ISLANDERS 4, TORONTO 3 (OT)
Roloson (58 Saves) Wins Medal of Honor
FANHOUSE: Chris Botta and Adam Gretz on the NHL’s Playoff Pretenders and Contenders…including the Islanders
74 Responses to ISLANDERS 4, TORONTO 3 (OT)
Roloson (58 Saves) Wins Medal of Honor
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ItsGoodToBeRich says:
I understand we are rebuilding, but our team’s inability to hold a lead is a little concerning.
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Brian in VA says:
WoW! 9-8-7! Heartburn and Agita easily associated with Islanders Hockey! WANTED: Quality Defenseman, Automatically Accepted…
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TM says:
Wow. Roloson was incredible. NYI was totally outplayed and won. Blew ANOTHER lead. At least they are interesting this year. Kudos Dwayne.
Now imagine if Wang had spent any money this summer…say for Gaborik. It be REALLY interesting if he did.
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steve says:
20 games ago, we fold and lose 5-3 or 4-3. 15 games ago we go to a shoot out. tonite, we held and won. its a process. that first leafs goal was a bad break, the guy loses his stick, as he retrieves it, the wrap around ends up in his lap, and it was all down hill. YET WE GOT 2 POINTS. 24 games, 25 points. upside, upside. hillen keeps getting better, and hes 22. excellent smithers, excellent.
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jethro09 says:
Roloson was phenominal. 58 saves. Truly great. Isles had no business winning this game. They were completely outplayed all over the ice with the exception of in goal. But that’s what happens. Sometimes you lose games you should win, and you win games you should lose. Good momentim going into Wednesday.
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Crackhead Theo says:
They gotta get a DMan in here. Must get someone to help protect the leads. Not an offensive dman, but a defensive one. One to compliment Sutton and Witter (for however much longer he will be here). And one with size too….Sutton cant be the lone cement truck back there. get him some help
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Stu says:
I missed the game but just read the stats…..did Gervais really have 6 giveaways?
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Staten Islander says:
Never in doubt, ok, now i need a shower, SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESH
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Blizzard says: ….well you cant say they are not exciting to watch…lol. Hillen had a great game, if we could replace Meyer with some mobile beef on D it would help. Rollie stole this one, something I do not think was possible from our goalies last year.
…Philly should be interesting.
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OK how the HECK did the Isles get 2 points out of THAT? The first half of this game wasnt exactly good, even though the socresheet said otherwise. But the second half of this game looked like the Isles at their absolute worst… 08-09 december or 99-00 season kind of worst. And yet they won! For me, it makes me feel better winning this when I think of the games where they played really well and lost. Long term, however… the Isles need to do something about this. FMIV and Okposo were both liabilities tonight. I LOVE Okposo, but he did not look good. I think the changing his line to spark other lines into scoring thing isnt working… its just making him less effective.
The Isles WON tonight… I am still letting that sink in after watching the Leafs skate circles around the entire team. Thank you, Roloson.
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Matt says:
they were very lucky to even earn a point. they better show up against Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New Jersey.
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matt says:
no one gives bergie credit amazing pass
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DonK says:
This win is fool’s gold.
Want a really scary stat, folks: Toronto had 116 shots AT goal (55 that were blocked or missed the net). No one has had that many since the NHL began charting such things. The 61 SOG are the most since before the lockout, and (I’m still checking), likely the most in this decade.
I re-iterate — the Isles are in deep trouble unless they get bigger, and soon. Watching Niklas Hagman, no one’s idea of a physical player, bull past Freddy Meyer to score is absurd. Winning a few faceoffs would also help.
Remember also that this was the NHL’s last-place team — that wasn’t the ’78 Canadiens out there. To be dominated that way by a team like that is embarrassing.
This was the seventh time (in 12 occasions) that the Isles have blown a multi-goal lead (they’ve won three). Isles have blown THREE three-goal leads (won twice in OT, lost in SO at Boston — one blown three-goal lead every couple of years is about the quote for an average team). This is completely unacceptable and it’s on both the coaching staff and the players. Gordon appears to have no answers, and the players play like a group that expects to blow the lead.
