Comments on: OHL PLAYOFF LOSS “PART OF THE EDUCATION”Also: Windsor GM calls JT best scorer not yet in NHL

By: JZimm

JZimm — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:04:34 +0000

To be clear about one thing, the Islanders did not “tank” this past season. They were just plain and simply bad.

I know, and I will stake my life on the fact that the Islanders will not be in the 2010 playoffs. However, they can not lose every game either. It is important that they start to make some strides immediately. I’d love to have Taylor Hall in next year’s draft, but not at the price of a dead last finish. John Tavares will draw fans for the first few games on his own, but after that, the fans are only coming if this team shows promise. They’re not going to win a lot, but they have to show signs of improvement. If they lose too much, the fans will stay home, and then we’ll have to wonder how much Long Island time the Islanders have left. If the Islanders are picking #1 next year, it better be because they finished with 80 points and won the lottery. A dead last finish has absolutely no benefit.

By: Neologizer

Neologizer — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:52:03 +0000

Good post

This team tanking does not help. It means the young group they have isn’t NHL caliber and they are not going to be any type of nucleus for the future. So can we stop talking about that nonsense

This is make or break time for Bergenheim, Nielsen, Gervais, Comeau and Tamby have been around - if they and the team tanks then its back to a rebuild with who?

JT, KO and JB and a bunch of AHLers? there’s a heck of alot of rebuild if that’s all you got

By: Hubie McDonough

Hubie McDonough — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:53:38 +0000

Great job tracking down Warren Rychel CB! So whatever happened to Robert Reichel?

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:20:25 +0000

Great post, Chris. Our toughness is shameful, we lose AND get pushed around. Maybe Eric Cairns will have to lace ‘em up again if we cant land someone!

By: Anthony O.

Anthony O. — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:08:27 +0000

We don’t need Taylor Hall, we have Tavares, Bailey, and Neilsen at center. We also have Joensuu waiting for a spot. We need at least a pair of skilled wingers and another dman to complement Streit.

By: Chris TMC

Chris TMC — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:40:43 +0000

If every conversation and topic is changed into inane discussions of actually wanting this team to suck just to draft higher I am going to cry. It is JUNE of 2009! Reading this stuff sucks enough in February- now its going to start in June the year before, when the team has not even played a single flippin game? You cant be sick of Tavares already, he has not even played his first NHL game. And you cant already be moving on to the “next” draft, the idea is simply unberarable. Please say it aint so.

By: Tavares #1

Tavares #1 — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:33:09 +0000

#81…agree, adding Roloson and JT’s offense erases plenty of those losses.

By: joedayisback

joedayisback — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:27:19 +0000

There is not one Isles fan who truly wants to see this team lose. However, we need to be realistic. A last place finish is what helps this franchise the most. Adding Hall or Kabunov or Fowler or whoever is a must. If wanting to lose makes me less of a fan, then so be it. I have had enough of the 8th place finishes. I would take a last place finish over 8th in the East right now.

By: jpa

jpa — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:25:04 +0000

eh.. call me overly optimistic, but it’ll be real tough to tank next season. If we had DP for even half the season I’d say we’d have had a fair chance at barely being a lottery team. Even with our goalie situation last year we made things interesting. 31 of the isles 47 loses were by 2 goals or less. It’s not a stretch to think a decent goalie could have scratched out 10-15 points from these games, and that would have had us picking 3rd or 4th this year. Fact is, itll be very tough to win a lottery the way things are shapeing up in tampa, colorado and atlanta. Those teams didn’t have the scale of injuries, and we know sakic won’t factor in on colorado’s season next year.

Realistically, stop thinking about Hall or even a top 3 pick. We may not be in the mix for the playoffs, but if we’re in the bottom 3 of the league next season we’ve taken a step back after last year. Roloson was a much bigger signing than it appears at first glance. JT, even only producing 40-50 points, will still only make it harder.

By: 303Joe

303Joe — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:19:14 +0000

I’m with you post #74 get me Mara and Moen or get me a pairing of Mara or Alberts on d and Moen or Kotsopoulos up front and I’ll be Ok with it.

By: brian

brian — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:03:22 +0000

100% true dan 100% true everyone has to relax. same with you seth

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:58:29 +0000

I think the Isles have a shot at the playoffs this upcoming season. Adding Tavares and having a 1B goalie will really help. Besides I cannot imagine having 580 man-games or so lost to injury this year. Also, can we stop talking about tanking and next years draft. Lets talk about how all of these teams making these FA signings are going to need to peddle some talent to get under the cap. That’s where I think Snow will pick up some quality players. We still have 3 months until the beginning of the season. Breathe people, breathe!!!