ATLANTA 4, ISLANDERS 2
Can’t even bring myself to write the subhead
One of the beauties of this blogger gig is that, unlike a Greg Logan, I’m not mandated to write, say, exactly 600 words on the Islanders’ 10th loss in a row. For tonight, I will echo to PB readers the words of a grumpy NHL coach I used to know:
“You saw the game. Write about it.” (Please, in Comments).
Perhaps it was divine intervention. After covering a morning skate earlier today where nobody had anything to say and Scott Gordon couldn’t even confirm Jeff Tambellini’s return to his lineup, tonight the wireless in the Coliseum press box was as reliable as the Islanders’ forecheck. So I went home.
In the brief walk from the press box to the parking lot, I encountered several fans asking if I was going to carve up the team in the recap. No, I’m not.
The Islanders’ problem, beyond the ten straight losses and embarrassing record of 10-21-3 in The League Where Everybody Wins Sometime, is this: injuries aside, this is likely going to be the Islanders’ roster for at least the next two months. Nobody is going anywhere, so the Islanders better figure it out if they want to.
Good on Andy Hilbert and Sean Bergenheim for bringing it all night and getting rewarded for their efforts. Good to see four lines kinda rolled.
Tough to watch Josh Bailey (2-for-12 on faceoffs, no shots on goal) go through this. Tough to hear the TV broadcast speculate about the return date of Rick DiPietro. I’m a fan of Rick’s, but the Islanders aren’t talking about it so it’s tough to understand why anyone else should care right now.
The Islanders grabbed the four-point game with Atlanta. Proving that (just about) any NHL team can beat any other NHL team on any given night, Tampa Bay beat the Penguins tonight, 2-0 in Pittsburgh. If the 2009 NHL Draft was tomorrow, the Islanders would have either the first or second overall pick.
Perfect timing. Our Top 10 draft preview runs tomorrow morning.
Comments.
63 Responses to “ATLANTA 4, ISLANDERS 2
Can’t even bring myself to write the subhead”
Please Wait
Disgraceful game, I was disapointed that i went and the tickets were free. Screw them, no entertainment or anything.
A little cut/paste from the story provides the answer…
“…the Islanders better figure it out if they want to.”
I think Snow has. However, it’s closer to Game 82.
“…the Islanders would have either the first or second overall pick.”
Cheers!
I firmly believe that part of Snow’s “masterplan” was to get either the first or second pick this season. Even without all the injuries, this team is still one of the worst in the league. The injuries just assured them of being the worst.
Thanks for the Pik of the ice girls. It is better than the performance of the offense.
No fire, no spunk, no hitting, no anger.
Is somebody going to stand up in the locker room and say that this is bull? Is there anyone on the team that hates losing? I can handle the losing but can we lose with some dignity please?
I think the players on the team need to realize that people pay hard earned money to go to games and need to realize that A LOT of Long Islanders wake up in the morning wondering if they will have a $50,000 job in a week to pay bills for their families.
Someone got a match? Someone’s got to light a huge fire under some fannies.
Okposo? where are you? Bailey? where are you?Tambellini? where are you?
why do I show more emotion when my Sunday morning softball team lays an egg on 9am Sunday games in the summer than the current players on the Isles do?
Anyone want to chime in on the lackluster efforts?
I have two questions:
1.How many rebound goals is Joey Mac going to let up before he realizes he needs to hold on to the puck?
2. Why does Comrie hold the puck so long and ruin all momentum in the offensive zone?
Having season tickets is painful.
I hear they’re giving POWs in Iraq season tickets to the Isles as a form of torture.
I have a hard time believing that Bailey is better off here than actually developing a scoring touch in the juniors and in the WJC. Sutton has the same amount of goals as Tambellini, Bailey, and Okposo combined. BTW, Chris, tell me Tavares is gonna help us more than Stamkos is helping Tampa.
