GAMEDAY: Rangers at Islanders, 7:05 pm
Hunter in, 2 more needed; revisiting the deadline
UPDATED 1:50 pm - Andrew MacDonald said to be on his way. Still no words on the Fs…CB
12:20 pm, NVMC - News from the morning skate, and re-visiting the trade deadline one last time…
Trent Hunter is in, and Joe Callahan has been recalled from Bridgeport.
Nate Thompson, Richard Park and Thomas Pock skated but are not ready. With Brendan Witt suspended, this means the Islanders need one more defenseman and two forwards who weren’t at the skate.
This will lead to much Mitch Fritz speculation. This could also lead to the return of goal-a-game Jesse Joensuu. Or not. Check out Fornabaio’s Sound Tigers blog during the day. Mike’s good at finding out which players have departed Fairfield County before the Islanders tell us.
A shot in the dark at tonight’s line combinations:
Islanders
Bergenheim - Nielsen - Okposo
(Joensuu) - McAmmond - Hunter
Tambellini - Bailey - Comeau
(Fritz) - Hilbert - Jackman
Rangers
Naslund - Gomez - Antropov
Dubinsky - Drury - Zherdev
Avery - Korpikoski - Callahan
Sjostrom - Betts - Orr
The Rangers, after yesterday’s trades, appear loose and confident. The Islanders have absolutely nothing to lose, except coming up real small in the final home game of the season that really-really means a lot to their fans. This should be fun.
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Scott Gordon, asked by Greg Logan about the demotion of Jon Sim: “You’ll have to talk to Garth about that.”
Gordon on the play of goaltender Yann Danis: “He’s playing like a No. 1. As great as Joey (MacDonald) was in November, Yann’s numbers have been off the charts.”
*
This is for those cherished readers who were stung by yesterday’s quiet and pissed over my giving the Islanders a B for the deadline period - including the Chris Campoli trade.
Again, a 38-year old Bill Guerin - no-move clause and 3 goals in the last two months - never had much value. I thought, at best, they might get a late second round pick. When I proposed the Islanders trade Guerin for Petr Prucha and a third round pick, I was flamed by a 4-to-1 ratio. He went for a pick that will probably end up being a 4th, maybe a 3rd.
What could have happened yesterday at the trade deadline to prevent some of the over-the-top, I’m done-with-this team commentary?
UFA Andy Hilbert for a 6th round pick? Dean McAmmond for a 6th? Injured Doug Weight - who tells me he might be back by the end of March - for, uh, what?
Radek Martinek, under contract for next year, for a 4th round pick?
Brendan Witt - maybe your next captain - for a 3rd, maybe late 2nd at best?
I understand the Recchi to Boston trade raises eyebrows. I don’t get it for Boston either. But look up how much Recchi is making compared to Guerin. Compare their stats this season. Then consider the minor detail that Boston never showed any interest in bringing Billy home.
We have all day. Keep the Campoli swap in the equation. Let me know the realistic trade the league’s worst team should have made yesterday that could have avoided comments that if I taught at Hicksville High everyone would get straight As.
*
Charles Wang will be on with Howie Rose on the Islanders’ pre-game show on The Plus that begins tonight at 6:30 pm.
*
Oh, the irony: Sean Avery declined to speak to the media after the Rangers’ morning skate today. He pointed at the guy from TSN and said, “It’s because you’re here.” Seriously.
It’s a great day for hockey. God, I love this job.
Comments.
179 Responses to “GAMEDAY: Rangers at Islanders, 7:05 pm
Hunter in, 2 more needed; revisiting the deadline”
Please Wait
wow…fritz ahead of smith colliton mclean walter etc…i hate this team
Do ya reallly care? It doesn’t matter. Doesn’t need to matter.
Let’s just head to the draft already.
You might need Fritz tonight…and i have not said that all year. With Guerin gone….we could use the size against Orr. Do not want Orr running at the young ins. I do however want to see Smith back up before the end of the year.
Play Fritz a regular shift I say. We need to maximize our on-ice liabilities!
Hey Steve-O! :thumbs up:
Never thought I’d find myself saying this - but I actually feel bad for Jon Sim. Guy was playing out of his mind past 2 weeks or so.
Hoping for 2 points tonight. . and then a bunch of losses to follow to solidify our #1 standing in the Tavheduch watch.
Avery declined to speak to the media? Damn! I was hoping Greg would cough on him. SOOOOOOOO very glad I’m not going tonight.
I hope Colliton gets the call, he plays the same role as Thompson plays - it makes no sense not to bring him up. Joensuu deserves it just based on his play in game 1.
CB, would love your thoughts on how the Guerin situation was handled by the team - not from a trade perspective, from a PR perspective. I thought it was poorly handled and that bothers me more than the return. I think a simple comment from the team saying SOMETHING (even though it’s NOTHING) would have gone a LONG way.
“We have some interest in Billy Guerin so we’ve decided to keep him out of the line-up with the expectation that he may be moved. We cannot discuss any more detail at this time. In fairness to Bill, our captain and leader, his family and the other teams or players that may be involved, we respectfully ask you to be patient and we’ll update you as soon as we can. This process may take until the deadline.”
Setting expectations and mitigating a potential (additional) scar on the organization that no one wants.
Your thoughts?
Hey CB, I believe you owe us the final chapter in the “Chronicle of Sarnia” You said it was going to be posted last week during the end but I’m sure you put it on hold because of the Guerin fiasco. Looking forward to it.
cb cbs radio on their early news 6am today reported that the town of hempstead wa given an ultimatum by wang to basically approve lighthouse or he was out of here can you give us an update? seems that news trumps all the endless gossip about the draft,
Would like to see Joensuu again, although you couldn’t have scripted a better first game. What a way to feed his apetite, maybe use that to get him to work even harder in Bridgeport? I dont know, might be interesting to see him with Figren, if he is in fact coming over. Maybe we see Comeau drop the gloves tonight, hes got that cockiness to him and he almost did on saturday although I dont want to see him go up against ORR. By the way, the “interactive” depth chart on the islanders site is pretty damn cool. Dont ask me why, it just is.
If we can win one more game all year this one has to be it. Then we can cruise to the number 1 (or 2) pick and take it from there.
Seriously though, I would rather see someone else instead of Fritz. I can see it now - Fritz comes on the ice looking for a dance partner, gets denied, skates off and does it for one or two more shifts and totals 2 minutes of ice time.
I am probably the only one saying this but I was hoping Thompson would be back in there tonight to keep the Rangers off the youngsters. Plus he did a decent job winning face offs and can skate.
(8) I already wrote on the weekend the Islanders owed their fans that. You can look it up. A few of your fellow readers disagreed, saying it was none of the fans’ business.
(9) You are correct. I have a story mostly done on Matt Martin. But stuff keeps getting in the way. I also owe my take on the Gordon-vets thing…CB
You left out the Sim for Thompson swap. You gotta give them a B+ now. Third line wing producing at the NHL level for a fourth line center… and you still have to pay Sim’s Million, but the Capuano will have to deal with his BS on a bus rather than a chartered plane.
…and I think the poster who made the “grading” comment would like to you be teaching night classes at NCC… classes like Fast Food Restaurant Management 101.
Play Fritz & bring up the wrecker…bring in the goons…that’s the only excitement this game will have….these line combos are pretty bad, we have 3 third lines & 1 fourth line. After this game Trevor Smith should called up for the rest of the year.
Torts: Come on Glen, I don’t want that a-hole on MY team.
