SNOW SUPPORTS GORDON FOR THE LONG RUN
Says focus on development “will not change”
10:45 pm - In a brief phone interview with Point Blank late Sunday night, Islanders GM Garth Snow expressed complete support for Scott Gordon and said that as discouraging as the team’s recent 9-game losing streak has become, do not expect him to make any band-aid moves that could damage his long-range plans.
Of his first-year coach, Snow said “I stand by Scott and everything he is trying to instill in our team. He is an outstanding coach and our partnership is going to be a long one. His style of play works and I’m 100% confident it will work for us. Over time, as we continue to develop our young players and make the necessary changes to become a better team, you’ll see why I believe so much in Scott.”
On the recent comments of Brendan Witt about Gordon’s style, Snow responded, “My respect for Brendan is boundless, everyone knows that. He’s a great defenseman and leader. My only criticism is that it was a family matter, and Brendan should have kept it in the family. We discussed it internally and now we’re moving on.”
Snow ruled out stop-gap measures to improve his ailing, struggling hockey team. The GM acknowledged he has been working the phones hard for weeks, but not in search of quick fixes.
“When you’re in a losing streak, you get lots of offers of help from your fellow GMs,” Snow said with a slight laugh. “I listen to everything and I’ve made plenty of calls of my own, but you’re not going to see us make a trade to plug a few holes left by our injuries.
“We’re not going to use injuries as an excuse and we’re not going to rush out to make a shortsighted trade. I could have done that already but I have no interest in those types of deals. The injuries are unfortunate, but they give us a chance to look at other players in the system.
“We set out on a program in the summer and told our fans about our vision and our goals. We’re not in this to contend for 8th place – we’re committed to a plan that will have us contending for the Stanley Cup. As disappointing as the results have been the last few weeks, our focus will not change.”
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99 Responses to “SNOW SUPPORTS GORDON FOR THE LONG RUN
Says focus on development “will not change””
Please Wait
So wait….we now have a GM who STICKS TO A PLAN? And who….who….doesn’t change that plan every time the wind changes direction?
This is so foreign to me….
that’s good to know… I’m just saying
Well said by Snow. I cannot wait to see how many people on this comment thread try to find a way to rip him apart for sticking by a coach and a plan. It is bound to happen, we all know this…
It is the hardest thing to do sticking to this plan but it is the right thing to do. Anyone think Weight and Guerin get packaged together and head back North?
Bozak is out with knee surgery until March.
Everyone start chanting right now - Guerin and Weight to Nashville for Colin Wilson. Come on, make this happen….
You can’t claim that Garth is wishy washy. I still like Garth despite losing my faith in Gordon. Gordon can win me back, but it is going to take a couple of wins, and some decent losses like the Caps loss.
This is a good statement by Garth. In the age of the internet and instant gratification… “we” fans need to be informed and included in the thought process of “our” teams management.
Especially in tough stretches like this when frustration sets in and “our” emotions get the better of our clear thinking.
DOC
I hope snow knows or sees something that most fans, not to mention the rest of the nhl gms don’t. I pray that his faith is well and logically placed. Obviously this is a package deal and the rebuilding of this franchise sinks or swims with them both.
As much as I have little regard for gordons coaching ability at this level, I give credit to snow for at least seeming to have a plan and sticking to it. I really hope this guy has a clue, but my gut tells me otherwise.
this is actually very nice to hear. I am ready to deal with this stretch of terribleness. After all, this is nothing new with the islanders. I am confident that this time it will actually pay off. This years trade deadline should be very interesting for the team.
Come on, how does Snow have the experience to have faith in Gordon’s system?
Have to respect that. Hopefully Garth has made the right choice. So far I have not been impressed with his decision making (Gordon). Hopefully he learns and grows with the team. It seems he is not growing because growing indicates at least some change which he seems to be resistant too. Oh well, in Garth we trust. Guess Witt will be the first Gordon casualty!
