On Tuesday, the New York Islanders confirmed that NHL legend Jacques Lemaire was no longer with the franchise.
The 79-year-old and an eight-time Stanley Cup champion with the Montreal Canadiens has been serving as an NHL special assignments coach since 2012-13, spending the last seven seasons on Long Island.
Lemaire came over with former general manager Lou Lamoriello from the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of the 2018-19 season. He had followed Lou to Toronto from New Jersey, serving as the head coach of the New Jersey Devils twice, before a four-year career as their special assignments coach (2012-2015).
Following the 2009-10 season, Lemaire stepped down as Devils head coach before being rehired in December of the 2010-11 season after Lamoriello fired John MacLean.
Slowly but surely, first-time general manager Mathieu Darche is building his management team.
With Lemaire out, that makes four people brought in by Lamoriello out the door -- John MacLean, Tommy Albelin, and Rick Kowalsky
Darche's first hire was Ryan Bowness, who will serve as assistant general manager and director of player personnel.
Islanders Name Ryan Bowness Assistant General Manager & Director Of Player Personnel
On Monday, the <a href="http://thn.com/isles">New York Islanders</a> announced that general manager Mathieu Darche has hired Ryan Bowness as his assistant general manager and director of player personnel:
Before Lamoriello's time came to an end, he signed assistant GM and Bridgeport GM Chris Lamoriello and assistant GM Stephen Pellegrini to multi-year extensions.
"I wanted to bring Ryan, who's been around the NHL -- obviously his father being a former coach, too, but I didn't hire him for his father," Darche said. "I hired him because he's been around the league. He's ran pro departments. He's going to run our player personnel department, including the pro scouting. He's been great. I've built a relationship with him over the years. I've seen his work. He was a scout in Pittsburgh when they won Cups, and then he ran the department, and at the end he was associate GM in Ottawa. He's a good guy who's going to complement our group."
On Tuesday evening, the Islanders announced that Matt Martin was retiring from the NHL and was joining the management side of things as a special assistnat to Mathieu Darche.
Kerry Gwyder, who had been serving as the Executive Assistant to the General Manager, is now a pro scout and Scouting Coordinator.
Ken Morrow is remaining on as the director of pro scouting and will work under Bowness.
While Patrick Roy is the one who "zeroed in" on now assistant coaches Ray Bennett and Bob Boughner, Darche did have to sign off on them.
"We went through a process. I sat down with Patrick. We came up with names together. At the end of the day, I want him to be comfortable with the assistants, so I spoke with them extensively, Patrick spoke with them extensively. Patrick zeroed in on Bob and Ray and then, like anything, I do my due diligence," Darche said. "I'll call around (to) people who have worked with them, people that they've coached. I think I have a decent network around the league, so we're really excited. They're going to complement Patrick really well. Bob's going to coach the defensemen and probably run the penalty kill. And Ray Bennett has had tremendous success as a power play coach, and he's going to help Patrick on the power play, which we won't lie: Those are two areas we needed to improve a lot, so we're excited that Ray and Bob, they have some good experience around the NHL. ... We're excited to have both of them on board."
When it comes to Bridgeport, he hired former NHLer turned coach Rocky Thompson. Given the need for the AHL to become a place for prospects to blossom, this was a critical move.
Rocky, he’s had various experiences, right? He’s won a Memorial Cup, so he's coaching young players. He’s gone to the Calder Cup finals with Chicago. He’s coaching in the NHL, so he has a wide range, and he’s a great, great communicator," Darche said. "When we had interviews with him, we’ve done Zoom, we’ve done on the phone. His communication and people skills are extremely strong, which I think is a huge asset in the AHL because you’re coaching young men that want to play in the NHL, and it’s a process.
"Obviously, every player that turns pro, they’ve been the best player in their league, and now sometimes they face adversity. You realize the pro game is a different level. You might be a top player in juniors or in college. The pro game is a different level. It’s a different animal. So players will have adversity, and I think his communication skills are going to be a huge asset to work with those kids."
We'll see if there's any more changes outside of player movement from now until the start of the 2025-26 season.
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PHOTO: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images