The team played well… for the most part. Better than many other nights. Comeau-Comrie-Okposo is a keeper line if they keep buzzing. Two points closer to that number 1 pick, but ten in a row is tough to swallow as a fan; can’t imagine what it is like for a player. Bottom line for tonight, Comrie doesn’t take that stupid penalty, the game stays 2-2; maybe we go to OT, maybe we win, maybe we lose. This should be a wake-up to Flash that rolling 4 lines (sort of) is always a good thing. Each line did their part. Bergie’s goal was exciting. I wish he’d score more. I blasted Gordon in the last post game that I commented on, but tonight I don’t criticize Gordon, or most of the players–just Comrie, and as much as Joey Mac does what he can–can someone PLEASE teach him rebound control?! Is it crappy goaltending coaching? Is it Joey Mac’s limit as an NHL goaltender? Why does this guy give up the juiciest rebounds? Atlanta has Kovalchuk… you do not want to give an easier time to score (it’s easy enough for him).
Anyway, tonight, actually a good effort. Sad to see this one as a loss. Merry Christmas Islanders?
bloodyskull your exactly right. This team is full of dogs. and what’s with this loser Gordon not talking to the press about whose playing, he should be glad anyone gives a sh’t. this secretive crap about everything is so lame, like this is national security.
Hard to believe an NHL team can look this bad and not be doing anything to try and solve the problems. Sure glad I’m not back on the Island paying for tickets. Regardless of the possibly of high draft choices this is a disgrace not even being competitive.
I was thinking the Islanders, Nationals, Lions and Thunder should have some sort of Superstars competition to determine the worst team in all of pro sports.
Perfect night. Atlanta moves that much further ahead of us. Tampa won. And Tavares scored two goals. One was one of the most creative goals you will ever see in your lifetime. He batted it from behind the net in mid air and batted in the net in the air in front. It was mind-boggling. Might be on youtube soon. Go Canada and keep up the good work Islanders…..TAVARES.
CB, question. Do you know which of our prospects are going the WJC? I have the NHL Network and I’m pumped to see it.
For my birthday, my brother-in-law and future sister-in-law bought me, my wife and 1-yr old daughter tickets to a game in March. I had a hard time thanking them. At least tonight the Isles’ didn’t blow a 4-0 lead like some other NY hockey team
supreme court just ruled that iraq pows cannot be sent to Nassau Coliseum to watch the Islanders, this form of torture is to cruel and inhumane.
Alright, I’ll throw in a positive bone or two:
-Hilbert/Park/Hunter looked good; Comrie/Okposo/Comeau had life;
-The Isles were down 2-0, and they came back to tie it. They were in it before Comrie’s dumb penalty, and they had somce good chances to tie it again.
Granted, it’s just freaking Atlanta, and it’s lipstick on a loss. But when I look back at the 10 consecutive losses, this was far from the worst. (And we didn’t let Atlanta inch closer to our rightful draft pick.)
Three points in the last 13 games. The youngsters are floundering. The plan is a failure.
Nolan coached a team of kids to a junior champoinship. Snow decides Nolan can not coach kids and brings in an unproven NHL coach.
This is not a rebuilding program, it is a disaster.
Tell that to the Penguins guess they never rebuilt by losing.
if mike comrie doesn’t take that ridiculous penalty in the 3rd period i think the isles win. it changed the whole game. they played well and i thought that okposo, comeau, hilbert, park, bergie all had good games. one step closer to tavares or hedman. i’m looking forward to chris’s draft preview tomorrow morning.
The plan to me is not a failure.
We have been going nowhere for the past few years.
We haven’t had a real foundation.
Just get through this season and hopefully get the #1 or #2. Hope Okposo and Bailey become good players. Hope DiPietro can stay healthy.
Hope sucks but I am tired of false plans and stopgaps.
This is the first year where I won’t go to ten or so games. I can’t stand to watch- not because of the effort but because of the pain.
Let’s get through this year and hopefully we won’t trade the #1 pick for some magic beans.
I was going through the past Islanders at the internet hockey database
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/display_players.php?tmi=7085
Boy we have had some lean teams since the Cup years.