BOTTA, The fact that you are still discussing the Ryan Smyth trade tells you everything you need to know about this season…..Sir William
nick… if you’re smart-assly referring to milbury… he didn’t shift after a wind change as you say… he made daring (good and stupid) moves as we went from one corrupt owner to the next. do you people remember those guys? the guy gets credit for sticking around through the group owners/spano/weinstein chaos and trying to make things work. and under him and the first years of wang we woulda come close to a cup if it hadn’t been for the dirty toronto hits and lack of reaction from the nhl. that was an awesome team. i do think sticking with someone is good though. as long as they are good. i’ve gotta assume gordon is a good coach with a fragile hurt mediocre team. hope so.
Nick: i’ll say this as mildly as possible… Nashville will never trade Colin Wilson for Weight and Guerin. Not ever.
This new NHL emphasizes youth and speed, and that’s why you see NHL teams hording their prospects and locking up legit blue chippers for the long term (see: mega-contracts given to Crosby, Ovechkin, Richards, Lecavalier, etc.) and a significantly less emphasis on veterans.
Back in the day, trading rentals like Sillinger, Weight, Guerin, and Comrie would net you about five first round picks and maybe a second rounder or two… those days are gone now.
Wishful thinking is exactly that, James - no need for a lecture. And yes I was smart-assedly referring to Milbury, because in the post-Wang era he did make many impetuous moves and all too often drafted for positional need rather than taking the best player. I was of course exaggerating for effect, but I could never discern what Milbury’s plan was from season-to-season. Though, kudos, the first Milbury apologist I’ve seen in quite a long time.
The GM stands by the coach, a/k/a the kiss of death. Gordon is gone after the holidays.
At this point, with the season going nowhere and without the horses to make the kind of run needed to get into the playoffs and make some noise, why won’t Snow pick up that phone he’s working so hard, call Gordon, and tell him to take Jon Sim off the powerplay lines?
There’s nothing to play for save playing the kids. Play the kids, and if we win on accident, so be it.
Nicely stated Mike. I’ve been saying for a long time - after about 9 games - that i’ve seen just about all I can take of Sim.
I’ve never seen a hockey player take so many punches to the face and have his head snap back the way Sims’ head does everytime he’s in the crease… lol
DOC
I loathe Garth Snow - he has done no good for our franchise - he ran our Nolan all for Tamby and his ice time - all for a coach who has no voice so that king Garth keeps the power - ugh 1993 was a loooong time ago…
Thank god. Its about time they finally realized what needed to be done and that contending for 8th place is a fools errand in the long run
The players ran Nolan out of town basically… Witt was a critic as well were others.
Love it. Stick to the plan. Last place or bust. Unless we have a player in our lineup next year named Hedman or Tavares the season to me will be considered a failure. I like Gordon, he will be able to develop a lot better next year. Go Islanders….get more good picks and prospects Snowman.
I’m not going to rip Snow for wanting to stick to a plan to get us out of the basement. But I might not give him “props” for putting us there.
I have to laugh at some people who call wanting Gordon to adjust his methodolgy to fit his team spurned by a craving for “instant gratification.
I don’t htink I have to go through recent history AGAIN.
In the age of free agency, and the JUNIOR draft… his plan isn’t exactly rock solid.
that being said… I don’t “detest” or “loathe” Snowy… I just question his judgement… and if his plan is to instill this AHL “OVERSPEED” on the fans until it works. I just hope he’s held accountable if they have less than 25 wins next year. No Lighthouse + No Playoffs = No Islanders in 2011… unless charlie is just gonna throw ALL of his (somebody’s) money away.
it’s the right move. stick with the plan and our long term outlook looks good. i could care less how many more games they lose this year. you could have bowman or arbour coaching this team and we’d still be terrible. go-go is here for the long haul.
The problem here is the lack of talent and a coach who has an unconventional system. The system clearly doesn’t work for this team or maybe even this league.
If Snow is smart and if he really wants to win, he should dump Go Go and hire a task master like Tortorella or bring back Peter Laviolette. Tambellini needs to be traded. Trade him to his dad in EDM for a prospect.
