THE GREAT DIVIDE
Separation between kids and vets a must-watch
1:15 pm - The divide between in-coming and out-going is now clearer than ever. Look at these two lines at Islanders practice today:
Mike Comrie – Doug Weight – Bill Guerin
Blake Comeau – *Josh Bailey – Kyle Okposo
(*Revised, 2:45: Mark Herrmann of Newsday is reporting that it is Frans Nielsen and not Bailey in the center spot. I heard Bailey but I would not bet against Mark. Either way, it’s a kid line).
On one hand, you can say, What have the Islanders got to lose? On the other, it’s fair to wonder, What if it doesn’t work out?
The shuffle adds intrigue to tomorrow night’s giant 4-point game in Atlanta. In Comrie, Weight and Guerin you have a trio of veterans quite possibly in their final 5 weeks with their franchise – almost certainly their final 10 weeks. But they still have plenty to play for.
In Comeau, Bailey/Nielsen and Okposo, let’s not go crazy and call it the Islanders’ top line of the future. It is not. But by putting them together in the first game after the All-Star break, the Islanders are sending a message. We wonder about the move back-firing, about it coming at least a month too early. If Bailey (19 years old), Okposo (20) and Comeau (22) aren’t productive - quite a challenge for three kids who are still prospects - the Islanders don’t have anywhere else to go.
Either way, should be a fun watch.
ETC: Dan Fritsche not coming to the Islanders, who did not consider picking up another third or fourth-line player from another team off the waiver wire…Joey MacDonald has yet to return to practice, so figure on Yann Danis against the Thrashers with another emergency recall as the backup…Trent Hunter back in the lineup Thursday.
Comments.
79 Responses to THE GREAT DIVIDE
Separation between kids and vets a must-watch
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Mario says:
Hopefully we see what the near future holds. I like that combo. Let them play together to see what they can do. Hopefully the vets do something also and we get something decent back.
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Dally Mac says:
There is another option with those young wingers. You could put them on either side of Nielsen too. No news on Fritsche yet? I think they’d be crazy not to pick him up. It’s a big two points tomorrow, hopeful Danis is brutual. It’s a must loss. Tavares or bust. News from the waiver wire coming soon CB or what?
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Dan from Westchester says:
I’m with Chris TMC. . I wouldn’t be surprised to see 2 if not all 3 of the Weight, Comrie, Guerin trio return next season.
Nothing to lose by giving this kid line a go – should be fun to watch!
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Stevie says:
Actually, Comeau-Nielson-KO would be a better line.
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Jon says:
if i remember correctly blake comeau didnt play for the first quater of the season. he went from being benched to the “islanders future 1st line”… if this was in the cards why did he not play the 1st quater. i have been mad about this for so long. can someone explain this to me, its frustrating!!!
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Strummer's Army says:
TMC, I think what Botta Bing means is all three either/or don’t fit the system or don’t buy into the system so they won’t be offered new deals.
I think it is a good move.Okposo and Comeau have been two of the best players and Comrie’s play recently dropped off, thus slowing down their progress. Bailey has not been given the best wingers so good move putting them together.
Good move putting the vets together. If they get hot then they will increase their trade value.
Interesting the Rangers now have waived two FA acquisitions from last summer.
Philly could want Witt. Boston is said to have interest in Tckuck, so they should have interest in Guerin.
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Tim says:
I hope you’re right, CB. Nothing has been more frustrating this season than seeing Bill Guerin and Mike Comrie eat up a full 2 minute powerplay while our youth movement wilts on the bench.
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Can’t really pick up another player off waivers unless they are prepared to move one with the NHL limits on roster spots.
Next few weeks until the trade deadline is going to tell us a lot.
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303Joe says:
Oh well nobody claimed Fritsche I thought he could have helped this awful team but I guess not. Better than several on the current roster and would ave actually given us a center that is young but has actually scored at the NHL level. Instead we can bring up some 24-26 year old career minor leagues from Bridgeport. Oh well why would they even try to make a move things are going so great right now.
