special assignment coach

MARINERS ANNOUNCE PLAYER DEVELOPMENT STAFF FOR 2021 SEASON

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SEATTLE, Wash. -- Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto and Director of Player Development Andy McKay announced today the Mariners Player Development Staff for the 2021 season.

In December, the Mariners extended invitations to the Tacoma Rainiers (AAA), Arkansas Travelers (AA), Everett AquaSox (High-A) and Modesto (A) to be Mariners affiliates in Major League Baseball’s new player development structure. MLB will announce all affiliates within the next few weeks.

“Our 2021 version of the Player Development staff is the best that we have had over the last six years,” McKay said. “The commitment that they have shown to continuing education, personal growth, and serving our players is exceptional. We have also added Franklin Gutierrez, Kristopher Negrón, Collin Cowgill and Eric Young Jr. to our on-field coaching staff. This gives us four more former Mariners who have played in our current process and are now excited to teach it to our current players.”

To support the minor league managers and coaches, the Mariners player development program has assembled a 9- person group of coordinators, led by 2nd-year Minor League Field Coordinator Tony Arnerich. Alvin Davis (11th season), Dan Wilson (8th season), and Mike Cameron (2nd full season) will each serve as a Special Assignment Coach. Connor Dawson enters his first season as Hitting Coordinator after spending last season as Hitting Strategist, while Cesar Nicolas will enter his 3rd season as Latin American Field Coordinator, Ari Ronick begins his first season as Coordinator of Pitching Strategy and Rehabilitation and Max Weiner remains Pitching Coordinator (third season).

Franklin Gutiérrez begins his first season in the Mariners organization as Special Assignment Coach. Gutiérrez has appeared in 954 Major League games with the Indians (2005-2008), Mariners (2009-2013, 2015-16), and Los Angeles-NL (2017). He combined to bat .257 (778x3032) with 394 runs scored, 150 doubles, 97 home runs and 361 RBI over 12 Major League seasons. In 7 seasons with the Mariners, Franklin combined to bat .257 (557x2169) with 74 home runs and 268 RBI. He was the 2010 American League Gold Glove® winner for center fielders and set an American League record with 846 consecutive errorless chances from Aug. 21, 2009-Sept. 11, 2012.

Triple-A – Kristopher Negrón enters his 1st season managing the Mainers Triple-A affiliate, after spending the 2020 season as Assistant Director of Player Development. Negrón is a six-year Major League veteran, playing most recently for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2019. For his career, Negrón played in 170 games over 6 seasons with Cincinnati (2012, 2014-15), Arizona (2017), Seattle (2018-19) and Los Angeles-NL (2019), batting .221 (83x375) with 14 doubles, 1 triple, 9 home runs, 32 RBI and a .627 OPS, while also recording a lifetime .986 fielding percentage (5 errors in 348 chances), playing every defensive position other than pitcher and catcher. Roy Howell (Hitting Coach) and Rob Marcello (Pitching Coach) will both return to the Triple-A coaching staff. Eric Young Jr. will make his coaching debut after recently wrapping up his professional career. In parts of 10 Major League seasons, he combined to bat .245 (422x1725) with 275 runs scored, 67 doubles, 22 triples, 13 home runs, 112 RBI and 162 stolen bases in 651 games with the Colorado (2009-13), New York-NL (2013-14, 2015), Atlanta (2015), New York-AL (2016) and Los Angeles-AL (2018). Young Jr. was the National League stolen base champion in 2013. He spent his final season with Triple-A Tacoma in 2019.

Double-A – Collin Cowgill will make his managerial debut, after wrapping up his professional career following the 2020 season. He was most recently was with the Mariners during the 2020 Spring Training. Cowgill spent 6 Major League seasons with Arizona (2011), Oakland (2012), New York-NL (2013), Los Angeles-AL (2013-15) and Cleveland (2016), batting .234 (161x689) with 83 runs scored, 22 doubles, 12 home runs, and 57 RBI in 317 career games. He was selected by Arizona in the 5th round following his senior season at the University of Kentucky. He made his Major League debut with the Diamondback on Aug. 28, 2011 at San Diego. Alon Leichman (Pitching Coach), Joe Thurston (Hitting Coach) will return to the Double-A coaching staff, while Ryan McLaughlin will begin his first season as a coach in the Mariners organization.