Sather: Johnny, you just don’t get it… watch this!
Avery: I’m not talking to the media until the guy from TSN leaves.
Torts: You know what… this could save me a lot of time… this guy is like gold.
Sather: Are you kidding… do you think anybody in their right mind is gonna come ask me about the deals I made yesterday with that putz juggling his balls for the media?
Torts: Let’s go have a beer… this is AWESOME!
The Islanders are such a JOKE. The team they are going to ice tonight will peak around 22 million in salary. Is that not almost half of the cap FLOOR. And, Snow wonders why it is hard to get players to come to this team. It can’t be the City, I have been there and it is very nice. Players love to go to NJ and the rags, It MUST be SNOW, players see how the vets have been treated this year, Who will come here. WHO…
This morning WPIX also had a story on the Lighthouse. One woman who was interviewed said no way, to much traffic. This is Long Islands economic stimulus plan. Get it done.
Fritz is worthless! Please leave him on the bench in B-port.
Who gets the nod in goal tonight?
I bet they throw Joey Mac under the bus, I mean in the net tonight. He will get smoked and these fans will say, Mac sucks. I can see it coming..I hope Snow gets hit by a friggin bus.
I’m a little tired of this Fritz stuff and people worrying about guys running our “young ones”. Hockey is a contact game, meaning you are going to get hit. If you come across the middle of the ice, or skate, with your head down you deserve to get run over and when it happens, watch how many times that player comes across the middle or skates with there head down again. If we are worried about our guys getting hit and hurt from a clean check then maybe they don’t belong in the NHL
The problem with the game today is everytime you lay a big, hard, clean hit on someone, a player on the other team is trying to fight you. It’s really dumb, and it’s going to take the contact right out of the game. Why hit someone if everytime you do you have to fight? I’m not talking about the dirty high hits or hits from behind, those you should have to answer for. If you can’t take the contact go play golf.
Avery once played with Paul Newman and the Hanson Brothers on the Chiefs, right?
Best Case Scenario:
1. Rangers make playoffs, eliminating them from draft lottery
2. Penguins make playoffs, upgrading conditional pick to 4th rounder
3. Rangers upset Devils in first round, keeping Devils from winning 4th Cup and tying us in that department
4. Penguins win first round series, upgrading conditional pick to 3rd rounder
5. Penguins wipe the floor with Rangers in quarterfinals, ending Ranger cup fantasy
6. Avery cries during post-series interview, keeps repeating “Lundquist is my goaltender” reminiscent of T.O.
obviously someone has a prob with jon sim.
everyone could see he was the best player on the ice last game and now he’s in bridgeport when they’re short guys. and that’s after being on waivers for the second time.
that guy had a serious knee injury last year. everyone knows it takes a long time for the quickness and acceleration to come back. yeah, the guy has been ineffective most of the year, but now it looks to me like he’s getting back to where he was and what happens? he’s waived, then banished to bridgeport. i understand the reasoning of letting joensuu play - if he does play tonight - and calling up fritz - if they do call him up. and i know sim is not teemu selanne, but to me it looks like this player is really getting jerked around here. either he’s caused some problem we don’t know about or really po’ed the coach/gm for some reason, OR, he’s simply being treated like drek and in a classless way.
“B” is very generous, imo, CB. I’d say a team like Phoenix gets a B, and they wiped the floor with the Isles as far getting rebuilding assets on deadline day. Sure, they had better assets to trade, but that’s part of the equation…who’s the one who signed all of the Isles assets that no one wants?
My concern, again, is that we’re always just supposed to accept nothing getting done…can’t make trades because we have no assets. Can’t get assets because no one wants to play here. Can’t say anything bad about the curious draft move because it will take three years to judge. A bit frustrating, but on the other hand, I admire Garth’s survival instincts. With all the blame always on external forces, he essentially puts himself, as the team’s chief salesman, above any legitimate criticism or accountability for the foreseeable future.
(21) Yann Danis.
The stories on CBS, PIX and everywhere else today were a regurg of the Newsday story already linked on this site.
Heading out to lunch. Take care. If word comes out about the 3 recalls, we’ll post it…CB
I love Danis. Really do. With that being said…why is he playing tonight?!?! Garth…you screwed up the trade deadline and now you wanna screw up draft day?!
:starting to gag:
I think the Isles should be adding some size and toughness tonight, its gonna be hard hitting and as stated above, we need someone to watch the kids.
Good Luck Danis.
Anybody know who Avery is dating now? Somebody needs to construct a big sign with her picture, “SLOPPY SECONDS LINE FORMS HERE”.
For those of you out of the loop, Bridgeport is sitting in second place right now. Only 4 points out of first. And that’s with a bunch of their top players [Smith, MacLean, Joensuu, Andy Mac, and Yann Danis] in and out of the Islanders lineup. I understand that some of you get excited when a kid comes up and plays well but to honestly say Trevor Smith or any of those kids should be up here for the remainder of the season is ridiculous. They need to be down there in BPT playing for a division title, or better yet, a shot at the Calder Cup.
So if Mitch Fritz gets called up, who cares! He’s not helping BPT out that much. He plays on their fourth line and only has 5 fights. So he’s not really helping that much down there anyway. Now I will agree that Colliton or Walter should be up instead but if we can help it, we should leave our top tier prospects down on the Bridge because they are actually playing for something down there.
CB: Who is the next Captain? Witt?
I hope tonight is the last game we win this year.
Ray…NHL teams have minor league teams for a reason. Players are there for the NHL teams’ disposal. Ultimately every single player wants to get to the NHL somehow, someway.
Ray, that is an EXCELLENT point.
I’d still like to see JJ get a 5 game stint just for HIM to get a taste of what the NHL is like and where he needs to focus in the off season.
CB,
Can’t wait for the Matt Martin stuff. Everything I read about that kid leads me to believe he is going to be a future favorite for me. It would be nice to have a Jackman who is stronger on the puck, with better hands… a Dave Scatchard second/third liner. Hope to see him at that Bridge next year.
Okposo, Hillen and Comeau were sent to Bridgeport yesterday (on paper) so they’ll be eligible for the AHL playoffs. Jackman has to clear waivers so he probably won’t be down there for the playoffs.
#33 i like the way you think
CB, what hasn’t been mentioned is the time is near for organizations to prepare their AHL “clear day” list of the players eligible to play the balance of the season and for the Calder Cup. It’s very important to this franchise to give the young players a taste of playoff intensity. According to the Bridgeport blog, Okposo and Comeau were assigned to B’port before the deadline, then recalled so that they are eligible for the Calder Cup. I would call up Colliton and Fritz for tonight, Colliton for important minutes and Fritz to keep them honest. Finally anyone who goes around saying that they hope the team loses every game should go find another team to root for. Don’t expect professional players to deliberately tank games. They try to win them all.
Sorry for the back to back, but anyone who expects Bailey to go to Bridgeport, he’ll only be able to go after his junior team (Windsor Spitfires) season is over. CB, do you know if he’d be eligible for the OHL playoffs and Memorial Cup if the Spits make it that far?
Why not one other comment about the fact that the Islanders are icing a team with a payroll tonight of 22 to 23 mil. Half of the cap floor.
THAT IS THE GM TANKING IT. Interesting to see if the NHL office has something to say about this lineup….
Not the players, I agree pro players do not tank games for any reason.
I didn’t realize Snow had control over who is injured and who is not. If Snow really wanted to tank it, he would have traded Hunter, Martinek, Weight, Witt, Park and Hilbert yesterday.