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Adam says:
Chris,
Mark Hermann reported on Logan’s blog that Nielsen was centering Okposo and Comeau at practice. Which is correct, or did both happen at different times?
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Jimmy Mac says:
I don’t mind Comrie… he seems to fit in with the young guys.
Guerin, Weight and Witt will need to move on.
I like them, but there is no way they can produce again next year.
Hopefully we can bring in some decent young guys or good draft picks for them.
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In response to #10 they could gotten Fritsche and waived the great Jeff Tambellini. All we heard at the start of the year was how Jeff was going to get a chance to show what he has. Well he has 2 goals in 37 game. Yeah the kid is really lighting the lamp. But now we hear is doing all the little things right. We don’t need another small guy that doesn’t do much we already have plenty of them on this team of smurfs.
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JP39 says:
Not the end of the world by any means what-so-ever, but I was kind of disappointed that the Isles didn’t take a flier on Fritsche and pluck him off the waiver wire. He’s young with some good offensive upside from what I’ve read and he is BIG, something that we seem to be lacking in our youth movement thus far. He looks like he’s got the potential to fit the Blake Wheeler mould. Don’t misquote me here, I’m not saying he is as good as Wheeler (or that he will ever be for that matter). I’m just saying that with his size and youthful upside I thought it would be a good low-risk high-reward addition. Just my opinion there. As I said, not the end of the world by any means, just a thought…
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dan may be a 3rd liner but he is still a young guy that has scored at the nhl level. we should have taken him. we should do pull a keith tkuchuk (sp) with comrie. trade weight witt and guerin with somehow being able to stay to the floor. should be a cool line-up cant wait to see it. i think we were expecting this line but with smith instead of comeua. then have comuea and bergie and neilson. but now take away bergie and you have hunter. then put bergie with thompson and jackman. now those are good lines.
smith-bailey-okposo
comeua-neilson-hunter
bergie-thompson-jackman -
BR says:
Fritsche is a center, so claiming him and waiving Tamby makes no sense.
Fritsche is essentially the same player as Nate Thompson. If we didn’t have a Thompson then sure, go for it. But this organization has more than its share of 4th/3rd liners. -
Big Dog says:
Can’t understand why Fritsche wasn’t given a look. We’re going to need to fill quite a few holes in the lineup once the vets get moved for draft picks in a few weeks and we’re running out of bodies in Bridgeport….
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Andy Badger says:
Yeez. Fritsche was put on waivers. Doesn’t that say anything about potential ability? Blake Wheeler?(!) Come on…
Hopefully the kid line connects and score a few goals, vets bump up their trade value further with a tally and in the end the Trashers win 5-4 in an exciting game. -
In the Rangers blog, it was said that “Fritsche cleared waivers, guess teams are hording their draft picks.” I wonder what was meant by that. I knew compensatory picks were awarding in the past by the league, but the team that claims never gets penalized. Anyone know what to make of that statement?
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I’m almost expecting one of the “old guard” to be re-signed (or strongly hinted that way) when the trade deadline arrives. Guerin/Weight/Comrie/Sillinger is some $15 million coming off the cap/payroll.
If it’s hard to attract free agents to the Coliseum, I’d rather keep one of those first three than have to throw ridiculous money at another free agent no one else wanted just to make the cap floor. No matter what, there are depth and payroll holes that will have to be filled by someone.
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guerin13 says:
nate thompson > dan fritsche. going on hfboards, ranger fans are not fans of fritsche. isles need top 6 forwards, not the dan fritsche’s of the world. looks like nyi are starting to prepare for life after the trading deadline, based on today’s lines.
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Guerin (22) – good post. I hope I didn’t leave the impression that I’m not a Thompson fan, because I do like the kid and think he has a lot of upside as a solid anchor on our 4th. But you’re right, absolutely no point in picking-up a player like Fritsche at this time.
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Wedregast says:
Fritsche is not needed. We have enough fringe players. If he was so good, then Rangers would have kept him and not put him on waivers. I’d rather we keep up one more of the youth, then waste another slot on a fringe player.