High-A – Louis Boyd begins his third season in the Mariners organization, his first full season as the manager for the Mariners High-A affiliate. During the 2020 was a coach during Summer Camp 2.0 and was on the staff at the alternate site in Tacoma. He was scheduled to manage Short-A Everett in 2020 prior to the cancellation of the minor league season. Boyd served as a player/coach for High-A Modesto at the beginning of the 2019 season and went 19-19 in Short-A Everett's final 38 games after taking over as manager on July 23. He was originally selected by the Mariners in the 24th round of the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Arizona (2016-17). The North Vancouver, British Columbia, native, spent two seasons in the Mariners minor league system, batting .240 (65x314) with 41 runs scored, 5 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 18 RBI, 28 walks and 3 stolen bases in 97 games spanning over four different levels in the organization. Sean McGrath (Pitching Coach), Shawn O’Malley (Hitting Coach) and Jose Umbria (Coach) will serve on Boyd’s coaching staff.

Single-A – Eric Farris, who was the hitting coach for West Virginia in 2019, will enter his first season at the helm of Seattle's Single-A affiliate. Farris, who coached in Everett in 2018, was a 4th round draft pick in 2007 by Milwaukee, and he spent parts of 9 seasons in the minor leagues, amassing a lifetime .281 (1020x3635) batting average with 35 home runs, 351 RBI and a .688 OPS. Farris, an outfielder, attended Loyola Marymount University where he was a semifinalist for USA Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award. He was drafted in 2004 out of high school by the Atlanta Braves in the 42nd round but did not sign. After spending the first 6 years of his career in Milwaukee’s organization, which included 14 games in 2011 and 2012 at the Major League level (1x9, 1 run scored), he was selected by Seattle in the Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft in 2012, but was traded to Minnesota on March 30, 2013, where he’d spend the next three years playing for their Triple-A affiliate Rochester. His staff will consist of Nathan Bannister as the pitching coach, Rob Benjamin as the hitting coach and Geoff Jimenez as coach. Jimenez begins his first season in the Mariners organization as a coach for the organization’s Single-A affiliate. Prior to joining the Mariners organization, spent the 2020 season with the Phillies player development staff. He spent the 2019 season working as the recruiting coordinator/assistant coach at Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri. From 2017-2018 Jimenez was a graduate assistant coach at Missouri State University where he received his master's degree in Sports Administration.

Rookie Peoria – Austin Knight begins his first season as manager with the Mariners Rookie affiliate, the Arizona League Mariners. He led the Dominican Summer League Mariners squad to a 2nd place finish in the DSL Northeast Division in 2019. Yoel Monzon will return as pitching coach, Michael Fransoso will be team’s hitting coach, while Zac Livingston will serve as coach.

Dominican Academy – Manager Luis Caballero enters his 6th season in the Mariners organization, but his 1st as manager for the Dominican Summer League Mariners. He spent the previous four seasons as a coach for the DSL Mariners (2017-2020). After wrapping up his playing career, began his coaching career in 2016 with the Clinton LumberKings. Caballero’s staff includes pitching coach Jose Amancio, hitting coach Brett Schneider and coaches Juan Pimentel (1st year) and Guady Jabalera. Prior to joining the Mariners organization, Pimentel served as Pitching Coach and Recruiting Coordinator for the University of Delaware after joining the Blue Hens baseball coaching staff in July 2018.

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Mariners hire Hisashi Iwakuma as Special Assignment Coach

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In the biggest Seattle coaching news of the day, the Mariners have brought in Hisashi Iwakuma as a Special Assignment Coach.

I don’t know what that is. Sounds pretty made up.

According to the club , Iwakuma will start his new gig during Spring Training and report directly to Jerry Dipoto. The most important part seems to be the specifics of this role, which involves working “with Mariners pitchers and pitching instructors at all levels” and the ability to “periodically visit the team’s minor league affiliates during the season”. Another interesting note stated that Kuma will do some scouting in Japan with Manabu Noto, the scout who helped the Mariners sign Yusei Kikuchi.

Some pretty simple dot connecting tells us that Iwakuma will likely be working pretty heavily with Kikuchi, the Mariners’ most recent Japanese acquisition and the one who struggled the most upon arrival. Iwakuma is one of the more successful Japanese pitchers in recent MLB history; the Mariners are hoping Kikuchi doesn’t go down as one of the bigger failures. To avoid this, it seems, they’re going to have Iwakuma get in his ear regularly.

What we don’t know, at least at this point, is how much of this role will be baseball-related and how much will be person-related. Surely Iwakuma can help Kikuchi (and the rest of the pitchers, for that matter) learn how to navigate an MLB lineup. But he can also help with the mental side of pitching in the big leagues, and for Kikuchi specifically, how to do that while living away from home.