Joe Day, Gilles Thibaudeau, Sven Butenschon, Mike Watt, Richie Kromm, Rogie Vachon’s son Nick and his 1 game, etc
All the suspects who were passed off as prospects.
Great names like Ari Erik Haanpaa and Mikko Makela.
It’s a lot easier reminiscing about bad times than living them.
Have a Merry Christmas and enjoy Hanukkah if that’s what you celebrate.
chris, did the islanders not send bailey to the WJC because they knew okposo was ahead of his projected time for recovery from the wrist injury.
P.S.-everybody should be happy about this 4-point game loss vs ATL, we are that much closer to tavares. I looked at the schedule and we will be lucky if we win 12 more games for the rest of the year. yeah, its that sad lol. oh well, here comes john tavares. cant wait to scout him since i got the nhl network.
for you ryan—
kessel - usa
petrov - russia
ullstrom - sweden
niemi - finland
I beleive I got em all…CB chime in if you must..BUT the most important one’s to watch are John Tavares and Victor Hedman, I know this is painful but we need one of these two. So there is some consolation in every loss.
Seriously some of these posts are just stupid. Were we watching the same game?? The islanders had more offensive chances and worked hard for the better half of a game. Yes it was against the thrashers. But put dipietro in the game and add a top flight scorer like kovie(tavares) and the islanders win this game. Youth movement failed?? Bergie hustled his butt off and got rewarded, tamby played better then his invisable usualness. Okposo drew a penalty by his hard skating and put himself in the right areas to score, just didn’t finish. That will come with time. Bailey set up a number of scoring chances, what he is supposed to do. It’s a depressing lose, but I wasn’t disapponted with how most players played. All you negative “fans” go root for the other ny team. It’s a rebuild! We won’t be winning anytime soon! If you can’t wait it out and look for positives this isn’t the team for you!
John Tavares cannot come soon enough!
you and me both larry. id write my recap but me and larry had pretty much the same thing
I think DP is gonna prove more valuable than everyone thinks…I just think he’s so much better than Joey Mac (who’s been good). Hopefully he doesn’t get hurt again.
One thing I do see from the Isles is that they do try for Gordon and give an effort…they just arent very good. (Bill Guerin only gives half effort…when he gets into his own zone he wants no part of it).
From what I saw they played hard tonight. That being said, they are not very good, and can’t catch a break. Like someone else say, at least we didn’t blow a 4 goal lead.
I’m just worried that with the lack of luck going on, we somehow don’t get the top pick.
Oh BlahBlahBlah, I’m getting sick of watching this team lose, I can’t take much more.
tavares got 2 goals in the WJC. right now he is ahead of hedman in a recent poll. he has 3 goals in two games i think in the WJC
Get ride of Hillary Comrie,with whatever little chance the team had tonight,he single handedly took it away from us. He`s selfish offensive zone penalty just after the team ties it at two was the last straw for me. Gordon`s lack of guts showed again tonight by not benching this scrub the rest of the game. it`s not the first time he`s retailated in the offensive zone this year as well as the prevoius two that has cost us points. If you actually think Snow`s plan is for the first pick,wake up people,He`ll probably trade that away for some overpayed 36 year old vet and a second rounder again. Just look at Tampa`s next Great one Stamkos who?????????
Holy Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
http://watch.tsn.ca/featured/clip124202#clip124202
Everybody here has to see Tavares’ 2nd goal!
You know what! I am tired of reading the bloggers blogging that we should keep losing so we can get Tavares. If Tavares were to be as good as Kovalchuk that would be a hell of a player. Ask the fans of Atlanta how many deep playoff runs they have had since his inception to the NHL.
a 19 year old Tavares on a team of slugs becomes a slug.
i’m just happy bergie scored. it turned into an entertaining game from the 2nd period on. yeah we lost, whatevs.
Isles beat the Leafs Friday 5-2. You heard it here first……..SW
Bloodyskull, absolutely right point there.