Honestly… do you really want a guy who you think can score right now? Great way to knock us out of the Tavares/Hedman hunt! With our scoring already we tend to lose by 1 goal most games… you want to mess with that and win a few games more to sit at #3-5 at the end of the season?!? Stay the course and play the youth we have, unless when we traded off our vets we get some good prospects or decent players back, then we can add some players to the roster.
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guerin 13, not many top 6 forwrds are waived. no one knows what dans potential is. he is 23 and is solid height and weight wise. we could have used the little cap hit. we need to take as much as possible. plus its another young guy. we need more of that
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wedregast petr prucha is good yet he is not being played. also, were finishing in last. were 8 points behind the second to last team so i think we could have rollled the dice on that one. also someone said that we couldnt replace tamby with him becuase he is a center. its not that difficult to go to wing… comrie is doing it this game and crosby sometimes does it. i think thompson did it before too. park and hilbert do it all the time.
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Dadi says:
Hey Chris,
In which way You consider tomorrow’s game “giant 4-point game in Atlanta” ?
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Strummer’s Army on Jan 28th, 2009 14:09:16 said:
“TMC, I think what Botta Bing means is all three either/or don’t fit the system or don’t buy into the system so they won’t be offered new deals…”
Maybe… but do you really think that doug Weight fits that? I think he not only buys into it but has flourished. -
@TMC (28) Yeah, Weight has certainly talked (and played) like he buys in.
It would be interesting to learn the identity of the other players who (per Logan’s repeated hints) do not. Or we can guess, by observing who underspeeds
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Isles1972 says:
Just a bit off topic here guys, but what do you think of the Isles trading Witt to the Flyers for one of their wingers (i.e. Lupul)? Also, Dan Hamhuis ( a very good defenceman) is available. They are looking for some scoring help up front. i say try to make these two deals. The players you trade will be replaced by younger players.
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Isle_in_LA says:
I hope Bailey centers Okposo and Comeau. I like Nielsen centering Hunter and Tambs. Before Frans was hurt (mauled), that line was doing really well. Bailey and Okposo showed promise early on when they were together also. The youth movement is officially official:)
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Andy Badger (Post #19) – LOL…That’s EXACTLY why I said don’t misquote me. I’m not saying he’s as good as Blake Wheeler. But with his size and potential, you can see the similarities.
And being placed on waivers doesn’t mean too much these days. There are MANY different reasons that players get placed on waivers, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they can’t be valuable players. There are some very good NHL players who have been waived in their careers. Marty St. Louis comes to mind as an example. I’M NOT SAYING DAN FRITSCHE IS MARTY ST. LOUIS, but I’m just making the point.
ALSO, Blake Wheeler was drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes in the FIRST ROUND (5th overall) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. They never signed him and he became eligble to sign with ANY NHL TEAM (which is essentially the same thing as being waived). He ended up with Boston 4 years later. What’s that say about Wheeler’s “potential ability”?
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Johnny Islander says:
Mike Comrie – Doug Weight – Bill Guerin
The lack of speed and defensive responsibility on this line gives me the chills. Good luck Doug, you are on your own.
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David says:
CB, someone might have said this but if the kid line doesn’t work out the first two or three games they could always reshuffle so I can’t see it being all bad for the Isles. This maybe gives them a chance to showcase their top three tradeable players?
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pete39 says:
how bergie coming along?
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Jim says:
@ JP39 – Phoenix tried to sign Wheeler numerous times, he rejected all of their offers because he wanted to become a free agent. That’s nothing like being waived.
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Dooks94 says:
The Islanders should have picked up Dan Fritsche. He’s actually scored at the NHL level which I can’t say the same for 85% of OUR guys. Third line, fourth line-pish posh ANY player that can play on the Rangers is good enough to play for our busted ass team. Plus they need to add some salary in order to trade away guys like mentioned-Weight, Guerin, Witt, Comrie, etc. The Islanders are near the salary floor so it could prevent them from making any trades at all. Fritsche is better than-
1. Tambellini
2. Thompson
3. Sim
4. McLean,Smith, any other Bridgeport guysBrilliant management we have. We try and pick up Dubielewicz and when someone else snags him we give up an dnow Danis who wasn’t good enough a week ago is now the starting goaltender. No Dany Sabourin, no Curtis Sanford. I’m starting to worry about the direction/future of this team.