Roloson saved the day on Monday, and the Leafs are one of those teams that finds ways to lose. But this win should in no way cover up the fact that the Isles are going nowhere without an infusion of size and strength. All they’re going to do is get their goalies killed.
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dan says:
Roli has to start some more games in a row until he proves otherwise. Biron should not play against philly although it is his old team.
Bailey has been playing very well since he watched the carolina game
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Thomas says:
Chris,
It’s time to call this defensive system what it is…and that’s GOD awful. Another 3 goal blown lead, making the last place Leafs look like the Stanley Cup Champions..When are you going to blog about this?
It’s basically the prevent defense for hockey..stand around play a “zone” and hope the puck comes to you..I don’t think I have never seen a team this bad dominate the offensive play in my life. The delayed penalty late in the 3rd, Toronto had the puck FOREVER even after the puck left the zone twice..why because we stand around and don’t challenge the puck.
My biggest problem is the way the top 2 guys defend the point men…they can’t get the puck around the boards, they can’t cut the pass off point to point..and it’s clear other coaches have picked up on this and having the point men pinch because there is zero risk in doing so. The puck stays in our zone WAY longer than any other team I have seen this year.
I had low expectations this year based on the talent level, maybe the talent level isn’t the problem..if this is the “attack the puck” system, I certainly don’t see it in our zone.
These games are PAINFUL to watch..how can no one in the Islander Organization see this? 62 shots to the Leafs? Seriously? Enough is Enough.
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Brian B says:
Stu…I don’t know how many giveaways he had but eveytime I watch him he looks brutal….but the most amazing thing is this:
He led the Isles with 27 minutes of ice time. I know he’s paired with Streit, but it tells you that for some reason the coaching staff seems to like him. He is only 25 and has some skill…made a nice play at the end. Hopefully he gets better.
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Al L says:
Steve,#5,I understand the process of growth as a team,but tonight was not indicative of progress. If Roloson wasn’t sharp and standing on his head,the score would have been obscene with us on the short end. Our D men have regularly been getting beaten off the puck,unable to headman out of the zone. This is a growing problem which not only minimizes our puck possession,but eventually leads to either PP’S,scoring chances and goals. On another evening Toronto and any other team would have had a total that would have been insurmountable. We cannot regularly depend on stealing games in which we were severely outplayed. Aside from Hillen and Sutton,there are no dependable D men on this roster. Streit,albeit still productive in the neutral and offensive zones,has been brutal in his own,and is beginning to resemble the one dimensional player he was in Montreal. He seems to lack the same inspiration and energy he displayed on a regular basis last season. While I agree,beginning to protect leads and win games in OT and regulation is a sign of growth,tonight was not a very good example of what your are alluding to. Although we never lost our lead,we didn’t win this game. Thanks to an unusual performance by our goaltender,we STOLE it.
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Priest says:
There were some bright spots in this otherwise terrible game. Roloson, obviously being the big one. 58 saves, and very few of them were weak shots. Seemed like about half were legitimate scoring chances (probably wasn’t quite that many, but it was a lot). Hillen too was pretty good on D, but our defence needs help BIG time. Bergenheim also looked pretty good, but that have just been because of who was around him. I’ll give him benefit of the doubt.
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joe fred says:
A win is a win, take the two points and go home, the fact that this win took place in Toronto, the hockey capital of the world makes it even better!!
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Islesin2010 says:
I haven’t watched all the games because Time Warner in Ithaca shows Sabres over Islanders, but I am home now and watched tonight and can honestly say Bruno looks lost out there. I don’t know what happened to the confident, hard skating, somewhat hard hitting defenseman we saw the last 50 games last year, but he looks awful.
Tonight wasn’t pretty, but 2 points is 2 points. Rolo wasn’t graceful at times but he sure got the job done. Witt was on the ice for all 3 goals, I know he must be going through a tough time with his daughter, but he didn’t look good.
Forwards weren’t bad tonight. Love seeing Tamby in there, I really find myself rooting extra hard for him to succeed. Good win, now on to the varsity as CB says.