Iwakuma’s credentials speak for themselves. He pitched 11 seasons in the NPB, won an MVP in 2008, a gold medal at the 2009 World Baseball Classic , made an MLB All-Star team, and pitched a no-hitter against the Orioles in 2015. All signs also indicate that Iwakuma is both a beloved clubhouse guy and a well of information.

Love this! Kuma is the man! https://t.co/1abw8X7Bem — Taijuan Walker (@tai_walker) January 13, 2021

Here’s part of Jerry Dipoto’s quote about the former Mariner pitcher who is now a Mariner coach.

“He was always prepared, has a terrific work ethic, and the ability to communicate the things that made him a successful pitcher. We’re looking forward to adding him to our mix at both the Major and minor league level.”

The work in the minor leagues might low key be the most interesting part of this whole arrangement. It’s no secret at all that most of the Mariners’ currency is in the minor leagues. The team itself obviously thinks they have some good things going down there, but so much of that is either behind the scenes, dismissed by the common, MLB-centric fan, or both. Bringing on a respected figure with a track record of success to work with the minor league pitchers tells me that the front office believes they have some future MLB starters in the system. You wouldn’t bring in Iwakuma to turn non-prospects into the 26th guy on the roster. You bring in Hisashi Iwakuma to make sure the guys you’re banking on actually cash in on their prospect status.

I have no idea if this will work! Neither do you! But having Hisashi Iwakuma back in the organization is, at the very least, a fun bit of news in this dormant offseason. It will be interesting to monitor this situation in terms of the updates that the team is willing to release to the public.

Mariners Hire Hisashi Iwakuma As Special Assignment Coach

By Connor Byrne | January 12, 2021 at 9:31pm CDT

Former Mariners right-hander Hisahi Iwakuma is rejoining the franchise in a new position. The Mariners announced Tuesday that they have hired Iwakuma as a special assignment coach. He’ll report to general manager Jerry Dipoto.

“In his new role, Iwakuma will work with Mariners pitchers and pitching instructors at all levels,” the team explained. “He will periodically visit the team’s minor league affiliates during the season, as well as spending time with the Major League team.” Additionally, Iwakuma will assist Mariners scout Manabu Noto in his homeland of Japan.

Based on his decorated playing career in Japan and in Seattle, the well-respected Iwakuma should have plenty to offer as a coach. Now 39 years old, Iwakuma excelled in Japan for over a decade before joining the Mariners in 2012. The union worked out beautifully for both sides, as Iwakuma wound up pitching his entire major league run with the M’s (through 2017). He recorded a 3.42 ERA in 883 2/3 innings, earned an All-Star nod and threw a no-hitter along the way.

While Iwakuma did continue trying to pitch after 2017, injuries hampered his efforts. He threw just two innings in a return to Japan in 2019 and didn’t take the mound at all last year. Iwakuma then decided to retire .

21 Comments

3 years ago

Great move, he had some magnificent seasons with the M’s. He could teach those young pitchers a thing or two.

No marbles!

Hisashi is misspelled

in the intro sentence

Just curious why you guys don’t link retired players baseball reference pages?

I was wondering the same thing. wanted to look back at his stats but had to go another article and click on a different player then search for him. Obviously it’s not the end of the world lol but was wondering the same thing as it’s happened to me multiple times 🙂

Man it would be great if he could also give us a few innings this year

Iwakuma was quietly one of the better pitchers in baseball for the years he was on the mariners. Maybe it was because the Mariners weren’t all that great for most of time he was playing for them or because they never really had much of a postseason run… but he flew under the radar for the most part all while putting up some very impressive numbers. I wish him the best in this new chapter of his baseball life.

He was underappreciated because the crown was already on Felix. The Mariners would have been a better team had they never crowned one man.

Even when Iwakuma was one of the best in the league, and definitely the best on the Mariners, Felix was always #1.

So Felix wasn’t the best on the Mariners? Lol ok. Maybe his last two 2 1/2 years but trying to say anyone was better than him during most of his time here is crazy and just flat out wrong. Hisashi was great but not better than Felix. He had one elite year surround by good years. Felix had like 8 elite seasons

This makes me feel OLD!

“Former Mariners right-hander Hisahi Iwakuma”.

Nice. Even though the M’s were pretty brutal during his tenure, he was a staple in that rotation for an entire era of the team. Great to see he’ll still be around in Navy & Teal.