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Also worth noting: Fritsche is younger (23) than all the players I mentioned. Expect Smith, they are the same age. Plus he has 222 games of NHL experience. And 30 career goals. The past 2 years he had 10 and 12 for Columbus. The only reason he got waived was cause the Rangers need to shed salary and he wasn’t playing anyway. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” Let’s see Tambellini or Nate Thompson score 12 goals. Not happening
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Rich says:
Where are all the Doug Weight supporters now? You remember who you are… I thought Dougy had to be a role model for our young guns. Well, I think youth will be served and hope for the best when we unload the scraps.
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37 Dooks94 on Jan 28th, 2009 15:38:47 said:
“…ANY player that can play on the Rangers is good enough to play for our busted ass team…”Well- if he could play for the Rangers he wouldnt have been waived.
The waiver wire can be valuable- on occasion- but not if you just pick up any schmo thats available.
There is a reason that a player gets waived… and there is a reason that a player passes waivers and nobody picks them up.
Also, how many contracts do some of you think this team can carry, anyway?
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kevin says:
who there buddy, fritsche is not better than smith. or some of the bridgeport guys. i still think we should have gotten him though. just because we didnt pick up a backup goalie or a 3rd liner you worry about the teams future? ok. gotta go to a game see you guys l8er.
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@TMC, I think Weight has appreciated the system and flourished in it. I have read comments to the effect. What I said was more directed at the other two and Witter. However, he is very close with Guerin and who knows what is happening behind the scenes. I just remember Botta’s comment that he feels only one (maybe) of the disgruntled/don’t fit vets would be back next year. What is making it tougher for Weight (who I really like just like Guerin and Witt) is he is a center. The Isles will be from this point on be giving the premium minutes to Bailey and Neilsen and same for next season. Add in Tavares potentially and what minutes do you have to offer Mr. Weight? 4th line? That is why I feel it is unlikely he’ll be back. Of all the vets I would say Guerin has the best shot of a return but his slump since Weight has been out is alarming.
If Neilsen does play wit Okposo and Comeau (and I do think that is a very good line or with Bailey) then who is going to be on Bailey’s wings if Guerin is with Weight? Let’s not saddle our blue chipper with a Sim. Let’s at least give him Bergy and Hunter.
I think with guys returning from injury Snow will have to make his first move or two (due to roster limits) some what soon. The rest he’ll probably wait until the deadline for max value.
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Fritshe has actually scored on the NHL level?
Yea 30 goals in 222 games. He’s a must have.
Since he’s a center, he replaces who? Not Weight, Bailey, Neilsen, Comrie (if moved back). Maybe Thompson? But since Nate kills penalties, is decent on faceoffs, and not scared to drop the gloves… He wins out as your 4th line center.
No need for Fritshe.
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Dooks94, I totally with you on post #37 an 38. Then guy is only 23 and has actually scored at the NHL level maybe that’s the problem. The guy is better than the guys you mentioned and the call ups from Bridgeport. But when Comrie and Weight are dealt we can bring up our 25 year old career minor leaguer. Everything is just fine in Islanderland. No need for a change the team is flying high.
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guys perhaps (and I haven’t looked at it) Fritche’s salary that the Isles would be on the hook for if they claimed him was prohibitive? The Rangers always over pay guys. He was in the first year of a lord only knows how many year contract and I believe Snow did the right thing in 1)not saddling himself with it and 2) Not doing the Rangers a favor in taking that salary off their books so they can go out there and improve their team. If no team claims him the Rangers are still partially if not 100% fully responsible for that. Why would Snow help the Rangers right?
