Point Blank’s State of the Season Address
The Islanders now head into a six day break for All-Star Weekend festivities. John Tavares is headed to the show this weekend. It’ll be nice to see the Islanders young face of the franchise taking part in the limelight on Sunday. With a goal against Toronto Tuesday night, Tavares is 20-29-49 in the season’s first 48 games. There hasn’t been such a deserving Islander in the ASG in quite a while. By the way, check out this short story on how following JT’s attitude can work toward changing the Islanders’ and it’s fanbases’ attitudes towards the team, each other and the game. And it’s really true.
In youth, I was a swimmer and there was a clear divide between the kids on the school team who were recreational and those that were on hard-practicing private club teams (as is probably true in many youth sports). The rec swimmers didn’t care how they did, stayed up late and ate as they pleased. The exact opposite was true of the club kids — all military attitudes and sticking to strict diet and lifestyle plans. Tavares is the epitome of the kids from the club teams; many days walking into practice with a backpack on and protein shake or water bottle in hand, he’s focused on the task at hand and understands the ‘all encompassing’ nature of the hard work he needs to get to where he wants to be. Whether through yoga, eating healthy or working out, he follows through on everything off the ice to improve on the ice. That attitude clearly pervades through every aspect of his day. If only that could be bottled up and passed around to everyone, organization and fans alike. But now I’m getting side-tracked…
PLAYOFFS?
The team has earned 45 points in 48 games, putting them on pace for around 76 points this year and 10 points out of eighth place. That’s well short of what they would need to make the playoffs — that would be somewhere in the 89-94 range — and should be sellers at the trade deadline. Whether or not they have any parts worthy of selling is a whole other can of worms (one we’ll cover in later posts).
As for the playoffs, it’s not looking good. Throughout posts in January I’ve been setting the bar at 92 points, a modest estimate, and I’ll continue to keep the same goal for this exercise. That means in the final 34 games, they’ll have to earn 47 points. How do you get 47 points? Here are a few examples:
23-11-1
22-10-3
21-9-5
20-8-7
19-7-9
Those are just a few of the ways. All are technically possible but all are also highly improbable given what the team has shown thus far (19-22-7). No matter what, it looks like the Islanders will have to win twice as many games as they lose in regulation. They have 19 wins in 48 games on the year. In the final 34, they would need another 19 and a whole bunch of OTLs. As much as I would like to write about a playoff team, it’s not happening. Barring miracles, the Islanders will miss the playoffs for the fifth straight year and sixth out of the last seven.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
There are two ways to root for the rest of this season to play out. You can either hope that the team continues to falter and ‘Fails for Nail’ (Nail Yakupov being the odds-on favorite for to go #1 overall in June) or, you can root this team to as many victories as they can muster. It’s a very pointy double-edged sword.
Last year, we saw the high expectations from fans and lackadaisical front office over the summer that a successful finish created. I’m sure both parties wouldn’t fall prey to the same mistakes with another go-around but it would still be hard to deal with another false-positive. On the other side, we’ve all been witnesses to what can happen when a team gets the first overall pick and has a franchise player fall into its lap. But that’s easier said than done in the draft lottery.
Personally, I believe it’s in the best interest of the franchise to continue forward and improve on the ice as well as with any transactions that can be made in the summer (although I do understand the benefits of and am not directly opposed to obtaining Nail Yakupov). The Blue Jackets already have a commanding 13 point lead in the Nail Sweepstakes. A second to last finish is easier with Edmonton only four back of the Isles. However, for the franchise and the rebuild (now nearing half a decade!) to continue to move forward, the team must move forward on the ice. Even if that means something like an 11th place finish. It will be a small step in the rebuild. Another small, painful step in the arduous journey.
Part of this process through the season’s final few months should be evaluating the talent in Bridgeport and giving a few of the players a shot with the big club. David Ullstrom, Casey Cizikas, Rhett Rakhshani and Matt Donovan all come to mind (the goaltenders should be kept in the AHL for now). These players will all get their fair shot at training camp but with veterans on the roster who will clear waivers with flying colors, there’s no better time than now to get these kids low-pressure NHL experience.