How about Guerin and Martinek for SOMEBODY’S…ANYBODY’S 2nd round pick. An experienced foward with a very good and underrated puck moving d-man. We all know Martinek would look great on a good team…..but since he wasn’t moved I am glad he is still here because I can keep my streak alive of telling my dad midway through any home game the Marty plays “Wow, he is good…and nobody even realizes it.” .
I bet they get something good for him next year. Maybe Garth can do what he did with Guerin but this time sit Martinek from training camp to the “DEADLINE” so he doesn’t get hurt and void a possible trade.
Do you you think we see Martinek get packaged with the San Jose 1st rounder in order to move up a few spots in the draft?
I also agree with you Jim (39). I wouldn’t trade a second round pick for ROGER MOORE let alone DOMINIC.
Speaking about the Gordon Vets thing, why would any FA’s want to come here and play with the way this Organization has treated FA,s(vets) the last 8 years. Why would an FA pick up and move their families to be treated like a unworthy rental, because this is the way the islanders treat them and then they have to relocate their Families again!
Does Charles Wang Realy believe the LightHouse will solve this? This is not a LightHouse problem this is an Organization problem and it starts with Wang!
Cruicky: because no one cares and it’s obvious and just whining you bozo. this is a dead last team at the end of a season… (who cares what the payroll is) in a rebuilding year and finally having a team of all kids who make little money… this is what happens in rebuilding with kids. so get over it.
Also, if you want to pick a goaltender just by the numbers, Lawson in Bridgeport is kickin the crap out of Danis’ numbers. So, who is better???
BOZO- Lets not get personal here pal. Also, that is what the cap floor is for..
This is really funny stuff.
We have people clamoring for Jon Sim on the basis of him being the best player on the ice in the Colorado game. This is the same player who did nothing most of the year to earn any ice time and who was waived twice with no takers.
We have people enraged at the Guerin deal when the reality is that Guerin has done nothing over the last 20-30 games to entice any team to bid for his services.
We have people who are outraged that Snow didn’t further purge the roster for a bushel of high picks and prospects when the only players who might have drawn a reasonable return would have been Witt and a healthy Weight.
You have to wonder what rose colored glasses these people have that would make our dismal last place team somehow appear to have so many attractive assets.
We even have someone perturbed by the low payroll for the remaining roster players. Does that individual expect that we should have been buyers yesterday?
Well said Miketee. It’s embarrassing sometimes reading some of these posts. At times it’s child like..
bozo is a clown that made children laugh for years… it’s a compliment
To CB… 1. Did anyone follow up Gordon’s response re: Sim with actually “talking to Garth about that”?
2. And, even if nobody asked him today, what’s your take on the whole thing? Something definitely doesn’t smell right.
Thanks in advance.
Cruicky if you are so unhappy with the team, stop following them and stop posting. Voicing a little disappointment is fine, but the constant whining is getting old.
Who has Snow really gotten rid?
Bill Guerin? I like him, but he has put the puck in the net 3 times Since Dec 27 and has a whopping 6 points since New Years Day. To put it into prospective, Jeff Tambellini has as many goals as Guerin in that time period.
Jon Sim? There’s something internal there we don’t know about because the whole thing doesn’t make sense and he’s only making a mil a year.
Mike Comrie? Stop crying and watch the kids develop already
My biggest issue with your ‘B’ grade was not the Campoli deal (solid B), or even the Guerin deal (C/C-) but the lack of creativity that was shown by Snow. We’re talking about an organization that needs to do everything well to give themselves a chance to get out of the hole they’re in. That means packaging players, combining propects and picks to upgrade, or simply picking up chips to flip later. It seemed to me that Toronto and Anaheim did a pretty good job of that yesterday. Obviously we don’t know what went on behind the scenes but the old adage in business is that you don’t get rewarded for effort, you get rewarded for results. (BTW - I learned that after my illustrious Hicksville High education)
Oh man. Talk about the greatest of weekends. Isles-Rags tonight and then Phish reunites tomorrow. If only A-Rod would get hurt and miss two months, then this would truly be the best weekend since I graduated college.
Andrew MacDonald was recalled.
Sim and Joey Mac are local kids. Just trying to stick-up for the local kids and watch a team rebuild. This is my frist year following this team, and it is a nightmare. I find MOST of the people that post here to be intelligent and interesting. I wont bother ya’ll any more.
49 miketee on Mar 5th, 2009 13:33:24 said:
This is really funny stuff.
it’s not matter of “clamoring” for sim, it’s a matter of wondering why he’s not getting a chance to play right when he seems to be fully recovering from a major injury. and wondering how - if there is nothing under the surface we don’t know about - it may affect others on the team when they see a teammate get jerked around like that. again - IF there’s not something we don’t know about.
Fritz over Avery by TKO!!!
Adam Proteau’s grade for NYI on THN.com
NEW YORK ISLANDERS
Additions: Dean McAmmond, LW (Ottawa); 2009 first round draft pick (Ottawa); 2009 conditional draft pick (Pittsburgh)
Deletions: Mike Comrie, C (Ottawa); Chris Campoli, D (Ottawa); Bill Guerin, C (Pittsburgh)
Bottom Line: The Isles won the deal with Ottawa hands-down, and GM Garth Snow has done an admirable job the past couple years filling his coffers with draft picks. Still, it says something about the organization’s current state that so few players on their current NHL roster were attractive to other teams.
Grade: B-
Here is what I have to say about all the whining about Snow and what happened at the deadline. What did you all really expect?? We are the WORST TEAM IN THE LEAGUE! So all of your theories are that all the teams that are doing better then we are should jump at giving up draft picks and prospects for players that make up the worst team. Wanna know why we have the worst record in hockey??? Because we have the worst players!! I know that is a hard concept to understand. We aren’t Atlanta who has one superstar and a bunch of scrubs. We are made up of castoffs and players that are WAY past their primes, and you all wanted 1st, 2nd and 3rd round draft picks for them?? Get real.
i forget, was sim snow’s pickup or neil smith’s ? anyone know off hand?
Little quote from the great “Badger Bob” Johnson there. Nice!
@ 62
it was Snow’s (lousy) pickup
“You’ll have to talk to Garth about that” why doesn’t Gordon have some balls and address the issue with the vets…respect means something to hockey players and the crap culture that is NYI hockey (Milbury-well you know, Yashin deal, Backup goalie/GM- could go on however..why not it seems like it has)will remain the league laughing stock until it changes.
Dose,
Sim was signed by Snow after everyone else left Snow at the altar.
Updated with word that AMac is on his way, but no word yet on the Fs…CB
I keep reading these comments that the vets have been treated badly and no one will want to come here.
Which vets are we talking about?
Doug Weight?…the guy who has stated he would love to re-sign here?
Brendan Witt?….who just the other day stated that he didn’t want to leave Long Island?
Andy Hilbert? Who is having a resurgent season under Gordon?
Richard Park? Trent Hunter?
Apparently Bill Guerin had an issue with Gordon’s communication with him and some of the other veteran players. Even Guerin stated that if he hadn’t been traded, he would have been able to finish out the season.
The vets know this is a rebuild, and with the way the kids are playing right now…there isn’t really much to argue about.
I’ve said this 1000 times, If Charles Wang doesn’t buy this team, they would have moved already.
He used his own money to renovate the Coliseum (does anyone remember how horrible it was before Charles bought the team?). Spent millions of dollars he knew he wouldn’t get back on payroll.