This move is absolutely huge for the Mariners scouting department. This not only helps them stateside but helps them in Japan. Hisashi could be pivotal in acquiring players from Japan and possibly Korea.

It will definitely help them sign Japanese players. Probably won’t matter much to Korean players. He’s Japanese. Not Korean. Two countries with completely different cultures and ways of life. Highly doubt a Korean player will care about Hisashi either way

Good move by the Mariners. Best to him in new role.

Tanaka time in Seattle?

The collection of former Mariners returning to work with the team in some fashion is a long one. That’s telling of where Jerry has the organization. Players and personnel used to run the first chance they had. Not the case anymore.

Now, back to the offseason shopping….

And it’ll continue with Dan Wilson or Raul Ibanez as head coach at some point.

He could help Kikuchi. It’s not a bad experiment. If it works he could stay on to help other pickups. We’ll know after the fist half of the season.

Mariners announce 2021 player development and minor league coaching staffs

Jan 27, 2021, 10:25 AM

Kristopher Negrón will manage the Mariners' Triple-A affiliate in 2021. (Getty)

BY BRANDON GUSTAFSON

Seattle Sports

After no minor league baseball season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mariners and the rest of MLB are expecting minor league games to occur during the 2021 season.

Mariners hope planned MLB rule is changed to fit their roster better

As such, Seattle is gearing up and has announced its player development and minor league coaching staffs, with some former Mariners in key roles in the organization.

Mariners Hall of Famers Alvin Davis and Dan Wilson, as well as former Mariners All Star outfielder Mike Cameron, will all serve as special assignment coaches. Additionally, former Mariners outfielder Franklin Gutiérrez will be a special assignment coach for the first time in 2021.

Tony Arnerich is back as the Mariners’ minor league field coordinator, while Connor Dawson enters his first season as hitting coordinator, Cesar Nicolas enters his third season as Latin American field coordinator, Ari Ronick will be in his first season as coordinator of pitching strategy and rehabilitation and Max Weiner returns for his third season as pitching coordinator.

Triple-A Tacoma

In Triple-A Tacoma, the Rainiers will be led by Kristopher Negrón, a former MLB utility player who played for the Mariners in parts of the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Negrón retired after 2019 and was soon hired as a special assistant to director of player development Andy McKay. Negrón replaces Daren Brown, who managed the Rainiers from 2007 to 2013 and again in 2019. He also managed the Mariners’ Double-A team from 2016 to 2018.

Roy Howell, an 11-year MLB veteran in the 1970s and 1980s, will be the Triple-A hitting coach. Howell has been with the organization for a while now, and at one point he managed the Rainiers.

Rob Marecello is the team’s pitching coach. He was set to coach the Rainiers’ pitchers last year before the pandemic hit. He previously coached in High-A in 2019.

Former MLB player Eric Young Jr. will also be on the staff. He played MLB baseball from 2009 to 2018 and led the National League in stolen bases in 2013. His father, Eric Young Sr., played in MLB from 1992 to 2006.

Double-A Arkansas

Former MLB outfielder Collin Cowgill will manage the Double-A Arkansas Travelers.

Cowgill had actually signed a minor-league deal with the Mariners ahead of 2020 but hasn’t played in an MLB game since 2016.

Cowgill’s hitting coach is Joe Thurston, an MLB infielder from 2002 to 2011 who joined the organization last year.

The Travelers’ pitching coach is Alon Leichman. Leichman joined the Mariners in 2017 as the coordinator for organizational learning and was the High-A pitching coach in 2019. He was promoted to the Double-A coaching staff last year.

Ryan McLaughlin will also be on the coaching staff. The 23 year old officially retired last year.

High-A Everett

The Everett AquaSox, the Mariners’ longtime short-season Low-A team, will be the High-A squad in 2021 and led once again by Louis Boyd, a 2017 24th-round draft pick by Seattle. He appeared in parts of two minor league seasons for the Mariners as an infielder. He has been the manager of the AquaSox since 2019.

Former Mariners utility man Shawn O’Malley, a Tri-Cities native, will coach the High-A hitters. O’Malley was set to be the High-A hitting coach last year before the pandemic.

Sean McGrath will coach the Aquasox pitchers. He joined the organization after spending two seasons at Elon University, where he coached 2019 first-round pitcher George Kirby and 2019 eighth-round pitcher Ty Adcock.

Jose Umbria will also have a role on the coaching staff, and he’s been with the Mariners organization since 2010 in numerous roles.