In addition, I have a few problems with the game:
Somebody sad that Hilbert, Bergy, and Hunter gave it all tonight - agreed. But why 3 times when they created turnovers and had pefect chances to score, the rest of the team went to the bench to change, instead backing the kids up and let them put some points?! When Huter picked up the puck from Atlanta’s defencemen who broke his stick on the shot from the point and started a pretty good odd-man rush, he was let alone ‘couse Gordon called the change of lines?! Maybe he is a good “teacher”, but I have a problem (as of right now) with his coaching. Looks like he refuses to learn from his mistakes. Bailey is not playing his potential only for one reason: no inspiration from the veterans. He is a young kid who need to follow somebody. I don’t think that our Capitan is the one to follow. We leave him with no chance. And he cannot be blamed for this.
Oh yeh, Comrie(with his “big expirience”) and Tamby do not belong there period!
Comeau did couple mistakes tonight (like giving a pass to Cooooomrie who could not even elevate the puck to the friggin emty net(!)), but I would not give up on the kid. I hope Gordon is not gonna use this as a reason to put him in the press box again.
I wish Comrie to score more goals to create at least some trade value that we can get rid of him ones and for all.
Good night to all.
I thought that Comeau was the best Islander on the ice tonight. Bailey had two great chances to get his first goal and each time didn’t appear ready for the puck. Kid’s got the Hilbert touch. Not a good thing.
I just prefer the long view, so I don’t let myself get too bothered by players who I know won’t be here in a few years, when my expectations will be higher. This is the painful part, sitting through overmatched losses. But it’s a process: pain tolerance for us, and learning for the kids.
Most teams that ascend (Pittsburgh, Washington, Tampa Bay, New Jersey, Quebec>Colorado, Detroit) had periods when all looked miserably lost first.
If Gordon becomes a Hanlon, we can make that call after he’s had a decent roster to play with. If Snow mismanages the way Waddell botched Kovi & Co. in Atlanta, then we’ll have bigger problems than a 10-game losing streak. I don’t think he will, but only time will tell.
Bailey isnt NHL ready.
maybe its just my twisted islander thinking now
but i thought the isles actually played good last night.
well not the whole team but the comeau/comrie/okposo line
was getting a lot of pressure. except for that dum@$$ penalty comrie took that line was real good. it actually looked like they islanders were skating tonight. They lost but atleast they had a chance and they were in the game for once.
This was not the worst loss.
Why are some of you still angered by whats going on this season? Were you taken by surprise by all of this? If you were, then certainly you’ve seen enough to become conditioned to it.
No one should become complacent to all this, but at the same time … this is the hand we’ve been dealt this season. I stopped being angry about 7 games ago. Shame on me for expecting more.
Merry 10-21-3 Christmas Garth and Charlie!
Miss ya,Ted Nolan
I went to the game and the Isles were buzzing the 2nd and 3rd period..
Also I felt the Okposo line was by far the best line he set up Comrie a number of times but Comrie’s shots were weak.
Also I like the way Tambo played.. He was more phyiscial then I seen and got a couple of shots off which I think is a big plus for him..
My question is where is Bill Guerin?
Nice crowd at the old barn yesterday for a thrashers game…
Liked that Gordon actually had some of the kids playing together last night.
And nice to hear John Chabot raving about the play of Comeau on post - game radio - so maybe he’s out of the doghouse? Sure hope so ..
How many times is Bailey gonna get set up and then misfire or not get a shot off? (at least twice last night) Definitely seems to have tailed off since his 9 game “tryout.”
0-9-1 in December. . 10-21-3 overall. Really sucks to go through as a fan, but gotta keep looking at the big picture , right? We add a healthy Neilsen to this mix with a Tavares / Hedman and that’s not a bad start towards hopefully a brighter future. .
Bailey should be in the AHL. He can’t play down there though.