He saved this franchise…give the man the credit he deserves.
END OF STORY
CB, Just a bunch of fans that weren’t around to see the build from nothing to cup. Garth is going about this the same way Torrey did back in the 70’s. Reality is this, New franchise born in 72 is no different that the post Milbury franchise of the 21st century
Other than Hunter in for Sim I don’t know why you wouldn’t go with the same lineup from the past two games, including Joensuu
Anybody that says a heavyweight is not needed for tonights game has never played hockey. Putting Jackman against Orr is not the way to coach.I am not advocating an enforcer every night, but all of us who played can attest to, having your big boy on the end of your bench makes you play “bigger in your skates”. When a player has a defined role, you keep him in that role. Having Jackman fight enforcers is not his role. If your opponent is playing a big boy, you come back with yours. I am amazed that people are saying Fritz is worthless. Then we have posts saying that the Islanders are winning too much. Which one is it? Fritz or whomever is a liability so we shouldn’t play them because we don’t want to win? Doesn’t make sense. Trade deadline is over, Rangers overpaid for everything and no one wanted our guys. I personally think Martinek will be worth more at the draft so I have no problem with him staying.
How come people keep complaining about the salary cap as if the are intlligent. I have read numerous times that it is based on a percentage of the time played over the course of the year in which the isles have fulfilled. I mean why do you care. Isles 3-2 win shootout, Fritz TKO of Orr, and 3 players kicked out for excessive roughhousing..
CB,
What do you make of the Islanders assigning blake and kyle to B-port to make them playoff eligible (then recalling them right after, don’t worry guys)? You think Snow will actually send them both for the experience?
57…If the issue was Sim vs. Fritz, I agree. But if sending Sim down means that Joensuu, Colliton, Walter or Smith gets a shot to play I’m all for it. Sim is not going to be a part of this team next season so why give him ice time in favor of someone who might be part of the future?
wow right now we are worse than an ahl team!!!! hopefully we can sign bowmesster this summer… and draft right!! taylor hall top pick for 2010.. we need that too.. after 2 more season we will be a playoff team again.. hopefully it will be on long island!!
Haha, I love Avery for the “circus feel” that he brings to gameday. Where’s Trevor Smith in all of this? I hope that he’s on the Port Jeff. ferry with Joensuu right now, tooling across the Sound to get to NVMC by pregame skate!!
My problem with the whole fiasco was that once again, the dealings make the Islander organization look like it’s run by a bunch of monkeys.
Firstly, Guerin should have not been held out of either of the games he missed. My 4-year-old daughter knows that until a trade is completed, it is not “done”. If the trade fell through, then Guerin should have played against the Avs.
Secondly, I am worth a 5th-round pick in the NHL draft, and I’m just a guy behind a keyboard. Guerin is a name and a proven scorer in this league. True, he’s 38 and his best days are behind him. But to accept a pick that will never see the light of day on any NHL roster in exchange for your captain who has won a ring is unheard of. If that was the best deal available, then Guerin should have not been traded.
So I was following the Guerin watch for 5 days and a regular contributor to this blog all week, but yesterday I was super busy and haven’t read anything, so excuse my ignorance.. First, I must say, I was one of those “trade em all” type of guys, but I was sure we would at least get a second rounder for Guerin, especially after getting a 1st for that stiff Comrie and the still waiting to pan out Campoli… When I saw what we got for Guerin, I was disappointed..I think for what we got, we should have just kept him and try to keep him for another year or two… Let’s face it, every team needs vets like Guerin, so what will we be doing this off season, looking for a vet half as good as Guerin willing to play for the Isles.. Not only did Guerin play for us, he was our captain… and this is coming from a “trade everyone” blogger. Secondly…
nma @ 68 - That’s fine if Garth is as good as Bill Torrey and we have superior talent scouts like Jimmy Devellano in the current organization. What do you think?
I like the Okposo & Bergenheim combo. As for the trade deadline. I wish the Isles would have taken a look at Upshall which philly just gave away. Other than that i like garth’s statement that he wasnt going to make a trade just for the sake of making a trade. Unlike our rival GM who has seemingly completely lost his mind. How does he still have a job?
Secondly, from what I read quickly yesterday, Snow must have thought he had a deal worked out a few days ago with another team to hold Guerin in limbo for so long… I can’t help but think we just missed out on getting something a bit more significant from another team for Guerin a few days ago… How do you feel about these two posts CB (77,78?) Again, I didn’t get to read anything yesterday and don’t have a feel for the sentiment yet.
Average age of tonights team = 25.6
I have not done this all year….but I smell an ambush of the Rangers tonight.
Rag’s are coming in with a bunch of new faces and a new coach.
Isles have been playing like that all year and are getting pretty good at it (the last 2 games…they looked REALLY good—I won’t say it was cuz Guerin was off the ice, but I’m thinking it).
Factor in the Avery Factor, who is likely to do someting stupid to make a big splash…and this has all the makings of a very disappointed Ranger fan base around 9PM.
DO ME PROUD GORDON…
It’s playoff time for the Isles…18 games left?
Take some small satisfactions out of the season.
BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF THE RANGERS TONIGHT!!
Jon Sim would have been a different player had he not been out an entire season due to injury.
Tony at (76)… my thoughts exactly….. we will be searching in the off season for a “new Guerin” to replace Guerin… So stupid!
This is a side note and I am sorry for my ignorance for asking this, but how come the Isles had to play the past two games down 1 forward? I understand the circumstances but don’t most teams usually have a healthy scratch or two or even dress an extra player during the pre-game skate that is available to play in case of an emergency? That is been stuck in my head, as well has seeing KO on the point for the first PP unit. I wish Gordo would move him down low where he can be a bit more affective.
Right now, there is not an ounce of toughness in the Isles’ lineup. No Witt, No Sutton, No Thompson. Jackman is the only guy with any toughness up front. You may have to dress Fritz tonight, just in an attempt to keep Avery in check and to have someone who can square off with Orr.
Bring Fritzie up for this one and that should do it for him this season.
For those who received their Hockey News
Future Watch, there is a big story on Matt Gilroy in it.
Islander505:
You can pretty much guarantee Avery will do something stupid tonight, and you can also guarantee he’ll get away with it. You couldn’t script it better, his first game back with the Rags is vs. the Islanders.
Also, Renney was too conservative to let his dogs loose. Tortorella is a Mike Keenan-level basket case and won’t hesitate to let Avery and Orr loose on the Josh Baileys and Jeff Tambellinis of the world. We’ll see if Comeau, Bergenheim and Okposo can step up to defend their mates.
I totally agree with Tony (76). A trade just to make a trade is not helpful. I suspect that Scott Gordon is behind this fiasco. If he can’t get along with a guy like BG, how will he ever be successful in this league?
C’mon Fritzy!
RE: Witt as the next C - there have been many postings about Witt not getting along with the on-ice officials. Wouldn’t that be a significant barrier to his promotion? I think Park deserves the promotion to C when he gets back from injury rehab.
kevin fitz (60) - isn’t that kind of the point, though? Who brought in all of these “worst players”? Who keeps signing them to extensions? Who even gave one of them a “no movement clause”? This isn’t Garth’s first year, where he inherited this team…he assembled this team. Chalk this year up to a rebuild, I agree, but almost all of these guys were brought in earlier when Garth was selling this to us as a contender. So he’s now basically saying all of his own acquisitions are worthless? Just hard for me to see that as anything but Garth indicting himself.