It hasn’t even been half a season and everyone wants Gordon gone. Let’s be honest, with this team Herb Brooks could be coaching, we would still be losing, and you would want him fired too. What it comes down to is Gordon needs to stop being hard headed. The System can work, but needs to be adapted once we take a lead in order to prevent everyone from getting tired and falling apart after 40 minutes. Garth…please keep up the good work stock piling picks for the draft…and for a late holiday gift (thanks to the roster freeze) can you trade tambellini anywhere for anything, even a washing machine (to steal an idea from semi-pro) would be a good return. For all of you about to jump off the bandwagon i’m not letting you back on in 3-5 years when this team starts to win
I like Garth — I liked him as a player, and he’s a smart guy who may be able to turn this around. But I’d still rather have Neil Smith. Who would you want — a guy who just retired as a player or someone who won a Cup and ended a 54-year drought?
BTW: I’d have made the Smyth trade too. It was a bad break that Ricky got hurt. Team was playing well and would have finished ahead of Rangers and beaten Atlanta. Oh well …
I liked the Gordon hiring — after all, the last time they got a young, untried coach, it worked out pretty well (admittedly, Laviolette had more talent available). But so far, Gordon has shown me little, on or off the ice. The DP situation was a mess, the Mitch Fritz situation is an embarrassment, and the Isles have nothing to hope for but enough losses to get one of the top two picks.
Most Isles fans will accept the losses. More disturbing is the lack of effort. Here’s where Gordon’s test will come. Nolan, for all his faults, got guys to play hard every night. I don’t see that same kind of effort — and that’s the real problem. A team that loses because of a lack of talent is one thing; a team that loses because of a lack of effort is an indictment of the coach, GM and everyone connected with the organization.
Nolan did not have his team play hard for him after the all-star break last season. Up till then, absolutely - but there were nights that were so painful to watch because of the lack of effort. Right around the time things started to escalate in the papers.
REVISIONIST HISTORY!!!
The team quit on NOLAN last year!
There was some pretty ugly hockey last year… even worse than what we’ve seen so far this year… and yes that includes this 9 game losing streak.
DOC
Team quit on Nolan? Ugly hockey last year? I recall injuries and guys playing hurt and a GM who was adamant about them making the postseason…..but I don’t remember a quitter. The only quit was Nolan quitting on Tambellini and losing his job because of it. Okposo was flying and looked like a gem, Comeau was solid, Bergy was hitting hard (and fond of taking dumb penalties a bit), Guerin and Park and everyone was chipping in, but we were too many men down and needed help in the trade market which we couldn’t get.
But hey, we look better now than we did under Nolan if that makes some comfortable. Playing defense is so cliche, afterall.
Gordon might learn hw to coach. Seriously. He sounds like he’s in the beginning stages of recovery, almost ble to admit he has to improve his tactics and allow for another form of hockey aside from this travesty that should be relegated to special teams and playing catch up. You know, a version of hockey where not everyone gets exhausted and/or hurt?
Go-go Snowy…..stick with your plan. Either he improves and you look good or you both get fired and we finally END the Massachussetts connection like we ended Tex Ehman’s Western Canada fetish.
GOD I miss Jimmy D. The Red Wings are so lucky they nabbed him from us.
James (post #14), “youth and speed” are not the reason teams have more emphasis on their prospects and lock up blue chippers on long contracts. It’s all about the 2005 CBA, the salary cap, UFA eligibility, the restrictions. Lecavalier is under contract until he’s 40. Ovechkin will earn $10m a year from age 29 until the year he turns 36.
“Not using the injuries as an excuse”……Garth, your coach has already used the injuries as an excuse, son.
Man, these are tough times if you are a Met, Jet and Islander fan like me. One collapse after another. One shipwreck after another. One embarrassment after another. If you are a Ranger, Yankee, Giant fan you have seen 8 championships since I last saw one.
good to see him come out of hibernation to assure us that we’re sticking to the plan .
good for garth to sticking to the plan. its the only thing thats going to help this team. not many free agents are going to want to come here especially teir 1 players. maybe if we throw money at them. this is the only way and i cant wait till we see those draft picks.
Garth has always been a man of his word. Even when they are words we don’t want to hear. Gordon IS the Islanders coach. He’s a GOOD coach. It just won’t be a good season. That’s all. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy.
when i reupped season tix Nolan was still the coach and and we hadnt been shut out of free agency..i never knew about this plan!..lol..where is my bailout garth!?!?!