Common people! Compare to what we saw in the month of December, this game was a beauty…They battled,not too many lapses on defence, Joey MC was pretty bad though. We had two decent lines playing and overall ab OK effort. Bailey is geting worth for the third straight game and he and Go-Go should go down to AHL. (wishful thinking)
Re: Larry (23)… What he said. It’s like some of you weren’t even watching the same game last night.
Directing your venom at Okposo, Tambellini, Bailey, etc? Clueless. I thought the kids were bringing it all night. Yeah, they can’t finish yet, but calling into question their efforts is simply ridiculous.
I agree that the kids need a leader to look up to. And I don’t think that leader is Bill Guerin. I agree with a few of the previous comments - you want to question effort, stop looking at the kids who are really trying, and instead start looking at the vets who should be setting the example. And start that with Guerin. Think maybe there’s a reason this guy has spent so many years in the league but had never been a captain until he got to LI? Times like this are what show the true mettle of a team and it’s leader, and what is being shown isn’t pretty on either count.
It’s pretty simple: kids are trying, but aren’t ready yet, and many of the key vets are not buying into the “system” and/or just can’t hack it. Not exactly a news flash. But I just hope CB is wrong about this, and the Isles DO start dumping some of these guys sooner rather than later.
Being that I hadn’t been to a game before last night since the start to all this - the loss to Pitt the night before Thanksgiving - I was looking for comparisons as to how they played during that nice little stretch in mid-November and now.
Well - two things were immediately apparent:
1) There doesn’t seem to be any real gameplan anymore. The team looks disjointed, unsure of what to do, and where to be. Their rushes up ice are uneven, and their passing, while never their strength even when they were playing well, is awful. Maybe 1 of 3 passes connect. Maybe. The entire product looks like they’re playing pond hockey - run around, look for the open puck.
2) The effort seems to be lacking early, rather than late. And that’s a bad, bad sign. When they looked slow late in games, you could chalk it up to 40 minutes of overspeed or whatever its called. Now, they come out of the gate sleepwalking. Listen, I’m sure losing 9, now 10, in a row weighs on a team, but can you at least show some effort? For a good chunk of these guys, the effort they put in now might lead to contracts down the road.
I get that there are injuries, but its not like we’re putting 25 new guys on the ice from November. We weren’t a great team then, but we worked our tails off. Doesn’t seem to be there now. Is that an indictment on Gordon? Hell, I don’t know. I hate it when people get inside the minds of players when they’re not in the locker room. But its a bad, bad sign that we have 3 1/2 months left in this g-dawful season, and the players seem to have given up.
Btw, I know there were a ton of free tickets (myself included), but crowds like last night (14k-plus announced, maybe 1k less than that in the building) allows me to say “shove it” to people who think that we don’t have a large fanbase. What reason do people have to go to a game between the worst and 3rd worst teams in the league on a cold Tuesday night? Hockey will work here. Just find a team worth watching.
Chris, Merry Christmas! Great Blog entry. You touched on a lot of points. In this league of parity where everybody wins, this is a true Islander embarrassment. 10 in a row & Garth has the temerity to declare the other day that “I will be GM & Scott Gordon WILL be Head Coach for a long, long time.” Ming. Nice gig Garth’s got there, heh? Accountability. Where is it?
BTW, do you think DiPietro’s really injured? I mean injured enough to be away THIS long? He was day-to-day it seemed 2 months ago. Your best player is injured & the Isles are mum? When winning doesn’t matter, either does the health of your best player I suppose.
Chris MY Christmas wish for this blog? Keep doing what your doing. Continue to hold the Isles accountable for wins & losses. Regardless of how garth under cuts the franchise, you cover the Isles the way a PRO team should be covered. I thank you!
Merry Christmas!
I agree with a few posters that the team played well tonight. Buzzing, hardworking forecheck that created turnovers. As our youngsters mature, they should start burying those chances. Some big rebounds left out by JMac…but he’s a back up playing starter minutes…He’s had fantastic games but he’ll also have more of these too. It just happens.