We may not agree with the Guerin trade, but I think it makes sense to get another pick. The more darts we throw at the dartboard…
Why it really works is that we are a much worse team right now without Guerin’s hustle, leadership and dedication. I see this as a move by Snow to bring the team closer to finishing last without actually tanking. besides, it gives a class act another shot at a championship.
After reading some of these posts, this crap about the isles being a laughingstock needs to stop. People just love to jump on the media bandwagon and throw shots at their own team. Garth Snow has done everything the correct way so far for this franchise. I dont care if he was a backup goalie. Every1 pleaded for a rebuild and you got it. Yet theres still a problem. Dont forget that the whole entire team was hurt this year for extended period of time. Which was a blessing in disguise b/c it will potentially lead to John Tavares a potential franchise player. Peope have to stop fantasizing about their pipe dream trades and other fiascos that you think are going to fall on this franchises lap. If you ask me, and you want to see a joke of a team. Go look at our rivals, b/c that team is a mess and will be a mess for a long time, but if those are the kind of deals you want the isles to make, then go route for the rangers
CB, the most realistic trade the Isles could’ve made was made. Everybody wants a 1st rounder but that is unrealistic. As for the botched Saturday trade… I believe Guerin was in the loop all the way through and the team did not disrespect him… then the team scrambled at the deadline to move him when the original dance partner backed out.
Finally, I hope Buffalo and Carolina get hot, leapfrog past the Rags, and the Rags miss the playoffs. The Rags may be in the lottery, but the best they could hope for is a 10th round pick if the balls magically bounce their way and the first nine picks go to the teams finishing in the he last nine spots.
UIF….maybe Guerin DEMANDED an NT clause in his contract 2 years ago?
Think back….Snow was under the gun to SIGN ANYONE at that point of the UFA season in order to fill a roster.
Smyth- gone, Kozlov- gone, Poti- gone.
Who am I am I missing?
Too many people are making some wild assumptions and ignoring realities. And looking for too many things to blame the guy for..”Things” that he may have had no control over.
C’mon…someone posted above the The Hockey News Scribe gave Snow a B- for trade day.
THAT AIN’T BAD.
(Sather got a D+, and you won’t read about THAT in Newsday)
LET’S MOVE FORWARD. Guerin is gone.
Big whoop!! what the hell did he really contribute to this LAST PLACE TEAM?
Veterans had to be brought in to meet minimum cap space. Garth is going to have to rework some contracts and throw money around in the offseason just to meet the minimum cap.
the bottom line is that nobody wanted our players except for the untouchables (okposo, bailey etc.). just b/c isles fans have deemed that every single one of our players should bring back at least a 2nd round pick doesn’t mean that the other 29 nhl gm’s see things the same way. snow stole a first rounder from ottawa and got what he could for guerin. now on to the draft.
Hopefully the “new Guerin” will be younger and a 50-60 point guy. Erik Cole would be my main target, especially if we are going to be growing Nielsen and Bailey up the middle. But he’ll probably get an offer from carolina that Snow will beat… but it will be ignored because of the BIG TENT behind Snow.
Hunter, most likely, will get the “C”…yes… no matter how slow some people think he is. Hunter will most likely be THE NEW GUERIN on the right side. Second line RW, and “C”. He’s mature enough, and has 4 years left on his current deal. He needs to put a full season together like he had going before Frans got railroaded… and the whole team lost their stones with Gordo leaving Fritz on the bench… that game may just have guarenteed us last place.
jethro09 and Islanders 505…… we need a true heavyweight and a second player that is close to a true heavyweight but can take a regular shift and not be a rliability… we need to keep other teams honest and it opens up the ice for skill players… Not to mention this is a young rebuilding team and you bet your ass teams will be taking runs at our young guys like Bailey and Okposo.. They need to be protected… I just don’t get how something so obvious isn’t taken care of by Snow..
Oh wait…Guerin provided “leadership” and “hustle”(? I didn’t always see it).
Fine, he was a great leader.
So was Captain Edward Smith, of the White Star Line.
505…Isles could’ve retained many of those players if they chose instead of putting themselves in that situation. You’re right, I don’t know the whole story on any one move, and I’ll even say I don’t disagree necessarily with any one Garth move. But take them as a whole, and it’s impossible to see it all as anything but negative so far. And this whole “no one will come here,” and “no one wants our assets” every year…that situation didn’t create itself, and it can’t ALL be external factors.
I’ll concede utter frustration plays a part in my comments as well.
I’m going to pre-apologize for my 5th (or 6th) post on this thread… but I’m with 505 here. I am not a big Snow fan, but considering the position he was dropped into… man, we really can’t complain about the job he’s done.
He was named GM after a coach AND A GM had been hired already. So, as much as I liked Nolan, I understand him wanting to get his own guy and his own plan in place.
Gordon might not have been my choice, but I don’ think Snow could sell the crud he put on the ice to anybody else.
His 2008 draft wasn’t spectacular, but held to his vision of rebuilding the whole system.
His deadline moves were hindered by injury and HE STILL got a second first rounder.
This may not be what we want for the Islanders, but we can’t fault Snow just yet… This whole thing may be his only option and he really hasn’t dropped the ball yet.
Wang… on the other hand…
Please, we are not a much worse team without Guerin. This is a joke. Theres 18 games left in the season. We are in dead last and want to stay there. Theres nothing wrong with holding a player out of your lineup for a couple of days b4 the deadline. If Garth had a deal and it fell apart im sure it had nothing to do with Snow reconsidering. Honesty, if you cant post with any kind of intellect then dont. Some of the comments on here are mind boggling
I hope they target Chris Neil on July 1.
OK here is the realistic trade that the Islanders should have made: Doug Weight to playoff contender for conditional pick (the condition as follows: Weight doesn’t play and team doesn’t make playoffs- no pick…..Team makes playoffs and Weight plays during playoffs-5th round pick…….Team wins a round and Weight plays in playoffs-4th round pick).
That is VERY realistic for a guy that is almost at a point-a-game pace when healthy. If he WAS healthy he’d be worth a two (you even had a scout tell you that). There is NO point to keeping him here….NONE. If this team drafts Tavares, there is no room for him anyway. If they don’t, then bring in a different 3rd line center.
Also, too much is being made of age during all of this. All I’ve been hearing is, “Oh well Antropov is 28.” Who cares? ALL of these guys are UFAs at the end of the season and these guys don’t typically re-sign with the team they’re traded to anyway.
I don’t understand why everyone is having such a difficult time seeing this logic. Can someone please explain?
505:
If you have any doubt on Guerin’s character you have not followed his career. I am sure a large part of the reason he was signed is to be a mentor for our prized Okposo who is only hoped to be a similar player to Guerin. Remember Gillies was enlisted to tutor Bertuzzi, great strategy which worked real well for the Canucks!
No offence to 108, but let’s hope Okposo is everything more than Guerin was in his career. A player who has never performed in the playoffs, has played mostly on bad teams and when he was on a good team, did not shoulder an equal weight?