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kevin- Smith has potential so I’ll bend on that one. He’s very raw, but I’d like to see him up for the last 30 games. Not for nothing though-there’s nothing at Bridgeport but a pile of crap. We have projects not prospects. The best prospects we have are playing in the OHL and college and are at least 2-4 years away
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why are we still debating dan fritsche? is he really worth this long a debate? i could see a contender waiving a guy with top 6 forward/top 4 d-man potential to create cap room in order to trade for a big salary. that’s when the nyi should hit the waiver wire.
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joey303 says:
just my 2 cents…..Captain Canada, Cryin Ryan, has 4 – count em, 4 more points than Guerin, and just 10 more than Trent Hunter. If Guerin cant bring a very good prospect or a #1 (which I doubt), keep him and sign him. He can still play. As for the Smyth deal…uh …….
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streit02 says:
dan fritsche is a nobody. Theres no room on our roster for players like that. We have 2 many of them already. Find something else to complain about. Maybe complain of how we are in last place and we’re all really pissed that if we stay in last then we’ll have a franchise player land in our laps. That would really piss me off.
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The Smyth deal set our franchise back at least 3-4 years. I was all for it at the time but now with the cupboard bare at Bridgeport you can see why it was a bad trade. Robert Nilsson we should have held onto. The Smyth trade was supossed to spring us into the 8th spot in the playoffs. You don’t make a move like that unless you are trying to WIN the cup- ie. Pittsburgh last year with Hossa.
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Islander505 says:
Whatever……thank God the kids are finally together….keep ‘em there for the rest of the season. (unless they start putting up 3 goals a game and winning games).
Give ‘em First line PP minutes as well.FINALLY, the ute program begins.
As long as Weight is back….Comeau, Bailey/Neilsen and KO up front, Streit and Weight on the backline….Campoli in for Weight.Just my opinion.
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I can’t even comment on post #50 without getting banned. I’ll see ya’s for CB’s next post.
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Islanders1984 says:
dooks94 at the time the trade was made the isles were in 6th and like 2 points out of 4th. DP got hurt. Then isles wasted too many games using Dunham. If dp doesn’t get hurt Isles would have been in a much better position
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dmen77 says:
I think CB proved about 2 weeks ago that the Smyth deal did not set us back even 1 day than where we are at now.
Nilsson – Not exactly tearing it up in Edmonton, finds himself in MacTavish’s doghouse quite often
O’Marra – who??????? and where is he playing?
1st Round pick – Plante or something? If we can’t remember who it was, he obviously is no one to cry about not having
I think many of us have said it repeatedly. When the Smyth trade went down, Snow looked like a genius and we were in 6th place at the time on our way up even further….then came the game in Montreal where Ricky came out to play the puck and it all went downhill fast. We backdoored our way into the playoffs and were beaten by Buffalo.
If we were in 6th place on trade deadline day, I may make the same trade 1000x over…..it just didn’t work out after Ricky got hurt.
Snow didn’t give up 3 “prospects” to just make the playoffs (8th seed), he made the deal to better the team and make some noise in the playoffs from where were at the present time (6th seed).
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Coach B says:
Too bad Detroit put Kyle Quincey on waivers early in the season when the Islanders did not have the worst record. Quincey has done a nice job for the Kings.
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I just checked and I was way off with 2 weeks on CB addressing the Smyth deal. The date of his blog was December 21st for anyone who would want to read it again
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off topic. But now that Zetterberg has signed a 12 year deal, (and isnt the 1st)can we stop calling DiPietros contract ridiculous. Ok so he got hurt last year and hasnt recovered as expected. As long as Rick can stay healthy it will be one of the biggest steals out there. His whopping 4.5 annual cap hit will never be a burden on the team. Injuries can happen to any player so that risk will always be there with a lengthy contract
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Jeff says:
If Comeau, Bailey/Nielsen and Okposoare not the first line of the future, then who is? Are you saying that the top line hasn’t been drafted yet? If that’s true, then this team is many years from competing through the draft. EIther get the building redone and sign some free agents or just move the team.
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Aim says:
John Tavaras (if these idiots dont screw up and not draft him) should be our 1st line player of the future.