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Chris#15,the problem with our D men overall isn’t a system,but rather a deficiency in their ability. Kids like Gervais are poor stick handlers and not very strong in his own zone. Meyer is small and easily muscled off the puck. Witt is dreadfully slow and nowhere near the strong skater he used to be. What I do agree with is there is little help from the fowards since their focus is puck pursuit in the offensive zone and are not deep enough in their own when needed. That is correctable,but still wouldn’t alleviate enough of the mess our D men create. Hopefully DePietro proves to be healthy sooner rather than latter and Biron can yield a superior backliner in short order!
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I agree #19,JoeFred,but performances such as tonight will rarely result in a win. Our defensive core is significantly flawed and demand their Goalie to be near perfect. That will not happen every night. If Snow is taking your attitude and walking away happy tonight without paying heed to the storm clouds above,he is bound to end up with a lightening bolt up his kazoo!!! We need a large and skilled 20 minute per night D man!!!!
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cgs878 says:
Wow, that was an exciting game! I’ll take that kind of game over a low scoring snoozefest any day. Okposo, Moulson, Tavares should be reunited so maybe the Islanders can build a 4-goal lead, ’cause 3 goals doesn’t seem to be enough.
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jonsson3 says:
Guess who was on the ice for all 3 goals?
WITT.!
But on the other hand, he missed the last 2 games and we lost.
I don’t understand.?!
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Lots of comments calling for defensive help and I agree. This team has got to rid itself of Freddy Meyer and replace him with a legitimate stay-at-home d-man who plays with a mean streak and can make a good outlet pass. I can live with Gervais and Hillen seems to finding his stride. Witter and Streit have room to improve and Sutton has been the best d-man on the team so far. One more legitimate NHL top-four d-man and the Isles will be in much better shape.
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NYICHAMP39 says:
Now that Roloson is a stud lets trade him for a 1st round pick and let Biron coast until ricky gets healthy lol WOW what a performance tonight. I bet a bunch of teams will be calling about Biron and now Roloson come the trade deadline.
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fass16 says:
I think the magic dust wore off the 4th line as too. They were getting destroyed tonight and made to look silly AND still getting big minutes at the end of the game. Can Gordon leave Tambs alone. He’s finally scoring this year and still has to worry about cracking the line up. And can’t say enough about Bailey and Bergy, both are playing really well. Wild ride tonight, thanks Rolo for the win. Gordo play him against Philly!!
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Merrick says:
This team has already exceeded my expectations, so I’m not going to get too excited about tonight’s meltdown–especially when we got 2 points.
This was defintely a clunker of clunkers. Every team in the NHL has them–and when you have the talent level of the Islanders, the clunkers look even worse (61 shots–and only three goals, and Toronto went 0-7 on the PP!). We’ve had three road games and air travel in four nights, the numerous penalties take away from rolling four lines, and there’s a possibility that some guys are gassed by playing as hard as they can to make up for the talent deficiency.
For now,, we went 3-2-2 on a road trip where 1-5-1 would not have shocked me. I’ll take it.
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neologizer says:
Everybody is on the Dmen tonight so somebody help me out with these stats:
Witt -11…..Meyer -7…Gervais -2…Sutton+2…Macdonald +3…..Streit +5…Hillen +6.
Ok if you look at the partners Even strength. Gervais partner is Streit 72% of the time. Hillen spend 52% time with Sutton and Witt(33%). Macdonald with Meyer (65%). The divide is pretty amazing.
PS
Park is -11. -
eastonhockey says:
I don’t think tonight was about “blowing a lead”. Of course you blow a lead when you look like a college team playing the 1982 Islanders. The Isles need new defensman more then one. The scary part is despite this “rebuild”..in a perfect world the only defensmen on this team now that would be still on the team in 2 years is Streit. So its hard to be confident that “progress” is being made when they didnt even go out and get the “future” defensmen of the team yet. (dont tell me about the wonderful drafted teenagers. I’m talking about NHL players..)
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Spinner9 says:
On the positive side Tambellini scored his 7th, last yeat he scored 7 in 65 games and Bailey got his 6th, last year he scored 7 in 68 games. We are starting to see some pretty good secondary scoring from different folks each night.
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Willis says:
Reading back thru everything all I can think is Yikes. Glad I missed that one.
