Islanders assistant coaches Chynoweth, Allen let go
Islanders head coach Jack Capuano, left, and Scott Allen, right, stand being the Islanders' bench in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers. (Dec. 5, 2010) Credit: Kevin P. Coughlin
OTTAWA -- The Islanders have dismissed assistant coaches Dean Chynoweth and Scott Allen, clearing out the remainder of former coach Scott Gordon's staff heading into the offseason.
Chynoweth, 43, and Allen, 46, joined the Islanders before the 2009-10 season, heading into Gordon's second season as head coach. The two assistants stayed on through the 2010-11 season, after Gordon was fired and replaced by Jack Capuano, and through this season to finish out their contracts.
The Islanders have only Doug Weight on staff with Capuano. Brent Thompson, who led the Sound Tigers to the postseason in his first year as their coach, is a leading candidate to join the Islanders' staff next season, given his positive work with the numerous prospects in Bridgeport.
Bridgeport begins its best-of-five first-round series with the Connecticut Whale, the Rangers' affiliate, on Thursday.
Video coach Ryan Ward, who also came during Gordon's tenure, left voluntarily to take a job outside of the NHL.
The Islanders picked Chynoweth 13th overall in 1987 and he played parts of seven seasons with the team. He coached in the Western League for nearly a decade -- his late father, Ed, was the president of the WHL for 23 years -- before joining the Islanders' coaching staff.
Allen had been an assistant coach in the AHL for several seasons.
