Scott Gordon didn’t take long to make his presence known on the ice yesterday, his first day on the ice as Islanders head coach.
He stopped practice several times and with a booming voice that echoed throughout the team’s practice facility at Iceworks in Syosset, clearly let his players know when he was displeased.
“I don’t want to watch bad . . . I don’t want to watch mistakes,” said Gordon, explaining his hands-on style that was displayed in front of GM Garth Snow and team owner Charles Wang. “That’s just me. If something is done wrong I want to fix it.”
He may have his hands full this season. Yesterday, Gordon – previously the head coach of the Providence Bruins, Boston’s AHL affiliate – only worked with the organization’s younger players at its rookie camp. The veterans do not begin practice until they leave for training camp in New Brunswick on Friday.
And while many expect the Islanders to struggle as they figure out their new identity on a team loaded with players who are very inexperienced, and others whose best days are seemingly behind them, the team itself likes its chances.
“I think we have the ability to mix well here, with a new coach, some young players and some veterans,” said Kyle Okposo, their second-year player whom the Islanders have high hopes for.
Brendan Witt has been around considerably longer than Okposo and has similar beliefs, as well as the knowledge that preseason expectations aren’t always worth very much.
“Those don’t matter,” said the defenseman, who was on the team two years ago under then-new head coach Ted Nolan that played better than almost anyone anticipated and made the playoffs. “People thought we were going to finish last that season and we had a good year. Last year, some things went wrong and we didn’t finish the way we wanted to. We have a new head coach again and some talented players, so I’m staying optimistic.”
It likely won’t take long to find out whether Witt’s optimism is well-founded.