I like Guerin as much as the next.. but let’s stop acting like he’s good. He’s sucked for a few years now, and was never a star in his prime. Give me a break people.
streit02 I’m with you. it is getting difficult reading these posts. it’s either people do not read what CB writes & come here with an agenda. A 38 year old player who has 3 goals in the last 2 1/2 months. A NTC only approved to Eastern teams in contention. Every other GM knows this too. Plus his salary. It’s now 3 years & people are still bit”’n about Smith. Weight, Witt are vets who say they love it here & want to stay. Yet we get this whole why would any vet want to come here. It was probably 1 disgruntled person (SIM) talking to Logan & all of a sudden Gordon does not get a long with the vets. Bottom line is we were not going anywhere this year. We need to see what the kids can or can’t do. They are much more exciting to watch than that slow crap Nolan put out last year. If Smith & Nolan were / are so great why are they not in the NHL. There have been what 5 or 6 coaching changes this year. When the season started everyone was on here the other site everywhere get rid of Sim. Now he is gone & it’s like we got rid of Bossy.
streit02:105 What are you talking about? Please re-read my post as I think we are arguing the same point. You gotta cut back on the beers I think.
Tony (#76),
Late round draftees who “saw the light of day”
Rick Tocchet 6th round 440 goals, 512 assists and 952 points in 1144 games
Steve Larmer 120th overall pick 441 goals, 571 assists, and 1012 points in 1006 games
Gary Suter 9th round, career +126, 109th on scoring list, 845 points, in 1145 games played.
Doug Gilmour 7th 450 goals, and 964 assists for 1414 points in 1474 games
Luc Robitaille 9th round 1394 668 goals, 726 assists, 1394 points, 1431 games.
Theres two players on the Detroit Red Wings by the name of Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg who were drafted 171st and 210th overall…and don’t forget that Bruno Gervais was late round pick, as well as Petr Prucha, Jaroslav Halak, Dustin Byfuglien and many others
Bring on the big boy (that would be Fritz). Where are you Strummer? We need the President of the Mitch Fritz fan club to speak up here.
#33 Ray - you’re way off - AHL teams exist as farm teams for their NHL parents - no one cares about the Calder Cup. Guys like Smith and Joensuu who may have bright futures with the Islanders should play the rest of this meaningless season to see what they can do and get them ready for a run at the opening day roster next year.
CB I will give them a B also if they use Guerin’s spot to play Trevor Smith.
Otherwise I give them an A for the Chris Campoli trade and a N/A for trade deadline day.
I’m just curious what the original move was. I have this feeling he was going to Washington for something good so long as we agreed to take on Nylander. My guess is that Nylander used his no trade clause to kill the deal.
My frustration with Deadline day stems from Garth’s falure to bring back a warm body (a/k/a mid-level prospect) to place in an Islanders uniform. Since we have no assets we will trade, who is going to round out our lineup next season. On D, I think we’re OK, especially if we sign Gilroy (and Hedman would be a bonus–but we’re OK even if it’s Tavares). Since I suspect that Weight and Hilbert will be elsewhere next season, the depth chart at forward is looking woefully thin. Are there any UFA forwards 31 or under who would be a good fit next year?
Mike (112)… you just pointed out five late round picks over 25 years that have made it… If you want to go back that far, there are probably 25,000 guys that didn’t make it….. The chances of a 5th round pick making a “true impact” are rare… I think the question is are the percentages that particular pick ends up being worth more than what Guerin could have offered us the next 2/3 years?? What do I think Guerin had to offer? A huge frame (our team is small), heart (a 38 year old man had to drop the gloves the other night with a 6′5 D-man when Bergenheim wouldn’t stand up for himself, some decent skill and goals left (he’s not the Guerin of 1998, but he’s not dead yet), leadership for a young team, the ability to wear the “C”, and actually enjoy playing for this team…. I think 2 or 3 years of that while our young kids grow up offer more than the chances (1 in 25,000) that the 4th or 5th round pick ends up being Steve Larmer… Not to be arrogant, but does this pretty much sum up the debate of Guerin??
Ryan (112)… did you just actually mention Bruno Gervais in the same sentence as Zetterburg and Datsyuk as late round picks that made it???? The same Gervais that scored his first goal in two years the other night and is lucky he isn’t in the AHL…… geez.. what a comparison!!… this blog is out of control when I see comparisons like that..
Hi Chris,
Regarding the Recchi deal and parallels to Billy Guerin’s worth, the B’s really wanted the lefty shot of Recchi - so while the $ was an issue as well, Recchi helps fill a gap for the Bs better than Billy. They still overpaid IMO.
Cam…said that already!
just a heads up - Kate Murray will be on News 12 At 5:50 to talk about the lighthouse…
10 years = 10 coaches. Lets lighten up on Gordon
My god, can some of us get a grip already. Garth Snow did not get hosed on this deal with the Pens, he got exactly what Bill Guerin was worth when taking everything into context. Guerin is 38, has a No trade in contract, looked bad a lot this year and could for all we know retire at the end of the season. What GM in their right mind would give up a prospect/pick combo, let alone a 2nd rounder. Snow got fair value, even if some of you are to blind to see it.
Also, All this Garth Snow is a moron, Islanders are a laughing stock stuff is old already and needs to stop. I’ll admit, I was very anti-Snow in the beginning and then I actually stepped back and looked at Garth Snow’s recent work and I rethought how I looked at him. He doesn’t deserve all this sky is falling reactions to all his moves and decisions, really. Garth Snow is actually doing a good job considering what Mike Milbury left behind.
I like to think of it like this. There was no doubt in my mind—at the time—that Dave Chyzowski and Scott Scissons were going to be great NHL players—why—because Bill Torrey drafted them and he build a dynasty, so how could he get this wrong. Well, we all know how that turned out, point being is see how winning changes your perception of someone’s capability. After all the losing and Milbury madness, no Isles fan can actually give Snow a change to right this ship. It’s going to take time and regardless of your Snow hate, the Islanders had one of the best 2008 drafts. Garth Snow is responsible for that. Have some hope for a change, people.
TimQ (78) Time will tell. I know that superstar GM’s and scouts and coaches don’t get to be that way without a little time patience and a few mistakes along the way.
Better than bringing in players that have been in many systems, taught many times over and are still looking for success.
CB, I think the prices were kinda high though yesterday. Derek Morris? Look what he got. (I know Sather is in panic mode) Dominick Moore a 2nd?
If Garth got poor offers which we will never know then I don’t blame him for not giving up guys for nothing.
As for tonight, can’t wait. I’ll be there losing it.
(114) No, you are mistaken. Listen to what you just said. Our young up and coming players should bail out on playing for a championship so they can play a [using your word] meaningless season here. Sorry pal, you pretty much proved my point.
Plus, guys like Joensuu and Smith we all know have bright futures and they should continue to shine in the AHL playoffs than playing here in “meaningless games.”
Logan’s reporting that “the Wrecker” is getting the call tonight!
The wrecker! the youth movement is officially on (even more).
Mrlbem (116): My frustration lies not with failing to get back a prospect or quality picks, but in getting back crap for Guerin. It just seems to me that Snow felt, for whatever reason, that he HAD to trade Guerin and take whatever garbage was offered the other way. And to me, that was a mistake. Snow didn’t HAVE to trade Guerin. He put himself in that position by being so hell-bent on stockpiling picks that he probably alienated Guerin by asking him repeatedly to waive his clause. I think the stuff with Gordon was only secondary. Nobody heard a peep about the supposed “friction” between Gordon and Guerin until Guerin already had one foot out the door.
Lots of teams did nothing yesterday, including teams that are “rebuilding”. Atlanta did nothing. Toronto did minimal. Colorado did nothing. St. Louis did nothing (I know, they’re in striking distance from the playoffs). You dont HAVE to deal a player away because he’s old.
