BUDAJ OUT-PLAYS LUONGO, A COUNTRY REJOICES
COL 4, VAN 1, top-2 pick closer to reality
12:32 am - Islanders Country, that is. That is why you don’t bet on NHL games. With four games remaining for both, the Islanders have 61 points, Colorado now has 66. Tampa Bay also has 66 points and three games left. If the Islanders lose in regulation on Tuesday in Carolina and on Thursday in Pittsburgh - a big if - they “clinch” a top 2 pick and the best odds of getting the No. 1 pick.
Thanks to Petr Budaj (20 saves) and T.J. Galiardi (2 goals tonight after 10 all year in the minors), the Islanders are very close to adding John Tavares or Victor Hedman as a cornerstone piece to the rebuild. That is, assuming they are the team’s top two players in the draft. Not being coy. The Islanders are not saying, so we do not know. After last year’s draft, we’re never jumping to conclusions again.
Comments. In case you haven’t heard, more good news: Kate Murray has dropped her phony Islanders Fan First petition. Talk about that in the next thread.
85 Responses to “BUDAJ OUT-PLAYS LUONGO, A COUNTRY REJOICES
COL 4, VAN 1, top-2 pick closer to reality”
Please Wait
As an Islander fan we can never take anything for granted
not for granted but for sure
lose in carolina and pittsburgh in regulation and this is over on thursday. the law of averages was due to kick in and it did! the avs were due for a win.
i’m sure john r and the other play hard guys want the isles to win out
I kind of hope it ends by thursday, I would like to start rooting for the islanders to win again
>(5) great comment, couldn’t agree more
I have been hitting refresh on tsn.ca all night watching the COL score. I couldn’t be happier that they are tied with Tampa. Tampa needs to come in 2nd to last and we need to come in last. This way if Tampa does win the lottery, we can still land Tavares. There is no way, no way, Tampa is gonna pass up Hedman when they need defense badly and have Stamkos and Vinny as they’re top two centers for years to come. 2 more loss’s guys…come on, you can do it. You owe it to us. Now is the time to lose. You were great at it in Dec-Jan. just 2 more games….
It’s over and Tavares will be in the opening day lineup next year.
Let’s just hope it’s somewhere in Nassau County.
Please shutdown Streit and Kyle for the season
after i saw the score i immediately thought “CB better have a little write up about this!”. glad to see you didn’t let me down. GOD BLESS COLORADO! it’s FINALLY dawning on me we’re about to lock one of two true difference makers. could something finally go the isles way??
Since we must of course also derive out of Ranger pain, those clowns are in big big BIG danger of missing the playoffs, with only 1 W separating themselves and the Panthers. FLA is @ Atlanta and Philly and home for the Caps to finish out; The Rags are at the Garden for Montreal and a home-and-home with the Flyers. The Flyers are still fighting for home ice in round one, so have plenty to play for. This could be fun.
What an emotional swing. After last night’s easy win I was livid, and tonight I’m nearly ecstatic. Also, I’m relieved that hopefully the “watch” is almost over and the season isn’t a total waste.
never thought i would be so happy to finish last!
#5 in a big way - I want this team to win…. just not until we clinch!
Lets go Avs/TB
Can’t wait to root for my team to win. Would love to finish off the season with a few wins and Okposo with 20
Islanders1984 (#5) - well said!
Yeah.
A little more breathing room.
Islanders1984 - spot on. It’s been painful having to root against my team and not enjoy wins, but in my opinion, it’s for the greater good which is to say the future…
Yes , that’s exactly what I want. I want the Islanders to win out and the Avs and Lightning to lose so that we miss out on a cornerstone player. I’ve been praying for this scenario because there’s no way I want a top two player playing for our Islanders. Or wait, oh yeah, that’s right, I actually said I was only tired of hearing the whining about what might possibly happen in the future. And there were people getting all hysterical over the Isles winning a game and acting as if the season was over and we lost one of the picks. Low and behold the Avs won and all of the silly worrying seems like it could’ve been for nothing, just like I pointed out. I’m sure you understand now? If you were going to point me out you should’ve said, “Hey John, you were right, I got mad and was worrying over nothing”.
Tavheduch watch?
MAYBE Duchenne (in case we don’t win the lottery).
