Milbury has been with the Isles organization since 1995, acting as general manager throughout the past nine seasons. He has orchestrated six coaching changes (including two stints as a coach himself), undergone an ownership change and made the playoffs only three times during his tenure, never making it past the first round. I'm sure all of us would love to have such a questionable track record and yet remain in our jobs earning the confidence of your higher-ups year after year.

Every GM makes questionable trades and decisions they look back on and regret. Player evaluation and potential are subjective criteria and it's impossible to project how every player will turn out. So making mistakes is the norm. That being said, Mike Milbury has had a lifetime's share of poor trades he would love to chalk up as mulligans.

Here's just a sampling of Milbury's gaffes:
· Todd Bertuzzi & Bryan McCabe for Trevor Linden
· J.P. Dumont for Dmitri Nabokov
· Jason Spezza, Zdeno Chara, Bill Muckalt for Alexei Yashin
· Wade Redden, Kirk Muller for Bryan Berard & Martin Straka

Young players he dispatched off the Island much too early:
· Taylor Pyatt, Eric Brewer, Raffi Torres, Tim Connolly

And the crown jewel for worst trade was without a question the decision to trade Roberto Luongo and Olli Jokinen to the Florida Panthers for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha. At the 2000 entry draft the Islanders held onto the 1st overall selection and were so in love with Boston University goalie Rick DiPietro that they decided to jettison Luongo, a superstar goalie in the making, to the Panthers.

Milbury's justification for the trade? "In the end, we thought the quality that DiPietro will bring is just a notch above Luongo. If we're wrong, we may have made an unbelievable mistake. It'll be bonehead city. It's my job. If we're not a better team immediately, off with my head. I've been here five years, and I'm tired of losing."

	Everyone makes mistakes. But nine years worth?

Fast-forward to 2004 and Roberto Luongo is a Vezina trophy candidate, an impact player and one of the best goalies in hockey, ranking only behind Martin Brodeur. You would have an easier time getting Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal to play another season with each other than trying to pry Luongo away from the Panthers; he's an untouchable. Rick DiPietro meanwhile has yet to asset himself as a full-time player, but is starting to show signs of finally rounding into the form of No.1 goalie for the Isles. Jokinen, the other piece in the trade meanwhile has gone on to become the Panthers captain and leading goal scorer. Not that trading away Luongo is bad enough but by drafting DiPietro to replace Luongo the Isles gave up an opportunity to draft another prospect. Who could have the Isles drafted instead? Dany Heatley or Marian Gaborik. Let's see: Luongo, Heatley and Jokinen or DiPietro, Kvasha and Parrish? Knowing that every team will thank the host city for putting on the entry draft is the only thing more obvious than what players you would prefer to have on your team.

The people you've really got to feel for in this whole Milbury experiment is the Isles scouting staff. They have produced draft gem after gem that have gone onto flourish for other teams. As bad as some of the player management choices may have been, you have to give credit where credit is due; the Isles know how to draft. The Isles situation reminds me a lot of that Seinfeld episode with the lost car rental reservation. "You see, you know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to hold the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation: the holding. Anybody can just take them." If Milbury were to hold onto his draft picks he would get the opportunity to see them flourish into NHL stars. And really that's the most important part about drafting players, hanging onto them.

I'm sure when other GM's see Milbury and his scouting staff draft a player they covet they don't even sweat about it because they know they'll be able to pick up the phone and call up Mad Mike in two years time and grab the player for a reduced cost. To other GM's, Milbury must be like the requisite bad gambler you always love inviting to the poker game.

For Islanders' fans it must be heart-wrenching thinking about the possible team they could have had if Milbury had just stood pat over the past 9 years. Maybe the Islanders can still be saved if Milbury starts watching Seinfeld reruns. At least he would learn about the car reservation lesson and George Costanza's philosophy: If every instinct you have is wrong, you simply do the opposite.