Here at Point Blank, we’ll do our own kind of playoff transition. We’ll move away from the game action and more towards the off-ice issues surrounding the team; the rebuild, free agency, the draft, arena issues. We’ll give those topics the attention they deserve, as we’ve put them on the back burner during the season. Here’s a small look ahead at each off-season point.
LOOKING AHEAD: TRADE DEADLINE
Well, I guess I let the cat out of the bag on this one a bit. The Islanders will certainly be sellers again at the deadline. Whether or not they have pieces to sell, that’s another story. There are no Bill Guerins or Mike Comries on this team that can bring back a solid price. Training camp tryouts turned starters aren’t going to be tradeable assets. There is a particular goalie who is an interesting story, which we’ll get to next week.
The one curveball that could come is if Garth Snow determines that someone needs to be Campoli’d. Also known as a decent young/middle aged player who the team no longer has a use for but may fetch a decent price on the open market or in a package deal.
LOOKING AHEAD: THE DRAFT
We’ll have all the requisite coverage to get you ready for this year’s draft. Right now, it’s still a ways away especially with the log-jam in the Eastern Conference. A mere five points separate 10th from 15th in the east. That’s a lot of room for Nail failing for whichever teams head in that direction. As the season draws closer to an end, we’ll ramp up the coverage in this department.
LOOKING AHEAD: FREE AGENCY
This may be the Islanders’ biggest story of the off-season. They could very easily be drafting outside of the top five (they’re sixth right now) and that would eliminate all hope of obtaining an ‘NHL ready’ player. So there is work to be done and spots to fill. The two most important tasks for Snow this off-season will be determining which players in Bridgeport are ready/not and what he can get in the free agent market to improve the team.
PROGRAMMING NOTE
We’ll be taking Friday and Saturday off this week, letting this post simmer on the top of the blog. Of course, I’ll scamper right back if anything newsworthy happens, but there is likely nothing to come with the hockey world in Ottawa for a scrimmage. IPB returns on Sunday with coverage of JT and the All-Star Game.
About Kevin Schultz
Kevin was formerly an NHL blogger for the now defunct AOL Fanhouse and was the creator of the hockey comedy blog Barry Melrose Rocks. He now covers the Isles for Islanders Point Blank. You can follow him for instant updates on the team and talk hockey with him on Twitter @schultz88. View all posts by Kevin Schultz →192 Responses to Point Blank’s State of the Season Address
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Paul says:
Snow is incapable. He is a waste.
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Jisles says:
Well I am very dissapointed in the season so far. they should be better and in my opinion are better than their record indicates but you are what your record says you are. So lets look at the record a little deeper. Currently 19-22-7 but they will have winning month of January 7-4-1 with one left in Carolina. That is 3 games over .500. They played Carolina 3 times, leafs 3 times, philly twice, washington and a west coast trip and came out of it +3. I think playing at this level over the next 2 months and a week in April they will go 18-11-5. This will leave them at 38-32-12. 88pts. Whether that gets them in, probably not but using January as the basis there should be no reason why they cant continue. I think that would be a great accomplishment at this point in the rebuild and what we fans should expect. LETS GO ISLANDERS!
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Sorry to be the negative numbers guy, but the Isles are 6-5-1 in January:
W – Car (2), Det, Phil, Buf, Wash
L – Ana, Phx, Phil, Nsh, Tor
OTL- Tor -
Thanks for the correction. However, if they beat carolina they will have a winning month. If they can have a winning FEB and Mar they will at least have a winning season.
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derek whelan says:
Im personally hoping for a playoff run and I do believe the Isles have the talent to make some moves in the standings. However, PA Parenteau would be an interesting piece to dangle at the trade deadline. With the numbers hes putting up this season he could fetch more than either guerin or that other midget who shall remain nameless…keep up the good work
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Danfromouteast says: Thats true but pa gone there goes scoring from any other line aside from first line. I’d rather trade draft picks at this point or someone in the minors maybe. Who knows but I like pa. Baily is really playing well as of late and u might trade him. He’d bring the same maybe more because he’s younger. Then they can maybe bring up cizikas and ullstrom
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Danfromouteast says:
And move up nino and put rolston on the fifth line. Fifth line you ask? Exactly watching the game with rick and mottau eating a pretzel
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AJAX says:
This is ALL spot on.