Hedman will become an instant “who?” once Snow signs Gilroy following the completion of the Frozen Four this coming weekend.
Who’s got more cap space than the Isles?
Just my opinion….
Not just the cap space…but signing Gilroy and properly “PR’ing” the signing (local star comes home? Where’s his home?)
could generate a whole new ground swell and more pressure on Kiss Me Kate to toe the line on the LH.
Not to mention the effect of a marquee of Tavares and Gilroy joining the Isles would have on advance season ticket sales.
The fact that Gilroy is easily the most sought after free agent player to come out of college in years (ever?), a Hobey Baker finalist, and possibly the MVP of the Frozen Four Tournament (hey, why not add some more wishful thinking)…makes his signing by Snow a MUST. And Snow is pretty good at those types of signing…..(See Jack Hillen).
Just my opinion…I could be wrong.
Git ‘er done Garth.
i feel so jubilant sitting here writing my english paper due tomm. knowing that we might have either tavares (please God, make it happen, we deserved it after going through so many torments)or hedman in our system next yr. the fruitless season has at last come to fruition.
Do we need Gilroy? Actually the defense looks pretty good for next year with
Witt/Martinek
Streit/Gervais
Sutton/Hillen
with FMV And Callahan in reserve.
Callahan really impressed me in his time up here and I think he deserves a real shot next year.
Gervais has taken the next step up and one has to wonder if trading Campoli was addition by subtraction.
So do we need Gilroy? A wise man once said you can never have enough D men.
What’s the thought……SW
New marketing angle for the Isles for 09/10……a play on the old “Kilroy Was Here” theme.
“Gilroy IS here….and Tavares too).
SW…
You can never have enough D men.
SW - I think you summed it up in the last little section of your comment. Although you make a solid point by saying trading Campoli was addition by subtraction, IMO Gilroy is well worth the shot we might take at him.
if there is any chance of us signing gilroy, although i am more pessimistic about that than i am reading here…. you can thank okposo for it…. he is coming into a stride as a true NHLer and the opportunity to play with him and possibly tavares or hedman as a young rebuilding team is what will bring gilroy here, if anything. okposo made a big jump out of college to commit to this team and has been true character and hard worker the whole way, and is the true bright spot so far this season… now THAT was a smart play by snow, getting okposo to decide to develop in the nhl instead of more college.
BIG game for the Avs and the Isles. Didn’t think Colorado had it in them to finally win one down the stretch.
Isles can go 2-2 in the next four and be safe. A combination of one Isles loss and one win for both Tampa and Colorado seals the deal.
Do we really need Gilroy?
No, we’re only in 30th place. Sheesh.
Im not a big fan of our D..and you gotta think after next year Martinek and Witt will be traded right? I want Gilroy…Im also not a big fan of Grevais so yeah.
Can someone explain to me why Gilroy is so sought after? I don’t understand why a guy who may be getting 2 million dollars before ever stepping foot in the pro leagues never got drafted before?
So with getting closer to sealing one of the first 2 picks… anyone else wanna focus on florida tied with the rags for the 8th spot. LETS GO HABS AND PANTHERS!!! keep the rags out. Nothing more will boost my confidence as an islanders fan than saying “I’d rather not make the playoffs and get a 1-2 pick than a 14th!!!!
:)
Not a fan of Gervais?
Geezzzz… what does a guy have to do? He’s been terrific. Good speed. Solid passer. Good decisions with the puck. Joins the rush nicely.
DOC
I just checked TSN.com at 4:45am (I was lying in bed wondering about the Colorado score)to see AVS won!After weeks and weeks of scoreboard watching it looks like we’re close to a top 2 pick.If I’m not mistaken Isles have 3 of the first 31-33 picks and 6 of the first 61-63 picks,right? With some good prospects in the system and this coming draft this is the most optimistic I’ve felt in many years.
I can’t believe the Avs beat Vancouver. Thank you Peter Budaj
way to go Avalanche !
A profitable night. On Tuesday besides Islanders-Canes, Pittsburh is at Tampa and Colorado at San Jose. I agree with post 5, lets get this over with and enjoy the final 2 home games Sat-Sunday.