BTW, Chris, love the blog! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
It sure is tough to watch Bailey go through this, especially since he doesn’t have to. His development is at a standstill. as opposed to flourishing at Windsor and the WJC. Another stupid move by Snow and Co.
Okposo also needs a year in the AHL. Comeau is not that great but actually has regressed this year. I guess that’s Ted Nolan’s fault.
One more. Tambellini should play either on the 1st pp unit or not at all. Why is this so hard for Gordon to figure out?
CB, hope you enjoy a little R&R. Merry Christmas and a Happy, healthy new year to you and your family.
Comrie’s selfish penalty — where he should have been charged with a spear but was only assessed a minor slashing — caused this loss. All the momentum shifted at that penalty. I am so glad I did not renew my season tickets this year. This team is by far the worst ever.
COMRIE MUST GO!!!!!
Completely agree that Guerin has been invisible.
Trent Hunter will be captain of the Isles next season. He brings it night in night out.
Unload all unnessecary vets for picks….play as much youth as possible,,,no matter the results….put the C on someones chest like a Hunter or Campoli,,,
….play the season for what it’s worth. Develop youth and stick with the plan.
Dan from Westchester you took the words right out of my mouth. Trent Hunter will soon be the leader and captain the new Isles need and that makes me happy. Notice how much extra effort they put in last night the first game Hunter got back to playing again.
I liked the effort from the Hilbert and Bailey lines last night, as Lighthouse Hockey (I believe) mentioned. I also like how we were getting to the front of the net more as time went on. But it’s a common thing now with these guys- all the hard work is for nothing, because no one is able to finish off chances. We have shots going wide, missing upstairs, shots that can’t get through the D… it’s getting really frustrating to watch.
And yeah. Comrie was at fault for his penalty last night, questionable call or not. You don’t decide to retaliate on the power play in the offensive zone. You either save it for later or forget about it and swallow your pride. If he’d stayed out of the box there, we might have still had a chance.
At least the photo of the Isles girls is entertaining! Very nice! The Isles did that right!
At least the Yankees got Texiera YES!!
Garth Snow and his embarrassing minions are DREADFUL! WE SUCK WE SUCK
Bring back Dubie!!
Comeau was the best player out there along with Park. Comeau has some sick playmaking ability, just need a finisher. He set up comrie and Okposo at least half a dozen times, they just couldn’t finish. Damn shame.
Last night again proves that while we have a nice team of playmakers, we need a finisher. A pure goal scorer who when fed a puck in a scoring area, blasts it through the twine. See Marian Gaborik, Kovalchuk, Ovechkin. These guys are pure bred hockey talent. Its odd to think this, but imagine Okposo and Comeau feeding Gaborik or Ovechkin pucks all night. Finish last and bring on Tavares/Hedman. This team was constructed to be bad, and is living up to it. Mike Bossy for GM and John Tortarella behind the bench.
30 mm30 on Dec 23rd, 2008 23:48:20 said:
“Holy Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
http://watch.tsn.ca/featured/clip124202#clip124202
Everybody here has to see Tavares’ 2nd goal!”
Yeah, he is going to make Atlanta or Tampa Bay very happy.
Yep Tavares will make those teams happy cuz Snow the Moron will trade down to pick 7 to draft a prospect with character and grit but raw ability. Then he will will justify the pick staying up in the BIGS just to spite a WJC team. But Hey the real issue is Mark Texiera is a Yankee! YES!
60 “Dissolutioned Brian” in VA on Dec 24th, 2008 22:33:35 said:
“Yep Tavares will make those teams happy cuz Snow the Moron will trade down to pick 7 to draft a prospect with character and grit but raw ability.”
Even if Garth does trade down, it wont matter… Tavares is going 1st overall, and I dont see the Isles picking 1st overall unless someone kidnaps Rick DiPietro and keeps him out of net for the next 40 something games.
The lighting won’t take Tavares number 1 as they need a lot of help on D.
So he could fall to number 2..
^^^^^ HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Lightening will take Tavaras, consider the owners and the history of the franchise. trust me they would take him