts of four seasons with the Islanders, including 13-29-3 this season.

The Islanders began the season at 8-8, but suffered a seven-game losing streak from Nov. 26 toDec. 15 and went 0-10-1 in his final 11 games. It got to the point where Milbury, who resigned for the first time on Jan. 23, 1997, to concentrate on his role as general manager, could no longer reach his players.

Those players believed Milbury made rash evaluations, shuffling them from penthouse to doghouse at will. They also said he shifted his lines too often with little consistency. One of the interesting comments yesterday came from Linden, who, asked to describe Stewart, said: "He runs a good bench."

Though Milbury has come under fire of late, especially in his role of general manager after his recent trade of Bryan Berard to the Toronto Maple Leafs for goalie Felix Potvin, he said it had nothing to do with his decision. He said he understood the derisive chants.

"Our fans are tired of losing," he said. "I understand that. No one is more tired of losing than I am."

"To look at Mike as the scapegoat would be easy," Islanders defenseman Scott Lachance said. Linden added, "We, as players, are responsible. But, for whatever reason, the message was not getting to us."

What changed from the beginning of the season?

"That's the million-dollar question, isn't it?" Milbury said.

But though Milbury, who, following a lunch meeting with Gluckstern, co-owner Edward Milstein and Seldin on Wednesday, said he believed he could stick it out as coach until the end of the season, he said that changed during the 5-2 loss to the Panthers. "That was a big-time statement," he said.

Though the Islanders had several highlyqualified candidates on their coaching staff to replace him, including associate coach Lorne Henning, Milbury said the obvious choice was Stewart.

Known as "Stewie," Stewart has been a winner everywhere. He led the St. John's Flames, the AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames, to a 43-24-13 record and a berth in the Calder Cup Final last season. He received the Louis Pieri Award as the Coach of the Year. He led a Canadian junior team, the Oshawa Generals, to a 41-18-7 mark and the Ontario Hockey League championship in 1996-97. He was Colonial League Coach of the Year in 1995-96.

He is currently earning $ 125,000 annually.

MEET BILL STEWART Age: 41. A native of Toronto. Married with two children. 1977-86: Played eight NHL seasons as a defenseman with Buffalo, St. Louis, Toronto and Minnesota. Later played in the Italian League. 1992: He played for Italy in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville. 1994: Player / assistant coach for Italy in the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics. 1996: Named the Colonial Coach of the Year after leading the Muskegon Fury to a 40-27-7 record and the Western Division Championship. 1996-97: Coached the Oshawa Generals to a 41-18-7 record and the OHL Championship. 1997-98: Won the Louis Pieri Award as the AHL's top coach after leading the St. John's Flames, Calgary's AHL affiliate, to a 43-24-13 record and a berth in the Calder Cup Final. Dec. 5, 1998: Hired as an assistant coach with the Islanders. Worked with the penalty killers. Rotated as a bench coach. Focused on defense. Yesterday: Named Islanders coach.

THEY ALSO SERVED: Previous Islanders coaches: Coach Record. Phil Goyette 1972-73 6-38-4. Earl Ingarfeld 1973 6-22-2. Al Arbour 1973-1986 552-317-169. Terry Simpson 1986-88 81-82-24. Al Arbour 1988-94 187-220-54. Lorne Henning 1994-95 15-28-5. Mike Milbury 1995-97 36-73-19. Rick Bowness 1997-98 37-50-12. Mike Milbury 1998 20-38-5. Milbury's Isles Total 56-111-24.