A smart GM analyzes the players on his roster and determines what value they have to his team, not necessarily what their trade value is. If the player’s value to the organization is more than his trade value, you don’t move the player in a trade. I just think a re-signed Guerin would have been more valuable to the Islanders than a fifth round pick. Hell, if the Isles tank next season as well, they could have re-visited trading Guerin at next year’s deadline, when his trade value may have been higher than it was this year.
I’m guessing its not for his offense…
Phil,
he’s going to play the best 1:46 in his entire career.
makes we want to get a conditional pick on the rocks.
Robert (#117)… drop Guerin’s jock strap off at McCarthur for next day air, he needs it back ASAP. I could have listed many more late round picks that saw the light of day but I’m not going to waste my time to make a simple point. Point is, you never know what you are going to get.
Snow didn’t do a terrible job considering all the mitigating circumstances in trading Guerin, NTC, no demand, original deal fell thru. Also, none of us know the internal dynamics of the locker room. We get the white washed, PR, ’smile like a fool and dance’ sound bites. Maybe he needed to go??
The Isles stink and we have few players anyone wants (other than those we want to keep and develop). If we want to rebuild it will start with the draft so let’s accumulate some picks.
Guerin is in the eve of his career and besides leadership wasn’t adding much to the team on the ice. It’s done, over, move on. Hopefully we beat the Rangers and then end the season with many hard fought, close games that end in losses.
BTW, thanks for not being arrogant. I think you attempted to sum up your view with valid albeit weak arguments. Bottom line is you can make a case either way (this is realized sans arrogance) but it is a moot point since Snow runs the team not us. Snow sent him packing.
Steve-O (93)… re: “Why it really works is that we are a much worse team right now without Guerin’s hustle, leadership and dedication.”
Uh, you sure about that? I bet you would get a different opinion from Buffalo and Colorado.
Jethro, I think the fact that Guerin had a NTC it made his value much less. I hear you though about getting crap back. The Gordon thing did kinda make it sound like he was gone.
Colorado made a trade and got a 2nd round pick and prospect.
Toronto I thought did a good job getting picks back but Atlanta did nothing.
All in all, the veterans we have on this team play hard and are valued players so I think we are all right.
Just a thought: Useless late round pick? Jason Blake went undrafted.
guerin was signed cause we needed one name player on our team. we overpaid him to come here and be the face of a dying franchise. He appears to be a great guy and a team leader, but he wanted to come here as little as we wanted him. But we both needed each other. Wang sold 20,000 #13 jerseys, and guerin got 9 million bucks to play with a bunch of AHL kids who quite frankly are better than him.
We dont need him, and we certainly dont need to sign another guy LIKE him next year. We need guys who can skate and score, not take ceremonial faceoffs.
7th Woman (135): anyone can cherry pick a few gems that were found either late in the draft or undrafted over the entire history of the amateur draft. The odds and percentages are long against anyone in the fifth round making it to the NHL or being a worth-while player if they do.
Rechlicz and Joensuu per M.Fornabio
Robert(118) I wasn’t comparing anyone to anyone…All I was stating was players who were late round draft picks that have “seen the light of day” in the NHL. Never once did I say Gervais was of the same talent level or skill level of Datsyuk or Zetterberg. However all three of those players weren’t drafted in the first 3 rounds so in essence they do have something in common
tonight may be a blood bath
Couldn’t read any of these back seat gm posts. It’s getting ridiculous. They should’ve, would’ve, could’ve done this or that but not one person commenting was even close to Garth or J when these negotiations were going on. Clueless throwing scenarios out as if they are plausable because you imagine them to be. Completely and utterly ridiculous. CB fans also disagreed with your “the team should tell the fans something” opinion on the basis that we already knew what was going on. Why do we need to be told something we already know? Why would Garth want to put himself out there for more ridicule? The guy does nothing right in some of the fans eyes and they would’ve complained that he didn’t explain it well enough or that he made a weird noise when talking and they hate him. Those are the people who wanted a statement because it would’ve gave them something else to complain about. The higher percentage of us were fine with knowing he was taken out because there was a trade on the table. Any idiot could see that.
7th Woman…
Great pick..Jason Blanke became a star right around his 33rd birthday.
Garth, please pick someone who will take 12 years to develop so he can become a marginal player like Jason Blake. DO IT!!
Our scouting department sucks. They scare me the most. More than Snow and Gordon. Way too many busts and passed over way too many locks. I still cant believe we passed on Parise.
Steve-0 - i wasnt attacking your quote personally, just some quotes in general. I agree w/ everything you wrote, except that we are a much worse team w/o Guerin. Sorry didnt mean to sound like i was coming at you. I could use a few beers though lol
Isles called up the Wrecker for tonights game.
Jason Blake was not drafted by the Islanders. Nice sarcasm though
Here’s a deal I would have been really happy with: guerin, witt, weight and a draft pick or two (not first round) for Jay Boumeester (providing he agree to a long term deal). I’d even include Martinek if they asked. What do you think?
Can all the bickering parrots stop please. It really takes away from the enjoyment of this website.
anyone want to guess the fan percentage tonight?
I am saying 70/30 rangers to isles. soundling like 90/10 rangers to isles.
106. I’ll explain it to you. Even though I love everyone’s opinion and most seem intelligent the majority are Homers. Snow can do no wrong. Wang is our hero (I’ll never understand this thought) and people like you and I are negative. Good Luck!
i think 10 K rangers fans tonight unfortunately….
The Wrecker is comin to town???
And his first NHL game is going to be Isles v Rags??? That is so frickin COOL!
I’m gunna go with 60/40 rangers to Isles and depending on who’s winning and how the game is played thats who will sound louder
Any predictions for the score tonight?
What I would like to see this offseason. Draft Tavares and go after UFA Komi and for toughness Chris Neil. Now with our kids we have the start of something. Also make Witt the captain, he deserves it. And I’d love to see us kick the crap out of the Rags tonight.
You have no idea how happy I am to see Rechlicz being called up. Great for that kid, he’s awesome both on & off the ice@
And this is to all the Rags fans posting here: We already KNOW you are Rangers fans. If youre into this place, good for Chris Bottas site and good for his hits and all that. But seriously, get over yourselves- you are not fooling any of us.
With so many people putting this taem down, do us all a favor STOP WATCHING. Gurein was ok but face facts what did he do over the last 25 games? 38 years old UFA this summer and some think he is worth a #2 round,STOP. In todays game with salary cap you need to build this team through the draft. Why go to the playffs every year only to get ousted in the first round? Sounds like some people here may not have been alive when we won 4 cups or they just started watching this team. Those 4 cups were made possible due to the draft picks. Give Snow a chance if you are just going to complain all the time do not follow the team
THE WRECKER!!!!
My fourth and last, but Isles 75 - I’m moving in the opposite direction you are. I was OK with Garth in that first year…even the Smyth trade I was fine with. Since then, I’ve vowed to try and be patient, but I have to wonder what “recent work” you’ve been watching. Streit’s nice, for sure. Other than that? (KO, Bergy, Comeau are not Garth’s doing, other than not foolishly trading them. 08 draft class…we’ll see – I hated the trade down at the time, and CB’s recent post on our prospect ratings wasn’t exactly vindication).
I’ve said I think the Isles are two years away from competing for a playoff spot with some savvy GM moves. I still agree with that, but I’m just not sure we’ll get those “savvy GM moves” we need. We’ll see. I’ve been wrong many times before.
THE WRECKER !!!!
How I wish I was going to the game…..