I don’t know how Colorado did it. I had on the NHL Network and everytime they went to live coverage it looked like the Canucks were on a power play at even strength. The entire play was in the Colorado zone. Thank God they won
We need Gilroy bad. We are very thin on defensive prospects.
With all the buzz about Gilroy I decided to look into him a little bit. His stats are good, but not great (8G, 28A in 43 Games this year) and he is 25 playing in a league of 20 year olds. He is only 195 pounds at 6′2″ so he would definitely need to add somne bulk. He is a Hobey Baker finalist, but winning the Hobey Baker is definitely not a sure fire path to NHL greatness (see Jason Krogg and many others). I haven’t read anything that predicts he will be great, just that he is highly sought after. I know we are under the cap, but do we really want to throw $2mil+ to a 25 year old undrafted free agent or are we just enamored with the idea of someone from the Island playing for the Islanders (see Komisarek)?
PS: Tavares or bust!
This is where we go on a 4 game winning streak!
The ‘Lanch did what? Huh? Really? Your kidding!! No way…..
Re: Tavares…I wonder if he becomes an Islander, will the NHL be as eager to promote him as they were with Crosby and Ovechkin. We all are well aware of the fact that the NHL and the Islanders don’t always get along very well.
But Tavares, if he comes along with the same NHL marketing juggernaut that was extended to Pittsburgh, could be a real off-ice boon to this franchise…if he lives up to expectations there will be a lot of new Canadian Islander fans as they follow Tavares’s career.
Any thoughts? Hedman, as a European player who is less well-known, would not carry the same cachet as Tavares who has been called “the next Gretzky” since he was 12.
I think Tavares would be pleasantly surprised to find out that Long Island isn’t the hockey death pit that all Canadian media outlets like to say. He knows Bailey a little bit and having lots of younger players around will help him enjoy his ride here.
Don’t pick Tavares because he’s a better marketing chip than Hedman pick him because your professional scouting staff believes he is the best player available at our slot. That said I believe JT would sell a hell of a lot more jerseys than Hedmen. Heck I’d buy one.
With regards to Gilroy I’d like to see a hometown talent playing for the Isles but I can’t see the team matching the offer that Burke and the TML organization will probably throw at him.
Matt (Post43) You hit the nail on the head.This franchise needs a “star” to attract publicity and bring in some more attention.Tavares is the logical pick if they can get him.
Let Toronto overpay Gilroy — what you currently see from him is what you are going to get. He’s not a savior and he’s already (technically) entering his ‘prime years’
As for Hedman/Tavares, take Hedman. Isles initially built themselves around a DMan. PLUS, Drafting Hedman over Tavares puts them in better shape for a Top3 pick next year as well.
I’ve watched Gilroy a few times over the last two years - yes, he looks good….but you NEED to keep in mind that is is 25 and playing against 19-20 year old kids. Think of it this way - why is DiBenedetto not considered a blue chip prospect? Gilroy is basically an overaged Junior player. $2M+ per year is a lot to pay for that.
Question on Gilroy… and other college FA’s such as Hillen and Bozak were…
Why are they allowed to be FA’s and are not subject to the NHL draft??
JSpitz….Our D isn’t all that bad. Despite having a terrible team, there have only been a handful of games where we’ve gotten killed. Don’t forget injuries didn’t help either. We NEED a franchise scorer on this team. For many many reason that have been repeated here over and over.
John Tavares is the man.
2 in a row…….thats it….lose the next 2!! Then win out and put smiles on all our faces
Joey303 - good idea. Lose on the road. Win two at home. everyone ends the season happy.
id rather save the money on Gilroy and sign a proven NHL dman to a bigger deal this summer. Give me Komisarek and Tavares and our 35 second round picks and Ill be the happiest guy in Islanders Country. Till we move out of town of course. Thanks Kate you HO-BAG….
Giaco - they were never drafted in the years they were eligible, and now they are too old to be drafted, so they are free agents. North American players can only be drafted between the ages of 18-20.
I watched the game. The Avs played really well blocking a lot of shots and cashing in on opportunities. Only 2 regulation losses away from a top 2 pick. What a glorious day
I too will be ecstatic when I can again enjoy watching an Isles win.
Thank you Avs.
We all know players don’t tank.
Tanking is done by management with the way they give out ice time and at what time in the game it’s given out.
Also by the players they dress.