The problem is that we will NOT be seeing the BP kids come up to play until we are mathematically eliminated from the picture.
Rolston, Pandolfo, Wallace & (what ever the other dead weight return from injury) will STILL get more ice time than Nino & any other of the kids.
Its going to be VERY annoying.-
Danfromouteast says:
But why is Wallace still here and haley in BP? WHY? I ask you why?
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Brian says:
This team is just too inconsistent, all the right pieces are not in place yet. Need some 2nd line scoring, D, and some addition by subtraction (rolston, reasner, pandolfo). What makes missing the playoffs so much harder this year is the fact that they were so good in the 2nd half of last season. Sigh.
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Jerky says:
Kevin is correct – the playoffs are once again out of reach for this team. The question now is how Snow and Wang propose to take the next step in a rebuild (actually a debuild this season).
After rooting for the Isles to lose the past three seasons to secure better draft picks, I no longer think that way. What I would like to see is what Kevin mentioned … some of the talent in Bridgeport showcase their abilities at the NHL level. While it would be nice to see the team put together an extended win streak and make a run toward respectability, I actually don’t care about wins and losses and where they end up in the final standings/draft order at this point. It’s all about the young talent of today and tomorrow (and for the love of hockey, will they please bring up some toughness and stand up for themselves before JT gets a concussion or other serious long-term injury).
Kevin, great job and thank you for continuing this site for the fans! It’s definitely appreciated.
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doug says:
I disagree with some of your article. If I was Snow, I would look to bring a piece or two in that can be used for next year’s team. For example, I would look to acquire Jeff Schultz or Yannoick Weber. both aren’t being used and would fit in the Islanders plans next season.
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kenny b says:
doug, i am an isle fan down here in baltimore. i see every caps game and trust me, we do not want jeff schultz. he is an absolute stiff. no one could figure out why boudreau always played him. hunter sat him down immediately.
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Kenny,
How is he a career +59?
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Doug F. says:
Kenny B.
Thanks for your input but why is he a career +59?
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Whaaaaaaaaaaaat says:
Cuz plus minus is a stupid stat
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When do you realize that Snow is no trade master?
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Bill A says:
As long as Wang is pulling the strings for his puppet Garth, the Islanders will not be major players in free agency or any other spending program. Wang has made it clear he will not spend anymore $$$ than he is obligated to and is just riding out the next 3 seasons.
I wish he would do us a favor and sell the team ASAP. It is killing me to see this organization continue to be destroyed and be the laughing stock of the NHL (and officials).
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Dk says:
I agree with you Bill. If we were offered Shea Weber or Rick Nash straight up for Mottau we would probably turn it down because we wouldn’t want to add salary.
If there were no floor put in place this would be gluckstern all over again. JT would be sold to the highest bidder like Ziggy and we’d have a 15M payroll.
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twocents says:
Bingo.
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Jim says:
Just think if the Islanders had just 3 more wins where they would be. I wonder how much the three goalie rotation hurt them early on. Carrying 3 goalies in the hope of trading one for a 4th rounder that we would see in 4-5 years. Next year DP will of course be back. What will become of Nabby and Montoya? If both are gone we go back to square 1. If you keep one and DP has to hang around with the NHL club how do we ever know when the kids are ready?
Next year’s team will essentially be this year’s team (except for the goalies) with the addition of DeHaan and maybe Strome. I doubt anyone else is ready and no UFA’s will play for Wang/Snow. Will that be enough to make the playoffs? Doubtful.
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Dean says:
What is really the point of finishing in the eighth spot? So we can get swept by Boston, Phi, or even worse the Rags. this team really does not have much talent. They are still about three years from becoming a legitimate team that contends. By that time they will be well on their way to Quebec!
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Frank says:
woahwoahwoah back it up… “DP”?