Low-A Modesto

The Modesto Nuts once again will be a Mariners affiliate, this time as the organization’s Low-A team.

Eric Farris will lead the Nuts. He was the Low-A hitting coach in 2019 and was set to manage the Low-A team last season.

Farris’ hitters will be led by Ron Benjamin, who was set to be the Low-A hitting coach last year.

Nathaniel Bannister will coach pitchers, as he was to do in 2020. Bannister pitched in the Mariners organization in 2017 and 2018.

Geoff Jimenez is in his first year with the Mariners after spending 2020 with the Phillies. He previously coached at Maryville University.

Rookie Peoria

Austin Knight, who previously managed the Dominican Mariners, will be the manager for rookie ball in Peoria. He’s been with the organization since 2016.

Michael Fransoso, who joined the organization, will coach the team’s hitters.

Yoel Monzon is back with Peoria as pitching coach, a title he’s held since 2019.

Zac Livingston, who previously managed the Mariners’ rookie ball team in Arizona, will also be on the coaching staff.

Dominican Mariners

Luis Caballero, who joined the organization last year, will manage the Mariners’ Dominican summer team.

Brett Schneider, who also joined the Mariners last year, will coach hitters, which is what he was slated to do in 2020.

Jose Amancio will again coach the team’s pitchers, a job he’s held since 2018.

Also on the Dominican coaching staff are Juan Pimentel and Gaudy Jabalera.

Pimentel is in his first year with the Mariners while Jabalera is in his second.

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Cubs zeroing in on finalists for bullpen coach

General manager carter hawkins confirmed at the winter meetings monday that the remaining members of the cubs’ 2023 coaching staff are slated to return next season..

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Cubs are narrowing their list of candidates for bullpen coach to a set of finalists early this week, sources told the Sun-Times.

The full breadth of the Cubs’ search wasn’t clear, but internal candidates who got interviews included minor-league pitching coordinators Casey Jacobson , James Ogden and Carlos Chantres . Assistant pitching coach Daniel Moskos is expected to return in the same role next season. In the hierarchy of coaching positions, the Cubs see assistant pitching coach and bullpen coach on the same plane, just with different responsibilities.

General manager Carter Hawkins confirmed at the winter meetings Monday that the remaining members of the Cubs’ 2023 coaching staff are slated to return under new manager Craig Counsell , but he declined to specify the role each coach would take.

‘‘Excited about that,’’ Hawkins said. ‘‘Just doing some things around the fringes, and look forward to announcing that soon.’’

The Sun-Times previously has reported that pitching coach Tommy Hottovy , hitting coach Dustin Kelly and third-base coach Willie Harris will return in the same roles.

The Cubs had four openings on the coaching staff to fill this winter. The team parted ways with bullpen coach Chris Young , who is now with the Mariners as a special-assignment coach and scouting cross-checker, and catching and game-strategy coach Craig Driver after the season.

After the Cubs fired manager David Ross , bench coach Andy Green joined the Mets’ front office, overseeing their player development. Assistant hitting coach Johnny Washington left to become the Angels’ hitting coach.

The open job as assistant hitting coach presents an opportunity for John Mallee , who was the Cubs’ hitting coach in 2015-17 and was Triple-A Iowa’s hitting coach last season, to join the major-league coaching staff in that position. Before the Cubs fired Ross and hired Counsell, they added Mallee to the staff in an unspecified role.

The Cubs hired Ryan Flaherty as bench coach last week .

‘‘He’s able to connect with a lot of different types of players,’’ Hawkins said of Flaherty, noting that he’s the son of college coach Ed Flaherty . ‘‘He understands the game on a lot of different levels. He understands the newer aspects of the game but also can speak to the older, more nuanced aspects of the game.’’

Hawkins and Flaherty played college baseball together at Vanderbilt. After his major-league playing career, Flaherty rose through the Padres’ organization to bench coach last season.

Front-office movement

The Cubs made former vice president of player development Jared Banner’s promotion to assistant GM official. Hawkins said the Cubs will consider internal and external candidates to fill the position of farm director.

‘‘Really excited to have Jared in the opportunity that he’s in,’’ Hawkins said. ‘‘Just an unbelievable teammate, great worker, has experienced a lot of different things through his career.’’

Banner began his front-office career with the Red Sox and oversaw the Mets’ farm system before joining the Cubs as vice president of special projects. He headed the Cubs’ player-development department for the last two years.

‘‘Going into this season, it easily could be said any of the teams could have a great year and win the division.’’ — Reds manager David Bell , on the National League Central.