Congrats to T.J. Galiardi for getting 2 goals after 10 years in the minors.
All of the Tanking talk is way over the line. Losing a game is one thing, however, throwing games are another. For playing an AHL roster all year, sitting out NHL veterans and for bending and abusing the NHL rules all year; I hope you get the #2 pick and Hedman never laces up the skates in the NHL. That would be perfect. I am a hockey fan and it makes me sick to see some of the posts placed on this site. Hoping to lose, do you people have ANY PRIDE.
I hope this is all over tomorrow, an Isles loss with a TB and Col win puts all this to rest
Don’t know if anyone else posted this but Milbury and his co-anchor at NBC (forget his name) were very complimentary (more the co-anchor) of the Isles rebuilding this year- they basically said “they’re doing it right”.
And now this? Optimism amongst Islander fans? Clearly- this is bizarro world.
Nice to see you at the game CB- cheers.
39&47 have it right, a 25 year old starring in College makes NHL success tough to project. After lottery is finalized Isles can decide…If it looks like Hedman is coming to LI, then there is no need for Gilroy (Especially at those $’s). If Isles really feel they could get Komiserek at reasonable $’s, it would seem to make more sense.
I would bet Snow feels like he will have brought in enough young talent in the last 2 drafts, that he does not have to overpay for unproven talent.
Hillen, Beniviglio, Henniger….All three together are not worth the money Gilroy will get from Toronto.
milbury saying the isles were doing it right? does that mean we’re not trading our goalie and then drafting another goalie this year?
Staten I - we’re trading our #1 to Colordado for Budaj, he must be great to have stolen that game!!!11!one!
To # 56 - Take a hike and mind your own business.
#56 go find a new home on the RAG’s website.
I am not a Rangers fan, I am a hockey fan. What would happen in the NHL if all of the GM’s decided to do the same. It would destroy the league. The very notion that Milbury thinks that the Islanders are doing this right is scary in itself. I did not break any of CB’s rules, I just spoke the truth. Because the truth bothers you, not my fault.
(48) They were never drafted in their eligible draft years (18-20). Hence their unrestricted free agents.
BTW- I have said it before here and will continually repeat until Gilroy signs elsewhere. Victor Hedman won rookie of the year at the age of 17/18 in arguably the second best pro league in the world next to the NHL. Matt Gilroy is 25 years old and still playing in college. Hedman is a potential franchise player, Gilroy is a potential number 3-4 defenseman.
What are the chances if the Bolts get the 1st pick that they take Hedman leaving Taveres for the 2nd pick???
Who is Taveras comparable to? Stamkos? Anyway, he has to be better than Dave Chyzowski!
so cruicky you are saying that the isles are throwing games?? have you watched them lately….??
If the isles were throwing games they wouldn’t have defeated the Bolts with minor leaguers ease. We as Isles fans can hope for a number 1 pick overall and that doesn’t make us any less of an Isles or Hockey fan for that matter as long as the players don’t have that mentality. That rags fan is a $h@t stirir. Ignore him
I d rather see them lose to carolina and pitt….and beat philly and boston
Hooray! Colorado wins a game! Maybe now all of the pathetic whining about how the team we all allegedly support needs to LOSE games can stop. What? I should read some of the comments in this thread before I assume that? Never mind.
Nice, however, that Matt Gilroy’s status has given some of you something else to piss and moan about - you know, when we’re taking a break from praying to the gods that our team LOSES, that is. First of all, the kid is still 24. Stop adding a year to try and support your baseless arguments. Second, do you know anything about college hockey? He ain’t playing against mostly 18-19 year olds, so stop trying to make it seem like he’s some freak who’s 5 or 6 years older than everyone he’s playing against. Not a huge number of college hockey players who enter college directly from HS. Usually they’ve gone to prep schools or played some time in the lower junior ranks first. It’s common for college hockey players to be in their 20s, especially if they stick around all 4 years.
And those of you who want to belittle the potential of a college FA should educate yourselves on that, too. Is taking one of these kids a gamble? Sure. But I would argue that it’s less of a gamble than selecting someone in the 1st round of a draft, as you’ve got more of a body of work to evaluate. Sometimes a kid is just a late bloomer (my favorite example of this: Adam Oates, who wasn’t highly recruited to RPI, and then signed with the Detroit organization at age 23 - went on to a pretty decent pro career, I believe) and/or maybe they’ve changed positions (FYI: Matt Gilroy was a forward before emerging as a stud D @ BU). Guys like this are definitely worth the risk, especially if you could get them to sign a two-way contract.