DP is dead. or at least he might as well be. if we even consider making an aim at the playoffs we would need to sit him for another goaltender because he’s simply unreliable. The goaltending situation is veryyy sticky, and honestly, aside from our lack of a 2nd 3rd or 4th line of offense, the goaltending situation is our poorest aspect. Unless we make the playoffs this year nabokov is probably going to lose interest and will probably not resign, montoya i think would extend a contract if the islanders hand him the starting job (which he is capable) and ditch dipietro, bring up poulin, who will be seasoned for a backup role and we may have ourselves an answer
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Joe Bracc says:
The sweetest thing would be getting an 8 seed and a first round upset of the Rags. I know it’s a long shot, but it’s a sweet thing to dream about.
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fmcisles says:
Then the alarm goes off and you go “crap, time to get up and go to work!”
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upstateisles says:
hahahahahahahahaha
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Mike says:
the sad thing is Tavares is a cup worthy player on shitty team
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Eric says:
While the playoffs may be a long shot, it is far from impossible. If my memory serves me right, twice in the last 20 years the Isles have been 6-7 points out with less than 10 games to do. I believe the years were 90-91 and 06-07. So 9 points is not too anywhere near impossible with 34 to go. Having said that, even if they miss the playoffs by 1 point and end up with the 14th pick, that is preferable to failing for Nail. Look at the last 20 years of NHL drafting. Even at the top, it is a crap shoot. On the other hand, a solid finish even outside of the playoffs with an emerging super star and free agent talent will look at LI harder. So I’m hoping for the improbable run to the playoffs but there should be no conflict within any islander fan that such a run, likely to fail, is a negative for the future.
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Eric, don’t forget that the loser point makes it much more difficult for teams to claw their way back into the race. According to Kevin’s picture of the standings at the top of the post, the Islanders are 10 points out of 8th place. So while it’s certainly not impossible, it’s extremely unlikely this team will play approximately .700 hockey the rest of the way.
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NO PLAYOFFS … NOT HAPPENING.
We can maybe make up 9 points on a team or two, if EVERYTHING broke right. We can not make up that many points on 5 or 6 teams.
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snowang must go says:
Nice work! This is the kind of analysis you will NEVER get from Newsday!!!
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Joe in Massapequa says:
I know the ASG is an exhibition but seeing JT with top line talent will be bitter sweet. Imagine if he was able to play with top line talent on the island. Right now we can only imagine…
I am not even thinking about playoffs or draft at this point of the season. I just want to see the right line combinations and unfortunately Nino is wasting away. Pandolfo, Rolston, need to be off this team as does Reasoner, Staios, and Motteau. Bring back Ullstrom and Haley. Bring up Cizikas and Dibo and uses Gillies on an as needed basis. Watch the passion these guys will give on a nightly basis. This team needs to take steps forward and see what we have instead of thinking about our lottery pick every season. Enough with the magic envelope crap. I am sick of it.
As for the trades – see what you can get for PA and Frans. If you can’t get a high level prospect or early second round pick then forget it. I wouldn’t dangle Nabby because this team needs some consistency in net and he gives them that.
And would it kill Wang and Snow to communicate with the fans? Snow’s comments about the playoff push is an absolute joke. Hope about opening your mouth after some of the BS penalty calls that this team has had called against them? The phantom Hamonic delay of game, the JT diving call, the non-calls in the TO game – take your panties off and grow some balls. Fire this team up. You played as gritty as possible for a goalie. Now it’s time to take that passion and use it as the GM.
I’m done venting. Sorry KS, great post but this team gets me so frustrated sometimes (a lot of times).
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West Coast Fan says:
From my perspective, the top line looks pretty damn good. Tavares has a point a game, Okposo looks like his game has been elevated significantly since being put on that line and Moulson is a pure goal scorer. Everytime that line is on the ice, they carry the play.
Let’s not kid ourselves – finding people to play on the Tavares line isn’t the issue. It’s finding the right people to play behind his line.
For whatever it’s worth, I was originally in the Duchesne camp. Boy, was I wrong.
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BanGarth says:
Great job guys, without your coverage we would have none , as Newsday is a joke and only writes fluff pieces that the org instructs them to. Hopefully their is more than meets the eye in this Rolston nightmare , Lou said let me completely fleece you now and at the deadline I will make it up to you. That or Garth just has no idea what he is doing.
