Douglas Daniel Weight (born January 21, 1971) is an American professional ice hockey coach, executive and former player.
 He is currently the head coach and assistant general manager for the New York Islanders.
 During his 19-year National Hockey League career, he played for the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, Anaheim Ducks, St. Louis Blues and the New York Islanders.
Dean E. Chynoweth (born October 30, 1968) is a retired Canadian ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League for the New York Islanders and the Boston Bruins.
 Drafted 13th overall by the Islanders in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, Chynoweth played 241 regular season games in 10 NHL seasons, scoring 4 goals and 18 assists for 22 points and clocked up 667 penalty minutes.
 He was also the head coach of the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds.
 He served as the general manager and head coach for another WHL franchise, the Swift Current Broncos, from 2004 to 2011.
 Chynoweth was formerly an assistant coach with the New York Islanders.
Martin Hall (born 5 December 1968) was the head coach of Halifax from June 2006 until May 2010.
 He took over the head coach job from sacked coach Anthony Farrell.
 Hall previously played hooker at Oldham, Rochdale Hornets, Wigan, Castleford, Halifax, and Hull F.C..
 Martin Hall played hooker , and scored a try in Wigan's 30-10 victory over Leeds in the 1995 Challenge Cup Final during the 1994–95 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 29 April 1995, in front of a crowd of 78,550.
 After the 1993–94 Rugby Football League season Hall travelled with defending champions Wigan to Brisbane, playing from the interchange bench in their 1994 World Club Challenge victory over Australian premiers, the Brisbane Broncos.
 He was also the Head Coach of the Wales national rugby league team for 3 years between 2005-2007 and has had coaching stints at Rochdale Hornets and Hull Kingston Rovers.
Johannes "Johan" Roijakkers (born September 15, 1980) is a Dutch basketball coach, currently for BG Göttingen of the Basketball Bundesliga.
 His first head coach job was with BC Prievidza in Slovakia, where he won the national title.
 In 2012, he left for BG Göttingen.
 In the 2013–14 season, he was promoted to the Bundesliga with Göttingen.
 The team beat Crailsheim Merlins in the Finals and was named the ProA champion.
The 1972–73 New York Islanders season was the first season in the franchise's history.
 At the beginning of 1972, Gordie Howe was offered the job as first head coach of the New York Islanders, but turned it down.
 The Islanders were coached by Phil Goyette (6–38–4) and Earl Ingarfield (6–22–2).
 Overall, the team finished in last place with an appalling 12–60–6 record, unable to qualify for the playoffs.
Robert Thomas "Butch" Goring (born October 22, 1949) is a retired Canadian ice hockey player.
 He played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Los Angeles Kings, New York Islanders and Boston Bruins.
 He is a four-time Stanley Cup winner with the Islanders.
 Since retiring as a player he has served as head coach of both the Bruins and Islanders.
 He currently serves as the Islanders TV color commentator alongside Islanders play by play announcer Brendan Burke.
Gordon "Gordie" Howe, OC (March 31, 1928 – June 10, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player.
 From 1946 to 1980, he played twenty-six seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA); his first 25 seasons were spent with the Detroit Red Wings.
 Nicknamed "Mr. Hockey", Howe is considered the most complete player to ever play the game and one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time.
 A 23-time NHL All-Star, he held many of the sport's career scoring records until they were broken in the 1980s by Wayne Gretzky, who himself has been a major champion of Howe's legacy.
 He continues to hold NHL records for most games and seasons played.
 In 2017, Howe was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players".
Michael Walsh (born April 3, 1962) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL).
 After four seasons playing for Colgate University's men's ice hockey team, Walsh spent the first two seasons of his professional career with Malmö IF in Sweden.
 Towards the end of the 1985–86 season he returned to North America, playing in two games for the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League (AHL).
 Walsh signed a contract in the off-season with Springfield's parent team, the New York Islanders, and played the next four seasons with the organization.
 He played in 14 games over parts of two NHL seasons with the Islanders.
 After the 1989–90 season, during which he was a member of Springfield's Calder Cup winning team, Walsh played a season in Italy for SG Cortina.
 He played two more seasons in the AHL before retiring after the 1992–93 season.
 Following his playing career Walsh became a head coach, coaching at the Tilton School and currently Proctor Academy.
Brent Keith Thompson (born January 9, 1971) is a Canadian retired professional defenceman who played 121 games in the National Hockey League.
 He played for the Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, and Los Angeles Kings.
 He was formerly the head coach of the Alaska Aces of the ECHL, where he led them to a Kelly Cup Championship in the 2010-2011 season.
 During the 2011-2012, Thompson was the head coach for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League, affiliate of the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League.
 In June 2012, the Islanders announced that Thompson would be promoted to Assistant Coach under Islanders Head Coach Jack Capuano.
 To start the 2014-2015, Brent Thompson was once again named the head coach for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League.
 His son, Tage Thompson, was selected 26th overall of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by the St. Louis Blues.
The New York Islanders are an American professional ice hockey team based in Brooklyn, New York.
 They play in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Hockey League (NHL).
 The team joined the NHL in 1972, and won their first Stanley Cup championship in 1980.
 The Islanders play their home games at the Barclays Center.
 Charles Wang is the Islanders' owner, Garth Snow is their general manager, and John Tavares is the team captain.

Question: What team did the man who turned down the first head coach job of the New York Islanders play for for 25 seasons?  
Answer: Detroit Red Wings