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Lakewood Islander says:
Rolo was Brilliant! Id like to see what tambellini could do if put on a line with JT. Gervais is a disaster,even though he had 2 assists tonight. Bring up DeHaan, he cant be worse than bruno. Okposo has not looked as sharp recently, maybe move him up again. Where is Mike Silinger for a Faceoff when we need him?!!
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Smokey says:
Ber.
Gen.
Heim.
How bout it kids?
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Bjorn Holland says:
So the game was awful. So what? No one would have expected the Isles to be where we are now. Everyone thought we would be dead last. Taylor Hall is far away now.
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after streit and hillen the D line is real thin. Sutton has had a decent year. witt aint the same anymore
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Ricky T says:
Comments about needing some more size and strength are right on point. I saw way too much possession by Toronto because many of our d-men don’t have the reach or muscle to play a puck takeaway game. There have been many comments throughout the year that the Isles needed size for protection, but the Toronto game points out that size is an advantage for other reasons besides hitting and fighting. Also, not to pick on the team too much because their performance so far has far exceeded expectations, the team has very little speed beyond Bergenheim and Tambellini and maybe Hillen. It showed against Toronto with their inability to stop the relentless Toronto cycle that made the game hard to watch from an Isles fan point of view. That may have been the most one sided hockey game I’ve ever watched regardless of outcome.
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Bob Bassen says:
Two comments from last night:
*…horrible win…*
*…worst win of the year…*
I guess those thoughts just about sum it up.
Besides Roloson…Hillen was a very bright spot.
Like otheres, it appears Jackman is having a *sophmore slump also…
Just an incredibly strange past two weeks…wow!
Whatever.
Go Isles. -
DCJeff says:
Saw the Toronto broadcast on NHL Gamecenter. Among other things, they had a good laugh about how Bergie shoots a lot, but hardly ever hits the net. But when he does — amen!
Three general observations:
What has happened to the edge in face-off wins that we had at the beginning of the season? Did they just top working on this at practice?
Our D-men (and Centers) continue to get stuck in the corners and miss coverage in front of the net. Plus, there’s no punishment for guys hanging out in front. Taking a guy down in front of the net when he has the puck can be a good penalty — and a deterrent for later in the game.
Finally, what’s up with that breakout? My frustration while watching the Isles inability to clear the zone is akin to how I felt when toe-drag Comrie had the puck.
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A win is a win so I’ll take it anyway I get it and it sure as hell beats watching the Jets and Knicks (boy do I know how to pick ‘em). Anyway, good to see Tamby back in the lineup and scoring as well. Now if only Gordo would put him on the PP instead of Sim. This team needs some serious help on D though.
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Schultz39 says:
Couple of thoughts:
Roli – Great game, best of the year
Bergy – played possesssed last night – the guy is turning out to be a solid pro. His touch pass to Bailey in OT was beautiful
Gervais – a bit scary on the D end but a nice play in OT to set up the winner.
Defense – we are poor in our own zone (hence the 15,000 SOG). When I watched last night’s game, someone like Beauchemin would’ve been a nice pick up for this team – has size, is mobile, is physical, and can skate well. But we are where we are. If we continue to stay close and Garth makes a move, we should aim for a dman like him.
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Mike in Bohemia says:
This was about as bad a fan can feel after a win. One of the worst teams in hockey made us look like we didn’t belong in the league.
We have alot more points than anybody (including myself) thought we would have at this point, but dont let it fool you.
This team is inherently bad while playing with a lead. They have been ever since Gordon took over, and there has been zero improvement in this regard. How can a team have the talent to continually build up 2 & 3 goal leads, only to fall apart time & time again? It is a mindset, and it starts with the coaching.
It would be interesting to see how many 2+ goal leads the Islanders have blown since Oct 2008. Probably twice (if not more) than anyone else. -
a team like the leafs are designed to beat you up, physically. thats how they were put together this off season. free agent muscle/size/grit is what the leafs bought. the isles, teamwide, are not overly big or physical. we have players that play big, but its not the same as having size. we start to play passive defense, like we are a man down, with leads in the third period. the speed and intensity vanish. at season start, it happened all the time. tonite it happened. in boston, it didn’t.
some of it is size, some of it is personal, most of it is mental. oh yeah, we won. -
John says:
Along the way there will be a few stinkers… there always is… no team no matter how good has these… and even when your game is a D or F aside from a 5 minute spurt and a hot goalie… the team still won. It’s these points when the season grinds down that will be invaluable if this team is able to remain within shouting distance of a playoff spot. Oh, and if your goalie can steal a game or two how valuable is that?