And, finally - sorry, CB, was away from the computer this weekend - it was Pierre McGuire who was praising the Isles yesterday. And that was nice. But he ruined any credibility that could have been attached to those comments when he looked @ Milbury and credited him for the players “he left for Garth Snow.” I thought I was gonna throw something at the tv.
I really hope we trade down and pick up Duchene at #3. Maybe we can get an extra #1 pick for that type of move. Throw in Snow’s penchant and Isles draft history it makes too much sense not to.
milbury shouldnt even be allowed to earn a paycheck involving hockey in any way after what he did to this franchise…
Marc(71)…thanks for an intelligent analysis of the Gilroy situation ..
(CB) what do the scouts say on his upside?
To Cruicky or whatever you are, fans rooting for a better (in this case closer to the # 1) is far from lacking in pride. I know I am wasting my time trying to educate you, but clearly your ruse isn’t of interest to Islander fans. “I am a hockey fan” - keep telling yourself that. As if you would happy if your team won out in meaningless games and blew a shot at the # 1. You go on hoping that the Isles bad luck continues and I will go on rooting for you to hopefully, one day, find yourself living outside of your parents house.
Marc from troy-
I respect your opinion, but my main point of contention is some fans think that Gilroy is an alternative for Hedman which I disagree with.
I would not have a problem with signing Gilroy (at a reasonable price, I admit I am not sold on him as anything more than a 3-4 at best) and drafting Hedman. I just don’t believe their comparable players in terms of talent and potential. It would be like saying sign Bozak so we don’t have to draft Tavares.
I understand your argument with Oates, but we’re talking about a player in Gilroy who is looking for a multi-million dollar deal.
My argument with Gilroys age is he’s going to be 25 on opening night 2009-10 and he hasn’t played any level of pro hockey. I respect the level of college hockey but the top talent does not usually stick around for 4 years.
Not going to hog the forum any longer.
mm30 (76)… Your concerns are valid, and I’m not going to dispute a single one of them. I am in agreement with you as it regards Gilroy as an “alternative” to Hedman. Not a proper comparison. My comments were specifically directed to those who have been knocking Gilroy BECAUSE he’s 24 yrs old and BECAUSE he played all 4 yrs @ BU. If or when it comes out that he signed with Toronto or anyone else for stupid money, then fire away at the money part. But criticizing the kid for doing what’s best for him BEFORE he’s had a chance to prove himself in the NHL is uncalled for.
Guys dont worry. We will finish last. You dont have to root againt the Isle. We are by far the worst team in hockey.
Lots of talk of fans wanting the Isles to lose games again for that coveted 1st overall pick. I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes if the Isles happen to win 3 of their last 4 games. There’s no telling what some of you might do? I think Gilroy will go to the team that offers the biggest pay cheque. He’ll be 25 at the start of next season and unproven in the NHL, he’s got one shot, and this might be it.
I am actually a Leafs fan that follows a couple of local kids playing for the Islanders. I cheers for the Leafs, and I am a hockey fan. I have actually played the game for almost 38 years ( Junior provincial Cahmps and also Senior Hockey )and I do not live in my parents basement. Nor did I direct my posts at any person on this blog. I do see that if someone on this blog does not agree with the pack, they are shunned as Ranger fans.
streit’s value in numbers
http://puckprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=64
3rd best in puck prospectus’ newly calculated plus minus
well you arent following it close enough if you thinks the isles are losing games on purpose….i believe milbury is saying the isles are doing it right by building thru the youth you speak of. and believe it or not, milbury is right. this is the only way out of this mess, gotta take your lumps and start over. I dont feel a bit guilty about it, not a bit. we have suffered a LONG time. we need a franchise player. hopefully in a week, we will be assured of getting one….
One word: Compromise. Learn it, read it —- understand it!
Finally some good news. Last place will be ours.
CB ~ Did you ever think when you coined the name “TAVHEDUCH” that it would still be going on entering the last week of the season?