If only Fritz was coming up too !
To CB:
Please clarify something in your blog from yesterday. From the PB entry it seems Garth Snow had a deal in place prior to the Buffalo. However, garth snow is quoted as saying…”He never had a deal in place”…THAT’S a huge detail that needs to clarified considering how Snow created a whole lot of NOTHING in the 4 days after pulling Bill from the Buffalo game.
As somebody else already said, The Wrecker and Joensuu are the two forward call ups.
All those who keep bring up how our scouting department sucks. First of all, since Milbury finally went away there has been a big overhaul to our scouting staff. Botta actually wrote on this blog about it. Only a hand full of people remain from Milbury’s reign of terror. Second Snow didn’t pass on Parise, Milbury did. Finally, on trading down last year. After much thought I’m glade we didn’t take Filatov. Yes, he had great upside, but he was very small people. In the NHL, Filatov loses his big advantage: his speed with the bigger rinks. In the NHL he going to experience a lot more physical contact and that could bring his game down a lot once everyone learns his tendencies.
Mike (132)… all I can say is, you want to make your point as badly as I do, and we both are a bit “my way or the highway”, arrogant???… but the best thing you said is “bottom line you could make a case either way”…. Like I said in an earlier response, I was a “trade em all” type of guy on this blog….I’m all about stock-piling picks…was never a huge Guerin guy, I just took a closer look at what he brings to the team when the Pens didn’t give us good value for him…..and if you give me the directions to the airport, I’ll drop off that jock……. right after you help the scouting staff find us the next Doug Gilmour in the 7th round… Cheers, and here’s to a great 2009 draft!
Wrecker is a light heavy who seems to be being fast tracked for tonight’s game. # AHL games after bouncing up from an unproductive, though violent ECHL stint.
Let’s hope he’s not “cold” when Orr is looking for a dance partner…
I’m not a big fan of the “you wann go”, “okay, let’s do it” fights.
You know JJ has had a few scuffles also… they probably should bring up Morency who might remind people of… dare I say it… STEVE…. WEBB.
Any insight from the BP faithful?
I love the new fighter weight-classifications. Wrecker is 6′4″, 220 lbs. But that’s now considered a light heavyweight, thanks to guys like Laraque (240 lbs), Boogard (270 lbs), etc. On the other hand, Wrecker’s stats are the same as Godard (also 6′4″ 220, I believe). If he does well against Orr, maybe we can consider him a true heavy-weight?
And, not to sound crotchety, but it wasn’t too long ago that Bomber was our “Heavyweight.” Kenny went 6′1″ 200 lbs.
My how times have changed…
I really, really hope Joensuu plays tonight..The kid was red hot in Bridgeport(9 pts & a +9 in last 6 games)…goals in 3 out of his last 4 games(4 of 5 counting his Isles game)..His +20 was best on the team and good for 7th best overall in AHL..He has played in 3 different World Junior Championships for Finland..Scored in his first NHL game, and almost had two goals…The kid is ready! He’s Red Hot, he’s confident, don’t let this chance slip away!
This organization has been badly mismanaged for a very long time. Bad moves have been more the rule than exception. We just traded our captain for a conditional 5th rounder in a 4 day soap opera. How many other organizations do that? Personally, I would have preferred BG and Weight back next year to mentor. But that’s not the point. The point is this org has not EARNED our trust nor deserve the benefit of the doubt in 15+ years. There is definitely a cumulative effect frustration working here which is larger than any given trade itself. Personally, I think we are finally heading in the right direction but not so sure we have the right experienced captain and still have alot of water in the boat. Hope we get there.
i see avery has grown alot lol.
#150 Matt, I’m wondering if you think people are homers because you see them agree ALL of the time or is it just that everytime something’s going on (with the Isles) you see some people agree with it. Meaning are you actually keeping track of each posters opinions or do you just always read some posts that are agreeable and assume they’re the same people who agreed with the previous Snow moves. I can speak for myself and tell you that I am objective and don’t always agree but sometimes I do. It seems anytime we do agree with anything this club does we’re called “homers”. I’m just wondering if the people using this term are objective in their own assesments of the team (do they/you ever agree with a thing the team does)? Just curious.
There are a ton of Rags fans that think they are going to win huge tonight. I would really love to have the Isles shove it down their throats. I hope that the players and franchise realize that even when the Isles are in the doldrums it is still possible to build and gain respect, and a strong showing with a big win against at revamped team who made cup-run trades is a great way to do it.
anyone else feel bad for Sim ?
I can understand if it was a numbers game and he had to sit out -but come on man .
I must say I’m really confused by those of you who think keeping and resigning Guerin would have been preferable to the trade for a conditional pick.
Admit it, you are the same people who ripped Snow a new one for not dealing Fedotenko, Satan, Vasicek and others at last year’s deadline — even for a bag of pucks.
The Isles paid Guerin almost $8 million for two very mediocre seasons on Long Island. Remember that he was part of “plan C” on free agency day after Smyth decided to move on and Snow was rebuffed by every other high value FA (Briere, Drury, Gomez) to whom he made some big $$$ offers.
He retained Witt (a good move) and will probably resign Weight (who can be the Captain and, with Witt, fill the role of veteran leadership). Guerin, while a good guy, has been on a downward slide and, while a 5th round pick ain’t much, I have a hard time believing that Snow could have done better given the very few teams to whom Guerin would agree to go to coupled with the minimal demand for his services.
There are some here that suggest that packaging Guerin with others would have netted us more. In a cap era, quantity is often NOT what is attractive to other teams and even those with cap space will not give up anything of value for someone else’s pile of throw aways.
Bouwmeester for Guerin, Martinek and some picks…really???? Does anyone think there is a GM dumb enough to do that? You want Bouwmeester? Be prepared to start with Okposo because Florida is not making a deal for two senior citizens and a couple of picks even if they lose J-Bo as a free agent.
Time for a reality check.
Guerin is a nice guy, but was totally expendable. Hopefully the Pens win a round and it becomes a 3rd rounder. That would then be a good trade. Snow has been doing a respectable job so far. Give the man a chance. A rebuild will not happen in one season. We are looking for 18 yo kids to mature into NHL players. Playing in the AHL playoffs is a bigger deal then playing for last place.
To post 171. I agree with some of what this club does but not much. Did not agree with trading down. Still don’t. Snow has made some decent moves and some bad ones like most GM’s do. I don’t think having little kids running around your table during the draft in Ottawa is professional, do you? The Campoli trade I thought was a good move by Snow and he deserves some credit for it. The Guerin trade I want to forget about. Last years draft I didn’t really get. Guess we will find out in a couple. Didn’t like passing on Filatov or Schenn.
As for the homer comment to me it refers to anyone who believes Wang no matter what he says and thinks every move Snow makes is brilliant and defendable instead of just saying wow that was bad. Also a homer to me is someone that would call me a Ranger fan for having an opinion.
Post 174. Weight is going to be our captain? Do you have any idea how old he is? Would be nice to have a captain for longer than a year I would think.
Yes, I know exactly how old Weight is but his experience and leadership are invaluable particularly to what will be a very young team.
Wouldn’t shock me if they made Weight captain, what the he!! they made Guerin captain without him ever playing a game for us. You could chalk that up to another thing I disagree with post 171. Right up there with having your number 1 goalie “playing” while he is injured. No matter what I still love the team. I have had quite a few friends give up and they’ve been fans as long as me (25-30 years). Just call me a whipping boy.