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New York Islanders Coaching Staff for 2023-24

By Dipak BK / 8 November 2023 02:41 AM

New York Islanders coaching staff for 2023/24 includes head coach Lane Lambert with Doug Houdaand John MacLean serving as the team's assistant coaches.

Lambert returns for his second season leading the Islanders' bench after leading the team to finish 4th in Metropolitan in his inaugural season. The Islanders lost in the first round against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Playoffs last season.

Making their return for the second season with the team are assistant coaches Houdaand and MacLean, who were hired in July last year after Lambert took the Islanders' helm.

Brian Wiseman was announced as the assistant coach alongside Houdaon on July 5. But it was announced later on July 28 that he would not be joining the Islanders staff with no reason provided by the team. He now serves as the assistant coach of the San Jose Sharks.

Piero Greco, who has been with the team since 2018 as their Goaltending coach, will return for another season with the Islanders. 2018 was also when the team's current GM Lou Lamoriello joined the franchise.

New York Islanders Head Coach

New York Islanders Head Coach Lane Lambert was named the franchise's eighteenth head coach on May 16, 2022. He succeded the team's former bench boss Barry Trotz.

The 58-year-old from Canada has played in the NHL before getting his start as a coach. He was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1983 as the 25th overall pick in the 1983 NHL draft.

The former forward played 283 games in the NHL to record 124 points(58 G & 66 A) in the regular season. In addition to the Wings, he played for the New York Rangers and the Quebec Nordiques(now known as the Colorado Avalanche ) in the NHL.

Lambert has played in the AHL, Eishockey-Bundesliga, the Swiss League, and the IHL other than the NHL in a professional career from 1983 to 2001. He began his coaching Career in 2002 with the Mose Jaw Warriors of the WHL as their assistant Coach.

After two seasons with the Warriors, he left to take the helm for the Prince George Cougars, where he recorded 26-25-7-0 in two seasons with them. He moved over to the AHL in 2005/06 as the assistant coach of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers after 4 seasons in the WHL.

In 2007, Milwaukee Admirals hired Lambert as the head coach after spending a season with them as their assistant coach. He would remain with the team until his promotion to become the assistant coach for the Nashville Predators, the NHL affiliates of the Admirals on June 9, 2011.

The Predators bench was where Lambert met with former Islanders head coach Barry Trotz. He would now serve under Trotz for the Capitals, where he was before joining the Islanders in 2018. and was part of the bench for their 2018 Stanley Cup Run.

He spent 4 seasons as the associate coach for the Islanders working with Trotz before succeding him in 2022. Trotz was fired on May 9, 2022.

Former Islanders Head Coaches

The head coaches' history of the Islanders includes eighteen former coaches who led the team since its inception in 1972.

Phil Goyette, the first head coach of the New York Islanders , was replaced midway through the season, and his only experience as a coach remains the 48 games he coached for the team.

Earl Ingarfield, the second coach, completed the season for the Islanders but did not return in his role. Al Arbour, who coached the Islanders from 1973 to 1986, is the most successful coach in franchise history, leading them to win the Stanley Cup for four consecutive years from 1980 to 1981.

The 1979 Jack Adams Award Winner returned to the Isles for a second stint with the team after retirement from coaching. He has coached 1,499 games for the Isles with a career record of 738W-37L-223T, making him the winningest coach in New York Islanders History.

The only other coach to win a Jack Adams with the Franchise is Barry Trotz, who won in 2019.

Here is the list of the head coaches the New York Islanders have had since 1972:

NY Islanders Assistant Coaches

NY Islanders Assistant Coaches for the 2023-24 season are Doug Houda and John Maclean. Houda has played 101 games with the Islanders.

John Maclean

Maclean got his coaching career start in 2002 as the Assistant coach of the New Jersey Devils, the team he had spent most of his playing career with. The Devils were the ones to draft him in 1983 as the 6th overall pick.

The Oshawa, Ontario native spent three seasons with the New York Rangers, one with the San Jose Sharks, and two with the Dallas Stars in the NHL.

The Devils Alternate Captain of the 1995 Stanley Cup-winning squad, has coached the AHL team Lowell Devils as their head coach in 2009/10. He served as the Devils head coach briefly in 2010/11 before being fired after a 9-22-2 start to the season.

After parting ways with the Devils, Maclean joined the Carolina Hurricanes as their assistant coach, spending three seasons with them. He joined the Arizona Coyotes as the assistant coach in 2017, where he spent three seasons before joining the Islanders in 2022.