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cusi - Thomas Mancusi says:
A win is a win!
Bailey, Bergie, Tambs and Moulson score goals!
Rollie stands on his head!
3-2-2= 8pts out of 7 gane road trip – I will take it!
Hillen playing awesome for a 23yr old and getting better every game. -
StevieL says:
A win and a pathetic effort! That’s about it. Next!
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Pedro says:
Agree there are some concerns with our D, but good teams have bad nights and still manage to come away with two points … in some ways, last night’s win should be encouraging. It is not like we’ve been giving up 60 shots every night.
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Leviticus says:
Eastonhockey, the ‘rebuild’ by definition requires consideration of ‘teenage’ prospects. There is no other way to make rational decisions or to think appropriately about this team. We all know what we need, the question is are you really gunning for the 8th playoff spot only, or do you want to consider this season in the context of moving forward and becoming a cup contender? This ID NOT the time to overpay for the help we need…the time will come when that help will be at a reasonable cost. In the meentime, all anyone has to do is look around and seen signs of the ‘rebuild’ working… JT, KO, JH, and yes JB too, etc. Impatience ala MM is the only thing that can derail this…
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Spartiarti-RVC says:
nice to see Our goalie steal a game for us. that is what great goalies do. what a differencei it is vs MCdonald and Danis last year.
Bottom line is we won. we made the most of our scoring chances.
We took too many penalties and that why shot total was so high. I was more upset about blowing the 3 goal lead than the shot total.at the end of the day its the score the matters. What a nice pass by bergie to bailey for easy goal.
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Mick Vukota says:
I would really like to know what Scott Gordon and the rest of the coaching staff are doing to address the team’s inability to protect a lead.
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Hock says:
I like how modest Roloson was in the postgame interview. He credited his defense with forcing a lot of shots from the outside. Then again, poor Roli was a bit shell-shocked at the time.
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Cs says:
It all went down hill the minute Gordon called that time out..i dont understand that..your team just scored 3 goals in like 4 minutes..they had energy..so you take a time out to calm them down? meanwhile give the other team a chance to calm down as well.
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This just in: Leafs just got another 10 SOG
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4theisles says:
Pick a Leaf D, they’ve got plenty, ask them the price. Then offer them Biron. Face it, he’s going in the spring for a pik. That means help is still years away. any rebuild needs an NHL D to anchor and allow forwards to develop. Wang might have to pick up some $s in the deal. Bottom line you have to give up something to get something. Leafs are desperate and so are we.
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Hishutzi Skorz says:
When is Freddy Meyer Flashlight Night?
“Good evening, Mr. Hagman, may I escort you to the goal crease?” -
Islebethere4u says:
First lets all think about where we were playing last night. Toronto, home of the infamous War room. Second, 7 penalties? If there were anything close to a disputed goal we would have been “Brad May-ed” (see the Brad May detroit goal disallowed, worst call ever!)Third, I think the SOH total may have been a little generous. Fourth, unfortunately, yes we were badly outplayed, period. Rolie the goalie stole the game. We will have games like that. And now for a shot at the NHL schedule maker. Why couldn’t the season have started two weeks earlier? 5 weeks in a row of back to backs, 10 of the first 15, three in four nights and a couple of four in fives because of the olympics?, and everyone wonders about all the injuries this year. Half the league is like this. Absurd. I know its very late to be thinking of this now, but there are way too many injuries this year. I could be due to the poor schedule.
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where are the bailey critics today? 3G 1A in last 5 games. you guys still concerned about his development. Only thing hurting him in playing with SIM.
Bailey 1 Luke Schenn 0.
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Leafs aren’t a good trade partner for the Isles. They’re on the same plan we are – suffer and grab a top-five pick. Remember, they’ve lost 5 OT games… games that would count as losses in the standings in the old system. They’re 4-11-7 even with pity points: without them? 3-16-3. NINE points in 22 games. Ugly.