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Zrtterberg is a top line 1st rate NHL player. Rickey may not be in the top 10 in goalies even when healthy. hmm thinkin here.. not in this order but Luongo Nabokov Lunquivist Brodeur Kipprusof Miller Giguere Price (maybe best young goaile in the league). I would put Rick at about number 8 at his position when healthy and that is being polite. If he would stop running around trying to play the puck and focus on stopping it maybe he would be better. But there is that ego thing ya know! Rick is going to be 28 so he should be at or nearing his prime. Now with the injury thing who knows. I can tell you one thing No way no how was this guy ever worthy of being a #1 overall pick!!
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Getting back to my last post I just want to go on record and say I am against those contracts no matter who the player the years are ridiculous. I can only hope CW learned a lesson form the huge failures of his 2 way too long contracts (see yashin DP) and go to a more traditional 5-7 year term for a 1st rate player. NO CW not Hilbert a 1st rate player!!!
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Oh ya Lundquist, Giguere, Price,Loungo etc they are such amazing goalie blah blah. Go ahead and check the goals they gave up in the all-star game compared to Rick. You’ll see who the most talented goalie is. Rick is top 3 he just has always played on really bad teams with horrible d’s. Put Rick on another team and watch him shine. The Isles philosophy was to have Rick win them games and he has. You can see what is a better team put together this year (they had injuries both years) is much worse without Ricky.
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Bryan from Massapequa says:
I’d love to say otherwise, but Rick DiPietro isn’t a top 10 goalie in this league right now, even if healthy. Health, however, is a part of being good, sorry to say. Being good, or being great, is about being reliable to your team and right now he’s anything but. I hope that will change in the future, but right now his health and game (from what I remember of it) are too inconsistent. He made one all-star team, mostly because the rest of the team was devoid of so much as an ECHL all-star and he was having an OK season. In fact, I think his best hockey came the season prior to his all-star game appearance, when he was maybe a top 10 goalie. Now however, I’d be hard pressed to consider him in the top 12 or 13 off of the top of my head. Not with Tim Thomas and Backstrom playing the way they are. Or even a kid like Mason and guys like Huet and Khabibulin playing great hockey right now. There’s plenty of guys ahead of him once he gets his legs back underneath him. But I’ll be pulling for him, because if you care about this team now or in the future you have to.
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Did you just say All Star Game?? You do know that there is no hitting Defense checking or intensity in that game right?? I mean make all the comparsion you want but to base a player on an all star game is just nuts!!!!!
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And for your other point….Aucoin Hamerlik Jonsson Etc. That was a very strong team on D and DP played on good teams too. In all honesty I thought he played great in the playoffs against Tampa but the Bulin wall played better. Im sorry to have to disagree with you but no way is DP an elite goalie. Never shown it and now sadly may never get the chance to.
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As some of you are talking about the lack of talent in the AHL I just want to update you on how the team is doing. Playing in a very tough division they are 6th best in the AHL in points. They have the 4th best win % and have 2 of the top 20 scorers in the league. They have the 8th most goals scored and this is the big one, GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE IS 3rd best in the league. Keeping in mind the constant pilfering of their goalies and best players (by the Isles) that’s not bad for a bunch of the “nothings” that some of you seem to think they are. You should really educate yourself before you comment.
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Ya, I said all-star game for the very reason there is no hitting and no defense that is how you can tell who is really special. Rick gave up one goal on a break away because the announcer wouldn’t shut it That was it one goal in an all-star game. It is very rare a goalie can pull that one off.
You remember Hamrlik too fondly. He sucked on defense and so did Niinimma. Jonsson was good but too often hurt and Aucoin and Cairns was good. I’ll agree it was a better defense then the Isles have managed to put together since but they were suppossed to be the top 4 defense in hockey (remember Milbury trying to sell that) and they fell far short.
Just look at one of the last games Ricky played this year, not fully healthy, hadn’t played comes in and is awesome, his rebound control is brilliant.
