Islanders fire GM Ryan Shuck

After weeks of controversy, Elite Hockey Experience management has stepped in and announced the firing of Ryan Shuck (also known as Rex Leak), the general manager for the New York Islanders, as of December 13.

"Due to several violations of negligence to a franchise he was placed to be in charge of, the Elite Hockey Experience has no choice but to terminate the contract of Ryan Shuck," confirmed a statement from league officials. "Mr. Shuck did not fulfill the commitments that are expected of a general manager to run his club in a professional manner."

"We apologize to the Islanders' fans and are working diligently to have a new general manager in place as soon as possible."

Shuck was thought to be the perfect general manager to operate the Islanders as they transition to Brooklyn, where they will move after this season. He was named to the position on November 15. However, when it came time to draft, the Islanders were repeatedly absent when their turn came to select their players. This, combined with alleged clashes with league officials and general managers of other teams, left Shuck's position in doubt.

After missing the most recent live draft chat session on Saturday, Shuck would only comment, "[I] love how you guys select me [expletive] garbage but pick good players for other teams that [no longer have general managers]."

"I happen to think we've built quite a team despite our GM being absent for most of it," said forward Martin St. Louis of the Islanders, who also feature All-Stars Zdeno Chara, Henrik Zetterberg, and Ryan Miller. "In spite a lot of all the drama, I daresay we might be an early favorite to win the Stanley Cup this season."

"The fans deserve a GM who wishes to be here," said a league representative following the announcement. "We will not comment any further regarding Mr. Shuck."

The vacancy on Long Island is the third such opening currently being screened for, joining the Buffalo Sabres and Calgary Flames.

"What is unfortunate about this is that we had other candidates that would have loved to become the general manager of the Islanders before the league began operations. We are continuing out pursuit of quality managers in a league that still has 27 of them."