The Ryan Smyth trade: 15 years later

Captain CanadaWhen I was asked to appear on the Weird Islanders podcast, I immediately knew who my selection would be. It truly doesn’t get any weirder than Ryan Smyth. Fans reaction to Ryan Smyth as an Islander is usually broken down into two responses, “really?” and “oh yeah, I totally forgot.”

Garth Snow went from backup goaltender one day to Islanders general manager the next as Charles Wang fired Neil Smith just six weeks after hiring him back in the summer of 2006. Wang’s firing of Smith, who was the architect of the 1994 Rangers Stanley Cup, resulted in former Isles great Pat LaFontaine, hired as a senior adviser to resign. Smith was hired by Wang the same day as then head coach Ted…