Former Detroit Red Wings Assistant coach Houda joined the Isles in the same month as Maclean. He came to the Isles after spending six seasons on the Wings bench.

The Blairmore, Alberta native played 561 games in the NHL for the Wings, Hartford Whalers, Los Angeles Kings, Buffalo Sabres , New York Islanders, and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He started his coaching career in 2004 as the assistant coach of the AHL's Rochester Americans.

Houda spent 2 seasons on the Americans' bench before getting his NHL coaching start with the Boston Bruins in 2006. He spent 10 seasons as the Bruins Assistant Coach before the Bruins relieved him of his duties in 2016.

Islanders Goaltending Coach

New York Islanders' Goaltending Coach Piero Greco is in his sixth season serving as the team's goalie coach. Islanders are the only team Greco has coached so far.

The 55-year-old served as the goalie coach for the Toronto Marlies for four seasons before joining the Isles. The AHL affiliates of the Toronto Maple Leafs won their first Calder Cup Championship in 2017/18 during his last season with the team.

Before joining the Marlies, he worked for the Owen Sound Attack, Barrie Colts, and the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL between 2002 and 2013.

The Toronto Ontario native played professionally for 12 years as a goalie from 1990 to 2002. He began his pro career with the Fiemme Cavalese HC in the Italy-A.

Greco played for the Sheffield Steelers of the British Ice Hockey Super League for two seasons before returning to the Italy-A in 1998 with the Vipiteno. The Steelers are still operational and currently play in the Elite Ice Hockey League in Britain.

Other than his stints in the European league Greco has played for the Birmingham Bulls of the ECHL. The Bulls, currently known as the Adirondack Thunder, are affiliated with the New Jersey Devils in the NHL and the Ultica Comets in the AHL.

Other Coaching Staff

Other than the head coach and assistant coaches the NY islanders coaching staff includes Mitch Korn -Director of Goaltending and Jacques Lemaire - Special Assignment Coach.

Korn joined the Islanders on July 26, 2018, and before that worked for the Washington Capitals . He spent three seasons as the Capitals goalie coach and one as their director of goaltending.

Before joining the Capitals, he had spent sixteen seasons as the goalie coach for the Nashville Predators and seven seasons with the Buffalo Sabres. He got his NHL coaching start with the Sabres in 1991.

During his time with the Sabres(1991-1998), he worked with six-time Vezina Trophy winner Dominik Hasek. Hasek is a two-time Hart Trophy, a three-time William M. Jennings Trophy, a two-time Lester B. Pearson Award winner, and 2 time Stanley Cup Champion.

Jacques Lemaire

Special Assignment Coach Lemaire joined the Islanders in his role in 2018 and before that served in the same capacity for the Toronto Maple Leafs(2015-2018) and the New Jersey Devils(2011-2015).

The 78-year-old played in the NHL for the Montreal Canadiens from 1967 to 1979. He played two seasons in the Swiss league before retiring in 1981.

One of the only six players to score the Stanley Cup-winning goals, Lemaire enjoyed a successful coaching career post-retirement as a player. He got his head coaching start in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens in 1983, coaching them for two seasons.

The LaSalle, Quebec, served as the head coach for the New Jersey Devils from 1993/94 to 1997/98, leading them to their first Stanley Cup in 95.

He coached the Devils for an additional two seasons during his second term with the franchise from 2009 and 2011.

The two-time Jack Adams Award winner(1993 & 2003) has coached 1,262 games in the NHL with a career record of 617W-458L-124T-63OTL.

He won his first Jack Adams with the Devils and his second with the Minnesota Wild , which he joined as their inaugural head coach, spending eight seasons with the team.

Mariners: Cuts to scouting department, including VP of scouting Tom Allison, due in part to lost revenue during COVID-19 pandemic, analytics push

The reverberations from the Mariners’ purge of their scouting staff Thursday continued to be felt a day later throughout Major League Baseball.

While most organizations employ 30-plus scouts per season, covering amateur baseball, MLB and the minor leagues, international scouting and more, the tight-knit scouting community feels small, like a town in rural Washington or Montana. Everyone knows everyone, and they stick together. In the business, gossip spreads fast and bad news can elicit a tornado of text messages.

The first came at 3:31 p.m. on Thursday, when an opposing scout from a National League team sent a text saying he’d heard that Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto “gutted” the team’s amateur and pro-scouting staffs.