The ones complaining are the ones that would keep coughing indefinitely because they think the medicine tastes bad.
I have been disappointed with the energy and performance of the team during the last couple of weeks of play.
Passing stinks, grit inthe corners marginal, fired up play limited to a few.
If I were a professional hockey player, given the unique opportunity of playing in the NHL, with very pricey contracts - regardless of score or record, I play and play hard.
Gordans overspeed game requires a cimmitment from all players and I am not seeing it!
Good for Garth for sticking to his plan….
Bad for Garth for choosing a sh&&+y plan…..
Well..I’m glad to hear what he had to say about all this..and I get what the team is trying to do, I don’t think the medicine taste bad, I totally understand that it’s goin to be a season or two before we see anything happen with this team, and I’ve said it many times on here an Imania, my thing is I’m just not so sure Snow’s the man for the job, but I promised someone I wouldn’t kill Snow (just yet..lol)
We shall see what we shall see..I hope Gordon and Snow make it all work, I hope what they’re saying comes to pass, it would be sweet!
1) At this point what else could Snow say? he hired the guy, so to dismiss him now would be a self indictment of his ability to GM.
2) As for trades, the team doesn’t hav emuch to deal, so its innane to believe they can/would make any big deals to improve. They are left with havin gto ride out the season and hope for good picks this June, then continue the rebuild next season.
Post 40 is a brilliant way of putting it.
Tavares or Bust
I am ok with what Garth is saying.
Especially the part of finishing 8th.
Tuesday is a crucial game for the team….a chance to put Atlanta deeper in front of us so we can battle Tampa for the first overall slot ( draft lottery notwithstanding)
Maybe a game to bring Yann Danis out to get shelled - or Mannino… ??
That game on the 29th is the one I *actually* want to win - and win big.
Just spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down - as the old song says……..
Time to jettison the older players. Time to see what Joel Rechlicz, Jeremy Colliton, Jesse Jonesu , and assorted former 9th round picks can do. Gotta make sure Bridgeport has a good playoff run. Have to re-position our NHL team.
tell Rico to take his time getting back, I don’t want him screwing up my dreams of picking 1st overall this year. This too shall pass, and its just going to make it that much better when a couple of years down the road when we are DESTROYING the Ranger$ on a regular basis and marching toward the Cup. Let’s just hope that the team is still here on Long Island.
The two biggest stories this year should be the Lighthouse and the Draft.
Pat
To all those who said that Gordon isn’t getting the same effort from the players that Nolan did, I totally disagree; I think we saw a lot more of that from the likes of Kvasha, Satan & Kozlov. I think that every night the guys seem to bust their humps but they don’t seem to have the talent to finish. I think the system the Gordon has in place works with the right talent but when it fails (as it does regularly here)it looks like the floodgates open. In the beginning of the year we were losing a lot of close games but lately it’s been tight games until something flukey happens and then I think the guys stray fromt he “system” and all hell breaks loose. Personally I’m not a fan of this system, I liked Nolan’s way better.
Garth Snow must go! And please, take Gordon with you.
Al Arbour in 1973-74: 19-41-18 for 56 PTS
I think it is about time that we had a GM that wasn’t scared to rebuild the right way. Sure its tough to watch them now, but we have so many injuries that its just not fair to judge this team/coach/GM right now. We all new what this year was going to entail. A tough season with lots of losses and that was with our Top Goalie. Now 65% of you want to jump ship and kill the coach and GM. It will get better. Maybe not this year, but I think next year will be a better time to judge the GM/Coach/Team. Not now, not in year 1 of stripping a team and rebuilding it from ground up.
Hey bCarey - never compare Arbour to Gordon, never.
So, what Garth said is, I don’t care, Charles does not care and I don’t care if you don’t care and if you don’t buy any more tickets this year I don’t care.
That is a lot of I don’t care from the next Bill Torrey/Sam Pollock.
lol Garth Snow. What does this fool know?
This is actually reassuring to me.
He is not acting like we fans—all crazed and only looking for the next win, at our next game, not the entire long term package.
He is acting like a responsible GM.
