"I've got a ton of respect for him," Tavares said. "It was a tough day, because you really feel that burden of him being the guy taking the fall with the way we've played and the way I've played (32 points in 42 games), which just hasn't been good enough. It's tough to see him go with how much he's given to a lot of the players in here, the team, the organization over his tenure. It's been a long time. It's not an easy thing, I think we all felt that. You could kind of sense that in the room coming into the rink this morning.
"We felt like we just haven't done a good enough job, so hopefully this is a chance to change some of that. But it was good to talk to him. He was in pretty good spirits. He's always been a very good guy to be around, just a lot of enthusiasm and always very positive. I think wherever he ends up, someone's going to be very happy and very excited. They're going to get a tremendous person and a guy with a tremendous work ethic."
So the Islanders officially turn the page to Weight, who becomes an NHL coach less than six years after announcing his retirement. It's a career path he didn't think he'd follow in 2011.
"I thought I was going to take a couple years off and I got thrown right into it," said Weight, who became an Islanders assistant coach and a special adviser to general manager Garth Snow immediately following retirement. "I've enjoyed it, and like I said to the players, I still have the passion. I take a loss just as hard as I did when I was 25 on the ice. It's not as fun not being able to get out there, but I love the game, I respect my organization that I work for and I want to help them succeed. I'm going to work really hard. I believe in that, I've done that throughout my career and I'm going to work hard at this."
Weight will get his first chance at helping the Islanders try to get back into the playoff race Thursday against the Stars at Barclays Center (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-SW+, NHL.TV). Though New York is last in the Eastern Conference with 42 points, it trails the Ottawa Senators by eight for the second wild card with 40 games remaining.
"The year hasn't gone certainly as we would have scripted or we would have liked," defenseman Travis Hamonic said. "But at this point, you can't undo what's done. It is what it is, and all we can do is try and move forward as a group, an organization, and collectively try to get those wins. You see a lot of teams go on runs this year, it's been abnormal. We have a group that can do that. You string together five or six, and then see where you're at in the standings then. Certainly a lot of games left, 40 games to go, that's a lot of time."