List of New York Islanders head coaches

The New York Islanders are an American professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. They play in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team joined the NHL in 1972, and won their first Stanley Cup championship in 1980. The Islanders play their home games at UBS Arena in Elmont.[1] Jon Ledecky and Scott D. Malkin are the Islanders' majority owners, Lou Lamoriello is their general manager, Patrick Roy is the head coach and Anders Lee is the team captain.[2][3]

Al Arbour led the Islanders to four consecutives Stanley Cups from 1980 to 1983

There have been 19 head coaches so far for the Islanders franchise. The team's first head coach was Phil Goyette, who coached the team for part of the 1972–73 season.[4] Al Arbour is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular season games coached (1,500) and the most regular season game wins (740); he is also the franchise's all-time leader for the most playoff games coached (198), and the most playoff game wins (119).[5] Arbour is the only coach so far to have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.[5] He and Trotz are the only coaches so far to have won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top coach.[5] The franchise has participated in the Stanley Cup finals five times so far, coached by Arbour each time; they won Stanley Cup four of those times. Arbour, Terry Simpson, Peter Laviolette, Steve Stirling, Ted Nolan, Jack Capuano, Barry Trotz, and Lane Lambert are the coaches who coached the team into the Stanley Cup playoffs.[5][6][7][8][9]

Key

#Number of coaches[a]
GCGames coached
WWins = 2 points
LLosses = 0 points
TTies = 1 point
PTSPoints
Win%Winning percentage[c]
Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder
*Spent entire NHL head coaching career with the Islanders

Coaches

Butch Goring coached the Islanders from 1999 to 2001
Peter Laviolette coached the Islanders from 2001 to 2003
Jack Capuano coached the Islanders from 2010 to 2017

Note: Statistics are correct through the hiring of Roy during the 2023–24 season.

#NameTerm[d]Regular seasonPlayoffsAchievementsNotes
GCWLTOTLWin%GCWLWin%
1Phil Goyette*1972–1973486384.167[4]
2Earl Ingarfield*1973306222.233[10]
3Al Arbour197319861,038552317169.61317110962.637Stanley Cup champions (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)
Jack Adams Award (1979)
[5]
4Terry Simpson19861988187818224.49720911.450[6]
 —Al Arbour†1988199446118722054.464271017.370[5]
5Lorne Henning1994–19954815285.365[11]
6Mike Milbury19951997127357319.350[12]
7Rick Bowness19971998100385012.440[13]
 —Mike Milbury199819996622395.371[12]
8Bill Stewart*19993510187.386[14]
9Butch Goring199920011434189144.338[15]
 —Lorne Henning20011741120.294[11]
10Peter Laviolette200120031647762196.5461248.333[7]
11Steve Stirling*200320061185651116.520514.200[8]
12Brad Shaw*20064018184.500[16]
13Ted Nolan2006–200782403012.561514.200[9]
 —Al Arbour†[e]200711001.000[5]
 —Ted Nolan200720088134389.475[9]
14Scott Gordon20082010181649423.417[17]
15Jack Capuano*2010201748322719264.536241014.417[18]
16Doug Weight*20172018122594914.541[19]
17Barry Trotz2018202228815210234.587492821.571Jack Adams Award (2019)[20]
18Lane Lambert*20222024127614620.559624.333[21]
19Patrick Roy2024–present0000[22]

Notes

  • a A running total of the number of coaches of the Islanders. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once.
  • b Before the 2005–06 season, the NHL instituted a penalty shootout for regular season games that remained tied after a five-minute overtime period, which prevented ties.[23]
  • c In hockey, the winning percentage is calculated by dividing points by maximum possible points.
  • d Each year is linked to an article about that particular NHL season.
  • e Arbour replaced Ted Nolan as an interim head coach for one game in order to have coached 1500 Islanders games.[24]

References

General
  • "New York Islanders Coach Register". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
  • "New York Islanders: History". CBS Sports. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
  • National Hockey League (2007). National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2009 (77 ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Triumph Books. p. 88.
Specific