He is not trying to make a run at 8th place or plug up a hole with a misguided signing, or trade of one our young players for another “cast-off.”
He is committing to the identity of Scott Gordon’s platform of “overspeed.” If you want to argue it does not work, then we can have a thread started on that. But COMMITMENT is a gigantic word for anyone wearing the New York Islanders orange and blue.
This is exactly what Mike Peca talks about in every interview since his trade to Edmonton. “The team was just starting to build some stability and a commitment to a course of action and a plan, then management or ownership steps in and destroys the work and starts over. every season the franchise starts over. You cant do that, and expect success…” or words to that effect.
Peca is right. Snow is right. Lets hope Wang is going to stay away and allow this to happen.
Write this season off. Stop thinking playoffs this year or next. Start looking at it on a 3-5 year curve. That is how long it took the Caps, the Pens, the Preds, The Lightning, the Hawks…all of these rebuilding teams sucked for the better part of 3 full seasons before rebuilding through the draft and turning that corner.
Stop stressing and just let the losses pile up. It is the only way to get the high picks. It is not about this season—it is about 2011-2012 and beyond.
Good for Snow. At least he is letting fans know and his team know the direction of this team and that hasn’t happened since I can remember.
As a good friend of mine and fellow Islander fan is fond of saying, we have not had a real rebuild here since Torrey somehow converted the horrible Lafontaine hold out situation into the groundwork for the 1993 team. Since then, it’s been half-assed, getting some kids here, trading for some veterans there. This is the first time it’s been done correctly. As far as Garth goes, I trust him. If you’ve ever spoken with him, it’s obvious that he’s an intelligent guy. And intelligence has to count for something, right?
“Intelligence” counts for something when it is used in a positive/constructive way.
Not hiring the cheapest coach available to bring in a “new” system that does not work (which is why no one else uses it).
From upstate NY, I watch each Isles game on Center Ice and hate to see them go thru this losing streak. However, when they do play their new system well, they can be exciting to watch. Garth Snow and Scott Gordon will need a great deal of fortitude to stick with their system, as will the fans. But, building a good farm system can work well, just as it does for the Buffalo Sabres who constantly calls up good personnel from the AHL when they get hit with injuries, which is often. Isles Fans - appreciate the good play when you see it and have patience in supporting your GM and coach.
Like the saying goes:
Can’t make chicken salad, out of chicken S#it.
bravo…stick to the plan…no Milbury deals of young stars for the likes of Oleg Kvasha…oh, and Milbury still sucks
Snow is a MORON! He wants to lose all of us fans who have been patiently falling apart since 1993. Snow man I am soooo happy he is our GM!
Im all for the rebuilding plan, we definately need it. But please tell me why our young players cant score. Its pathetic to watch. Are they all going to magically start scoring next year or the next. Lets evaluate the talent (non) that we have and maybe trade some of them.
They can’t score because they aren’t very good prospects. Besides Bailey & Okposo everybody else is marginal. Look at our past 1st rd picks. O’Marra, Nilsson, Bergenheim, Nokilannen (sp) they are all 3rd liners at best. Our scouting has been brutal since Milbury lowballed Gordie Clark and he left to go work for the Rangers. Hopefully Janakowski is as good as his father was at scouting. The jury is still out on him….
HyeDray, thanks for sharing the quote from Peca. That’s what I meant about Milbury, it seemed like he course-corrected every single year and that he blew up that 01-02 team far too early. I’m glad to at least have stability and the chance to have a good team in a few years.
CB–good to hear Snow’s taking the high road. Painful as it is to watch some games, I’m in for the long haul- - And I have a new favorite player!!!! what more could I want? NY Islanders 2013 Stanley Cup Champs
CB- any truth to the rumor that Wang would let Snow hire another scout if Snow could get Ted Nolan to quit smoking? I know it sounds ridiculous but the person that told me this swore to it.
Why would Garth Snow say anything different! He Hired Gordon and Gordon is his problem! What did you expcet from a inexperience GM he knows he has a problem on his Hands.
Wang supports, Snow supports Gordon. The rich leading the lame, lame supporting the ignorant. Islander hockey.