With fans safe at home, Mariners’ COVID-19-delayed opener to feature fake people, fake noise & tradition
Mariners rookie Evan White getting (mostly) golden reviews for his defense at first base

An MLB source said that there would be some scouts and front-office staff members whose contracts would not be renewed for 2021, including Tom Allison, the Mariners’ vice president of scouting. Allison has been with the Mariners since 2012 and was promoted to oversee all aspects of the organization’s scouting five years ago. He worked with Dipoto in Arizona as the director of scouting and was responsible for drafts that produced Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock.

Allison confirmed the news via text a few hours later.

By the end of the day and into Friday, text messages started to accumulate, with three scouts from opposing teams using the word “bloodbath” to describe the layoffs. The list of names of those not coming back continued to grow, confirmed by multiple sources in the Mariners’ organization and by some who will be officially unemployed by the organization when their contract expires on Oct. 31.

Of 11 other non-renewals, there were a few notable names, including Tom McNamara, who returned to the Mariners in 2008 as the director of amateur scouting. He was promoted to special assistant to Dipoto. Pro scout Greg Hunter has been with the Mariners organization for almost 20 years, serving in a variety of roles, including Mariners’ director of player development. Other scouts confirmed the list included personnel manager Jason Karegeannes, who Allison hired away from the Cubs, Howard McCullough (special assignment scout), Taylor Cameron (West Coast crosschecker), Jordan Bley (area scout), Amanda Hopkins (area scout), Alex Ross (area scout), Gary Patchett (area scout), Dan Rovetto (area scout) and Chris Rosenbaum (pro scout).

Sources indicate that the Mariners have informed a handful of coaches and coordinators on the player-development side that their contracts will not be renewed for 2021.

So why do this?

Mariners chairman John Stanton stopped in the T-Mobile Park press box Friday to clarify the reasoning.

Given the financial situation of the organization and other franchises during the COVID-19 pandemic and a shortened season without fans in attendance , there was going to be some changes. Stanton said that some of the cuts were directly due to the lost revenues of the 2020 season.

The Mariners decided to follow the path set by the Astros, A’s and the Orioles in restructuring and streamlining their scouting department, combining the amateur and pro side. The Mariners have decided to invest heavily in the analytical side of scouting, emphasizing the usage of data accumulated through technologies such as Trackman, Statcast and Rapsodo that offer reams of useful data. They are going to have scouts use this data and technology that will be processed through computer algorithms created by the analytics department as a large part of their reports. This isn’t new thinking. The aforementioned teams have done that while the Rays have pushed this usage, but have actually added scouts during that process.

It does seem like the days of scouts traveling to every part of the country, armed with radar guns and stopwatches, sitting behind home plate are dwindling. And there is an expectation that any scout remaining with the organization will need to embrace the new push toward video- and data-based scouting.

With the push to data, could these experienced scouts become the new “market inefficiency” to be exploited for an advantage.

As a scout pointed out, “to discount/marginalize/squash the value of insight and experience is short-sighted — innovation can be obtained through adjustment just as easily through TNT.”

Stanton mentioned the expected contraction of 40-plus minor league teams, as well expected reduction of future amateur drafts to around 20-25 rounds, as another reason for the reduction in scouting staff and likely the non-renewals in player development.

And with the scouting department significantly reduced, the need for managers like Allison and Karegeannes was also lessened.

Preaching caution

Manager Scott Servais plans to reiterate to his players how much caution they should take when it comes to being exposed to someone with COVID-19.

The Mariners opened their first homestand of the season Friday and won’t have the bubble of a team hotel to remain in before and after games. While some players are staying at hotels near the stadium for the next few months, others have rented houses or apartments. Servais wants them to remain vigilant after reports that the laxity displayed by Marlins players and staff led to their 20-person outbreak.

“I’ll continue to have meetings with our guys,” Servais said before Friday’s game at T-Mobile Park via a video media session. “I thought we did an excellent job on the road. Once you’re kind of locked into the hotel and just going to the ballpark, it may be a little easier.”

But it all changes in Seattle.

“Now that we’re home, certainly families play into it,” he said. “And the guys who don’t have families in here have to make really good choices on what they’re doing away from the field. We’ll continue to harp on that. It only takes one guy making one bad choice that can put us all in a really bad spot. It’s one of those things we’re going to have to deal with continuously throughout the season and just remind our guys how important it is in the decisions they’re making.”

Servais confirmed that a member of the front office will serve as a COVID compliance offer and continually monitor the behavior of players and staff to make sure they are following MLB rules.