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Lastly I really wish some of you would lay off of Hilbert. I don’t understand the constant bashing of a 3rd/4th line PK guy who works his butt off and does HIS job very well. He is not here to score goals and it’s not his fault that the team is so lacking in talent that they have to use him on the PP or the 1st or 2nd line. The guy is a 3rd or 4th line grinder and a PK specialist and he does his job so well that three different coaches in the NHL have had nothing but praise for him. A team that has three solid lines would love to have Hilbert killing penalties and getting 4th line minutes. We don’t have one solid line and some of you put it on Hilbert as if he’s supposed to score. LAST TIME, Hilbert is here to play a role and that is not the role of goal scorer. There is a lot of blame to be given out but NONE of it should go Andy Hilberts way.
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JKP in Halifax says:
Well said, David. Hilbert is great at what his role is and you’re 100% correct.
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ISLESFAN999 says:
Hilbert is an excellent player for us. He is probably our best 4th liner. He is an excellent team player and he keeps getting better! Gordon has him playing his best!
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Dave says:
Couldn’t have said it better, David. Andy Hilbert is a key component in the Isle’s rebuilt. He’s 27 (28 next month), great vision, work ethic and a consummate team player. He’s not 1st/2nd line, he’s not a gunslinger – but he is one of the best at what he does. His numbers were looking good before the injury; hopefully he will pick it up where he left off. The Islanders will make a big mistake if they let him go to free agency. Hope he plays Thursday – I got tickets to the game.
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ny711ot says:
no to fritsche and any other non first liner or top tier defenseman. garth’s entire focus should be on securing MAJOR impact players….sometimes you have to go to war with the cards you are dealt. the periphery guys we have are adaquate…. its all about procuring the marquis talents….dont be distracted by third liners….go for the gold ponyboy go for the gold……
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bcarroll25 says:
if hilbert(who you say is not a top 6 forward)is a key to the rebuild, god help us, kc here we come.
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Y dont some of you guys go root for another team? All you do is bash your own players and team no matter what the situation. For the comments regarding Dipietros attitude and “ego”. Give me a break. You are not on the team and have never been in a locker room w/ him. One thing is clear is that he wants to win at any cost and will do whatever it takes to do so. Unfortunately hes had a setback w/ injuries this year, but hes not Radek Martinek. Luongo and Brodeur also went down w/ injuries this year. Dipietro is the sole reason the Isles have made the playoffs in recent years. Its clear how bad the teams were when hes not in net. Its hard to put a “top 10″ # on him when hes not playing right now. I wouldnt call half the goalies that were mentioned better than Dipietro. With a lot of talented goalies its hard to label one better than another when talking about an elite bunch. And if you dont consider Rick in teh elite bunch maybe you just havent been watching any games the last 4 yrs.
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I agree Streit 02
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cgs878 says:
Giant 4-point game = good night to give it a 40 minute effort & lose (just make it entertaining!). Tavheduch is more important.
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pbr says:
Post 55 mentioned Kyle Quincey. I played in a charity game with him on Friday. (other players included Marty McSorley, Ian Turnbull, Brad Norton)really nice guy and better than some of what the Isles have, but for an nhl dman VERY small.
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"Dissillusioned Brian" in VA says:
I hated the Smyth deal! Snow was Milburyequse (sp?) for that one! Its the reason we are in dreadful shape and will be for the next 10 years! What a brilliant GM we have? Oh well lets keep losing and set a record in futiilty in the new NHL (shootout era).
Please get rid of guys like Sim/Pock/Tambellini/Thompson. Its all about the kids not the AHL Trash! -
art says:
gordon’s go go style of forwards checking aggressively in the offensive zone down low only will work with young talented forwards who can sustain the pressue for three periods over the corse of a long season and be backed up against odd man rushes by a first class defensive pairings when breakdowns occur. why do we play that style when we have neither? I preffered nolan’s approach which was not a boring trap but a style more like sutter’s devils. the answer is that we don’t have the horses to do the job. please comment. i think our goals for and against prove my point.
“…almost certainly their final 10 weeks…”
That is, unless the Islanders give any of them another 1y contract- or in Bills case a 1y extention. I think thats possible with all three of them, but you think it “certainly” isnt?