I love Snow though…”as we continue to develop our youth…” Really? Name one you’ve had any success with? Tambi stinks, Okposo is a Nolan-type-player who is a big step behind last years progress…Comeau is a Nolan-type-player who hates Flash, Bailey is flat lining. Witt thinks the coach stinks, Guerin is counting down the days to get out of dodge.
Typical Islander organization. “We know more than you.” It takes Garth an hour & a 1/2 to watch 60 minutes, it’s gonna be a long rebuild folks. Back-up goaltender in a suit. Nothing more.
ed, why can’t i compare them? never? never? have you ever seen an american tale? all i was saying was that al arbour needed a stinker before his system took hold. i think that is the case with a lot of rebuilding teams with young coaches. provided management and ownership can handle some losing seasons, it is the best way to start over. in 1973 the islanders were just starting. look at this year’s team as equivalent to a second-year expansion team. it will happen.
and i’m not saying that scott gordon will be a legend. but what if arbour got the plug pulled on him after a dismal 56-point campaign? what NYI fan didn’t cringe at the sight of peter laviolette holding lord’s stanley above his head? my argument is to give the man time. let him and snow put a team on the ice that can play the system and we’ll see in 3-4 years how good they are.
I hope we don’t win another game this season. We need the best possible odds to win the lottery and John Tavares. Although in a Snow like move we will probably trade for the 3rd overall pick and 2 second rounders.
Garth Snow was going to end up as a manager in this league one day. He was always highly respected and noted for his intelligence. It obviously happened too soon and by default. I trust Snow and Charles Wang is FINALLY letting a GM take control and do what it needed to build a winner. Milbury wanted the quick fix and Snow wasn’t allowed to have full control until this past offseason.
Give it more than 33 games.
68 bCarey on Dec 22nd, 2008 11:52:22 said:
“ed, why can’t i compare them? never? never? have you ever seen an american tale?”
Is that the movie with the immigrant mice? “Somewhere, out there…”
Beneath the pale moonlight….Someone’s thinking of me….
And bCarey is saying the same thing I said in a previous thread, that Isles316 echoed as well. It’s too early to pass judgment on either Snow or Gordon.
As frustrating as it has been at times and how Gordon has left himself out there to be questioned a number of times, this organization IS doing things the correct way. Our best prospects aren’t in the NHL or AHL. It will be a few years. Let them come up and sign a key free agent at the right time to contend for a cup rather than 8th place. Snow said it best right there.
Not only do I want them to fire Gordon, I already want them to fire the next guy too. And it’s painfully obvious that this 11-year old kid lighting it up for his travel team is never gonna make the NHL, so I hate him six and a half years before the Isles draft him. Heck, I’m sure my kids are gonna be useless and I haven’t even had any yet!
Have I won the prize for giving up early on things?
I can’t stand some of these fans who want everything now and their cake too. There is a way to do things and if you don’t have the patience you should STFU and go root for some other team. Otherwise just suck it up and take it, like our players have to. We are all in it together and this is your choice.
Exactly what i wanted to hear.
Good for Garth and good for the isles.
stick to the plan.
Quick fixes are what got this team into the trouble they have been in for years.
Fixing the islanders is not going to be an overnight thing, but they are going in the right direction.
spot on willis lol! well said!
Those first-year Al Arbour items are off-base. They made a major improvement in his first season (and the next, and the next … )
Snowy has bet his career on a total rebuild, with a young coach. We won’t know for a year or two if he’s right. If not, he and the coach will be gone by the end of 09-10.
Gordon needs to make some changes before the rest of the team quits on him. Right now, he’s trying to play a system that his personnel won’t support.
I thought Islander hockey fans were “Never Say Die?”
Come on guys, it’s thirty three games into a season in which we had no high expectations. The kids will develop. Of course I don’t like everything too, the Comeau situation, Tambi… but we have a plan. And we are committed. We suck… it’s true, but we are on a set course to do something great in the next few seasons. Suck it up and take it like a Detroit Lion fan… (except I hope we don’t just draft Centers every year like the Lion’s draft WRs.)