They’re not giving one of their defenders to take on Marty Biron, even if he is an upgrade over Toskala, whose game seems to have evaporated. They’ll give those guys to contenders near the deadline for picks and haul in a bunch of prospects for next season. And even with the better-than-expected results, the Isles are not really a contender. Next year is their time. If Biron is moved, it would be to a team with Cup aspirations who find themselves short a keeper all of a sudden.
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Many of you are missing the point, it has nothing to do with size, Andy Sutton is as equally useless standing in a spot waving a stick as Jack Hillen is..it’s a defensive system that will not be successful regardless of the personnel..someone seriously needs to wake up on the coaching staff.
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GMCharles says:
good win. but it seems like all this traveling wore them down.
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eastonhockey (31)- you said that in a perfect world the “only” defensmen on this team now that would be still on the team in two years would be Streit. Unsurprisingly, I disagree with you. Jack Hillen is giving this team some great hockey, and he is what- 22? 23? He is a keeper. I think Bruno will be fine as a 5-6 guy, too.
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Matt says:
is Doug Weight an Islander still? they don’t even mention him anymore.
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IslesPassion21 says:
I’m concerned about Striet and Okposo. I think KO, as hard as he plays and as good as he looks out there hasn’t been finishing. I would love it if he begins to crash the net more often, like a power foward should do, which will result it goals for him and the team. Regarding Striet, I wonder if he’s being asked to do too much and he in turn isn’t playing a simplified game, he’s more indecisive, it seems. He doesn’t look like he’s playing in the moment, letting his instincts take over. I think Striets trying to do too much, IMHO. You can tell that he forces shots allot that miss the net or get blocked or deflected instead of making a pass. Right now Striets making feel dumb because I was on hear declaring mark Striet as an “elite hockey player”. Maybe he’s trying to be elite instead of just playing. Idk
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Tony says:
The game vs the Leafs is a good example of a loss disguised as a win.
The Isles got lucky.
Gervais and Meyer are embarrassments.
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#14 Excellent comments, agree with all, but one point, I think Toronto is a much better team than their record shows. With that said, they also are rebuilding, and after watching last nights game, they to me are way ahead of us. And, for the life of me, I can’t understand, how these teams rebuild so fast, with bigger, stronger, and faster players than our NY Islander’s. Take care Chris, and I hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Go Islander’s Mark N/J
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#66….Want to know how a team rebuilds so fast? They go out and get some free agents to fill holes. That way they don’t depend on solely the draft. Plus, you don’t do it half way. Not one team in the last 20 years has made to finals without getting an FA or two that was needed. You make a serious play for the elite FA’s, not just one or two over-aged role players, or fringe players or minor leaguers and then stand there and wonder why your players can’t finish a play.
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Mac played D better than Bruno. Gervais needs to sit a few. be fair. Tamby an Comeau both had to sit for far less. Gervais is making BIG mistakes way to often lately. Meyer is a 7th D roster filler and should not be getting everyday play either. Kyle McLaren is still out there lookin for a team.
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Sutton knows how to use his size.Hillen his speed ,witt his strength… What do Gervais and Meyer know ? I still cant believe Snow sais that Meyer is the best-kept secret in the NHL!(insert punchline here)
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Jason says:
Best (single game) Islander goaltending performance since Kelly Hrudy’s in April of 1987. And no, I am not exaggerating. I really mean it.
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69 , i think that was a misquote. i think Snow was talking about Radek Martinek when he said that. it was right after he got hurt. i’m 99% sure.
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Islesfan16 says:
KO has been in something of a lull lately. He should be put back with JT and Moulson to get going. Hunter would fit on line 2 with neilsen and bergenheim, and thompson-park-jackman make up the 4th. As for the 3rd line, have Bailey center some combination of Weight/Sim/Tambs/Comeau.
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well somebody should check ,71.The isles are obviously enamored with FMIV,since they bring him back every time they let him go! Regarding Streit,we have to realize he had a career year last year and its unreasonable to expect him to duplicate that. He isnt a young developing player like Okposo that should be better this year.
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Notice most of the complaints are about the defense and the makeup of the lines,but not the personnel!Maybe we have a core of forwards that are legit.Behold , there is light at the end of the tunnel!
Wow, some finish