The New York Islanders have a very accomplished front office and coaching staff. Barry Trotz has been a Head Coach in the NHL since 1998 and won the Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018. Lou Lamoriello first became an NHL general manager in 1987 and has won three Stanley Cups with the Devils. But one lesser-known member of the Islanders’ coaching staff also has an impressive resume. Meet the Islanders Director of Goaltending, Mitch Korn.

Buffalo Sabres

Mitch Korn began his coaching career in 1979, becoming the Head Coach of Kent State University. Six years later, Korn became an assistant coach at Miami University in Ohio. Due to his success in college hockey, specifically with goaltenders, the Buffalo Sabres made him their goaltending coach in 1991. Despite being a playoff team, the Sabres rotated goaltenders between Daren Puppa, Clint Malarchuk and Tom Draper. The Sabres wanted to change this, so they called up the Blackhawks who had a surplus of goaltenders. For a small price, they acquired their goalie of the future: Dominik Hasek.

The hockey world was unaware of what Hasek could become. After Hasek couldn’t prove himself as a starting goaltender during the 1992-93 season, his first in Buffalo, the team made another splash. They traded one of their top scorers in Dave Andreychuk, Daren Puppa, and a first-round draft pick in exchange for Grant Fuhr.

Korn helped get Fuhr’s career back on track after struggles with cocaine use, and Fuhr helped Buffalo win their first playoff series in ten years in 1993. The next season, however, Fuhr suffered some injuries, and Dominik Hasek took over. Hasek’s jump in 1994 was one of the most dramatic and unpredictable seasons for a goalie in hockey history. In the proceeding year, Hasek had a 0.896 save percentage and a 3.15 goals-against average. That year, Hasek had a 0.930 SV% and a 1.95 GAA and took home the Vezina Trophy.

In the next eight years, Hasek won six Vezina Trophies, and became the only goalie to ever win two Hart Trophies. Much of his success was thanks to his work with Korn behind the scenes. But by 1998, Korn was onto a new challenge.

Nashville Predators

The Predators were an expansion team in 1998, so it was really a fresh start for Korn. The Preds’ goalies were Mike Dunham, 26, and Thomas Vokoun, 22. Dunham improved and was solid during his four-year stint in Nashville, but it was the young Vokoun who Korn really clicked with and turned into a star. Vokoun was selected by the Predators in the Expansion Draft, only having played one NHL game. The former ninth-round pick was unsure if he could be a full-time NHL goaltender. With Mitch Korn’s help, Vokoun had a strong season and finished second in Calder Trophy voting amongst goaltenders. Two years later, in 2001, Vokoun was becoming an elite starter, posting a 0.910 SV% and 2.44 GAA.

The Predators traded Vokoun to the Panthers for a big package in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and decided to roll with Dan Ellis and Chris Mason for the following season. Both goalies had good seasons, but Korn shifted his focus to someone else. As a former eight-round pick, Finnish goalie Pekka Rinne was finding success in the AHL at a young age. In arguably Korn’s most impressive project, Rinne instantly became the face of the Predators. He was fourth in Calder voting in 2009, and one of the league’s best young goaltenders. Despite a lack of team playoff success, Rinne became one of the best goalies in modern history, before Korn left Nashville in 2014. In his six years as the Predators’ starter under Korn, Rinne was nominated for the Vezina Trophy twice.

Washington Capitals

Mitch Korn became very close with Barry Trotz, the Head Coach of the Predators during his tenure there. So when the Predators and Trotz parted ways, and Trotz signed as the new coach of the Capitals, Korn followed. In the two seasons prior to Korn’s arrival in Washington, a young Braden Holtby emerged as the teams’ starter. But when working with Mitch Korn, Holtby broke out in 2015. Holtby’s GAA went from 2.85 to 2.22, and his SV% went from 0.915 to 0.923, significantly improving. In the next year, 2016, Braden Holtby got even better and became the first Capital to win the Vezina Trophy since Olaf “Olie the Goalie” Kolzig in 2000. Holtby was close to winning again the next year but took second place behind Blue Jackets’ netminder Sergei Bobrovsky

In the 2018 season, Holtby saw some regression. But when the Capitals reached the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year, they were hungry and rallied behind Holtby. The Capitals finally got past Crosby’s Penguins, and then beat the Tampa Bay Lightning to reach the Stanley Cup Final. Their opponent was the magical inaugural-season Vegas Golden Knights. After losing Game 1, Holtby made the biggest save of his career, robbing Alex Tuch with his stick on the goal line, protecting a late Capitals lead in Game 2. Known as the turning point of the series, the Capitals went on to win Games 2, 3, 4, and 5, winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. In his 27th year as an NHL Goaltending Coach, Mitch Korn’s name was finally engraved on the greatest trophy in sports, the Stanley Cup.

New York Islanders

After bringing home the Stanley Cup, Barry Trotz and the Capitals couldn’t ink a new deal, and Trotz became the New York Islanders’ coach. Once again, Mitch Korn followed his buddy and became the Islanders’ Director of Goaltending. When first arriving on the Island, it seemed Korn wasn’t given much to work with. Thomas Greiss was an aging goalie coming off by far the worst season of his career. The other goalie was new signee Robin Lehner, who was yet to prove much at the NHL level. What happened next was absolutely sensational. At age 33, Greiss followed his worst NHL season with his best NHL season, and with much-needed help on and off the nice, Lehner became one of the league’s top goaltenders what felt like out of nowhere. The pair won the William M. Jennings Trophy for least goals allowed, and Lehner was a Vezina candidate. That was Korn’s eleventh goalie to be a Vezina Trophy nominee.

Unable to agree to an extension, Robin Lehner signed with the Blackhawks, and the Islanders signed former Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov to a four-year contract. Despite being on the wrong side of 30, Varlamov performed better than he did his previous year in Colorado, and Greiss was solid once again. The pair was excellent, and the Islanders reached the Eastern Conference Finals in the bubble.

In 2020, the Islanders finally brought over prospect Ilya Sorokin to the Islanders from Russia. The signing left Thomas Greiss out of the picture for the next season, so he signed in Detroit. Sorokin had a slow start but with the help of Korn adapted well to NHL play, and was viewed as a phenomenal goaltender by the end of the season. The Islanders reached the NHL Stanley Cup semifinals once again with the new tandem.

The Islanders are rolling with Varlamov and Sorokin again for the 2021-22 season. So, expect big things out of the two under one of the most accomplished goaltending coaches in NHL history.

Ben Kule

Die-Hard Islanders fan and writer from Plainview, Long Island, NY. I have a passion and knowledge for this team and I enjoy sharing that with others