Props to Garth. Anyone giving up on Gordon (a first-year, NHL coach, with no tremendous talent to work with) is ridiculous. Everyone should know, by now, that Snow hired Gordon for the long-haul, and this was going to be a painful, yet necessary process. I’ll be watching this team go through its growing pains for as long as it takes…as at least I didn’t expect a playoff caliber team, let alone a contending team.
Sticking to the plan is great. While the plan is trying to work I will continue to support it sitting in my recliner watching the games on Cablevision. I can have a beer for less than 8.50 a cup. Don’t have to pay for parking. When I need the restroonm I can walk down my hall and be first in line.
Let’s Go Islanders!
Uhmmm…dismal 56-point rookie coaching season for Arbor? He nearly DOUBLED the 30 points in 78 games from the Islanders 1972-73 expansion team while developing new, prime draftees and discovering hidden gems the Isles drafted from other teams before the 72-73 season.
Arbour’s first year, by most accounts, was much better than the record indicates. The team slashed its goals against from the year before, and they lost hard, competitive games. My biggest issue with this year’s team is that more often than not, they don’t even look competitive. I’m fine with losing so long as we make the other team earn it, but that’s not what’s been happening most nights.
There is something terribly wrong when we’re playing a system built around offensive pressure and only scoring one goal.
I don’t think giving up on Gordon is anymore ridiculous than not giving up on him. How about that one! Honestly I just can’t seem to let the whole Nielson thing go when Fritz was sitting on the bench or Dipietro sitting on the bench as a “back up”injured while Jmac got shelled. I mean I’m not saying firing the guy is the answer but I can understand why a lot would have doubts.
73-74 was a season in which the Isles improved tremendously defensively, cutting 100 goals off their GA. it was also denis potvin’s first season. currently we are still without a blue-chipper anywhere near his level (hedman?).
like i said in an earlier post, i don’t think scott gordon will become the next al arbour. i also don’t think it’s possible to win 19 consecutive playoff series and 4 straight stanley cups in today’s NHL (or in any pro sport really). it is an era of parity so it would be unreasonable to expect a coach or a team to win year in and year out.
what i was saying was that bill torrey (not comparing to snow) had a plan and chose arbour to lead the team not for an abbreviated period, but for years. that is why i choose to support the direction that the franchise is now taking. the formula of stability has worked in the past.
it took arbour six years to get the team to the finals and to finally hoist a cup. perhaps we should give gordon the chance to mold his AHL system into a viable NHL one. i’m willing to wait a few more years if the team can compete each season beyond april.
we may have gotten hosed by the refs in the buffalo series, but i didn’t throw a shoe.
I threw a shoe at my TV because I was in Atlanta during that series. I’m willing to wait with the right coach, just don’t know if Gordon is the right one? He may grow with the team. He just seems to have a propensity to be whimpy. I don’t like whimpy coaches. I don’t want a coach who is going to watch one of his young talents get run over. I don’t want a coach who is going to bash his team without taking some blame himself. I haven’t completely jumped off the “Gordon Ship” but I’m getting there. I do agree with you on the stability issue. We can’t have a revolving door with coaches and other personall. I just hope Gordon was the right choice , as of right now I’m not convinced. Hopefully that will change.
with the exception of a few hundred isles fans who really gives a crap anymore?
Go to your Zipay “the chimp” blog.
ISLES FANS, I AM AFRAID I MAY BE THE BEARER OF BAD NEWS.
I watch every game and up until last year went to 35 or so. I have watched since 1972 and followed them the WHOLE way.
Chris, cna you confirm or deny this rumor????
My best friend is neighbors with the former strength and conditioning coach for the ISLES (names withheld) and he says the team is on the move to the Mid west perhaps Kansas City or the North perhaps Ontario area.
Although I rip the Isles and their play of late I can not imagine the Lighthouse project not getting approval leaving the team with only one option……..move. Reality is that if the Lighthouse does nto get approved(and it looks as it it is not going to) the team MUST move. This will leave me with a hole in my heart as aside from my family I love nothing more than the Isles.
A very strong and concerned (about future) fan.
Ask your friend if he wants his old job back because they are going to need a new strength and conditioning coach in Kansas, their present one sucks.
