Gordon disappointed with results, thankful for opportunity

Hours after receiving the news about his dismissal as Islanders coach, Scott Gordon expressed disappointment about his team's performance but also an appreciation for the opportunity he was given by the organization.

"Whenever you're in a situation that we were in - not having won in 10 games - you can very easily expect the unexpected," Gordon told Newsday when reached by telephone Monday morning. "I enjoyed working with Garth [Snow] and [owner] Charles [Wang]. They've been great to me. I'm always going to remember that as my first opportunity. As someone who had no NHL head-coaching experience, I'll forever be appreciative of that."

Gordon, 64-94-23 since taking over the Islanders' coaching job in the summer of 2008, said he was "disappointed the team didn't get better results on the ice."

Mired in a 10-game winless streak, the team recently returned from a three-game road trip out west where they earned only one of six possible points.

"It was not from a lack of effort," said Gordon, who will remain with the Islanders as an adviser to Snow. "At the end of the day, it didn't happen and sometimes that's the way it plays out. I don't second-guess myself in how I did or what I did."

Gordon, who is in the final year of a three-year contract, fought an uphill battle for much of his tenure. But despite being saddled with a gamut of problems - tenuous goaltending situations, debilitating injuries and one of the league's lowest payrolls - Gordon refused to make excuses for the on-ice product that has taken a nosedive.

The 47-year-old Brockton, Mass., native met with Snow early Monday morning and left the rink before players arrived for practice.

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Snow informed the team at 10:30 a.m., after which captain Doug Weight held a 20-minute meeting to discuss the decision and its implications.

"I didn't want to be around while guys were trying to prepare. I didn't want to be a distraction," Gordon said. "As a team, this is a great group of kids that are good people and enjoyable to work with. There isn't a guy on the team that you wouldn't want to work with. Whoever coaches the team down the road will reap the benefits."

Gordon said the news still had not fully registered and probably would not until Tuesday.

"I haven't really thought about the disappointment yet," he said. "I've had so much disappointment in the past few games that I haven't had much of a chance to think about it. It'll probably faze me more [Tuesday] when I'm not there preparing for practice."