Funny, three other blogs I read today say the contrary. I’m going to have to go with them rather than your friends friend who is a FORMER trainer for the Isles. No offense.
I fully support stockpiling picks and developing young players, but I disagree with Snow’s comment “We’re not in this to contend for 8th place – we’re committed to a plan that will have us contending for the Stanley Cup.” Where does it say your team has to be terrible first in order to build a Cup contender? How many top 10 picks has Detroit or New Jersey had over the last 15 years? From 2002 thru 2004, the Isles made the playoffs each season and went out in the first round. It was NOT their subsequent draft position those summers which held them back from being Cup contenders, it was the fact that they drafted LOUSY. In 2002, they drafted Sean Bergenheim when they could’ve had Duncan Keith. In 2003, they took Robert Nilsson AHEAD of Zach Parise, Mike Richards, Ryan Getzalf, and Corey Perry. In 2004, they chose Petteri Nokelainen AHEAD of Paul Stastny. In 2005, they chose Ryan O’Marra AHEAD of Mike Green. Are you telling me if they had drafted Keith, Parise, Stastny, and Green they wouldn’t be closer to Cup contention now? It wasn’t finishing eighth that held them back - it was their horrible scouting! Being terrible doesn’t guarantee you’ll be a powerhouse in a few years. Columbus drafted an outstanding player in Rick Nash with the first pick in the ‘02 draft and still hasn’t made the playoffs. Why can’t we draft well and develop young players while fielding a competitive team????
Agree, but the problem is Bridgeport is so thin that we have no up and comings from good drafting but bad trades of our friend Milbag. We really needed to restock our farm so to speak. In that aspect we are doing the right thing IMO. 2 years of doing this (last year and next) should have us restocked with some decent prospects(hopefully)for the future. Having from what most say a good draft last year and the makings of what can be a great one next year we hopefully will have the foundation for a bright future.
Matt, I hope you are correct sir.
Great that Snow is sticking to The Plan.
QUESTION: What short-range goals exist as stepping stones to becoming a Stanley Cup contender, and how are they to be measured? At some point, there needs to be some measurable intermediate progress, even in a long-term endeavor. All of us have to have our performance assessed each year in our jobs; as a fan and supporter of the team, I’m interested in what criteria will be used to judge the progress made in executing The Plan.
CB any truth to the rumor Wang is cleaning the balance sheet for a move? I’ve heard several times in the last few days the Lighthouse is dead.
Wang is hopefully trying to sell, but he’s not gonna move the team. The NHL, again, wants a four time Cup winning dynasty team to remain in its location. The Cable Contract pays $200,000,000 dollars until it’s over, with increases every year. It’s in NY and can draw fans when THEY HIRE A GOOD COACH (who gets to pick his own assistant coaches by himself? Garth?) WITH GOOD PLAYERS.
The Lighthouse paranoia is the best thing a Charles Wang could hope for. People who buy tickets are now unpaid sales reps (remember that?) and now the propaganda the Lighthouse Committee has laid out has half the fans saying if Charles doesn’t get his shopping center, the team has to move.
Sorry…..but his losses are how much? Then add in the cable revenue…..he isn’t losing that much and would be making a small sum IF HE GOT A REAL GM.
Add in: if he used the Yashin buyout money on buying out SMG (SMG costs a little more than Yashin), Charles MAKES a nice sum.
Propaganda. Buy tickets and renew or you lose your seats by July, before the draft or you can see what signings/losses the team makes/has.
Fix the ownership. And let Gorton hire his own assistant coaches so we can see an honest picture of our now and future coach by decree.
I hope so too bloodyskull. I am really trying to keep a positive attitude with it even with the team in the shape that it is. I like most here(I’m sure yourself included)would be devastated if that happened. A lot of people are worried about the standings or who we are drafting but this should be prority #1.
bloodyskull
I actually 100% disagree with this. A respected Isles blogger just said a few days ago in his blog that the lighthouse project looks like a reality, although it will start in 2010 instead of 2009……i love to hear people and there unnamed/unknown “sources” say that we are going to move, but yet i listen to a blogger that actually has a close spot with the team and he says otherwise.
Keep the hope alive optimistic Islander fans
-hfnut