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Hishutzi Skorz says:
Agree that the AARP crew wouldn’t bring back more than a 5th rounder and a bag of pucks, but there are 3 guys who definitely have trade value.
I really don’t care how many points PA has or what Franz contributes on the PK, the bottom line is this team needs to get bigger and grittier. Playoff hockey as about toughness, something we sorely lack. Both of these guys have value in a deal, and are ultimately replaceable.
Nabokov has been a pleasant surprise, but the chances of him re-signing here are about
the same as me getting the Republican Presidential nomination. He, too, has value for a contending team.Snow has stood idly on the sideline all season. Now is the time to move some tradeable assets, and bring back some size, especially on D.
The goal is to contend for The Cup, not try to squeeze into the 8th spot.
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I agree…if I could get a good defenseman and or a forward with some grit for Neilsen or Parenteau, you make the deal.
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D in Big D says:
If past history serves me right than nothing more than players for picks will happen.I do see a potential deal involving Franz,PA or both for lets say (what we would consider)a 3rd & or 4th pairing D-man or maybe even a nice physical 2cnd line center.I know no teams will give up their current 2cnd line center but some teams have good depth that might allow us to grab a center that would upgrade our current situation.Heck even a minor leaguer that is on the cusp of the NHL & not 2-3yrs away.More likely though Garth will move players for picks.I think signing Nabby is a must to @ least add stability to goaltending.Even if its another 1yr deal.All the deadwood can go for whatever picks I don’t care.That was probably their thinking w/ Rolston expecting a good return from a contender if he put up good #’s but he just doesn’t have it anymore.Here’s to another draft & hopefully a more active offseason.Heck maybe even some positive news on a new owner.
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Sidd Finch says:
Detroit supposedly has a pretty stacked prospect pool but always like that veteran presence and Frans is a prototypical Red Wing. Wonder if the Preds would be willing to make a blockbuster move for Ryan Suter. History shows that defense alone will not win championships. Shea Weber is their leading scorer and no Predator has ever scored more than 32 goals in a season. Just a thought. As for the cardiac crew on the Isles, the only way to get rid of them will be through waivers. Rolston makes too much money for a trade. It will probably take half his prorated contract to get rid of him, addition by subtraction.
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moonshine says:
“How do you get 47 points? Here are a few examples:
23-11-1
22-10-3
21-9-5
20-8-7
19-7-9″
i’d say 21-9-5.
joking aside, the goalie is an interesting case. he’s a ufa at season’s end so islanders are in a weak position. but he’s better than roloson was.
as for doing a campoli, personally i wouldn’t have a problem with anybody getting traded except jt. of course then time would tell if they made a good trade or a poor one.
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Isles316 says:
Big problem has been secondary scoring. Don’t think anyone saw the free fall from comeau. 24 goals that haven’t been replaced. Grabner has not been as good. Rolston has been embarrassing. Snow (rightfully so) was probably expecting 60 goals combined from those three minimum. so far they are on pace for less than 40. That puts a dent in the win column. Team defense has been better. Just seems every time we make a mistake we give up a goal. Need better goaltending. Nabby has given us that lately.
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Blizz says: Free agency….lol.
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Sm says:
It think the team would be in a far better place if they committed to Nabby and Montoya at season start. But, that wasn’t going to happen. I hope next season, after the CBA is settled( expect dramatic changes) they settle on a Montoya + Poulin tandem. That should solve a ton of issues.
If you want to make war, instead of Staios at -11, with 18 minutes a nite. How about Jurcina at -23 with 19 minutes a nite. striet is -21, with 9 even strength points playing 23 minutes. Mottau is -9 playing 14 minutes a nite, and Eaton is – 5 playing 15 minutes a nite. Harmonic and AMAC are short on points, but solid playing 23 minutes each game. The issue isn’t Amac/Hamonic, those guys are solid. The issue is Streit, is it from the layoff and injury? Better be the case. Mottau, Staios, and Eaton as third pair defenders are actually pretty good. It’s the results Jurcina is getting with his minutes. Too many minutes, poor results.
I think if the isles make the effort(read over pay) for a top 4 defender to pair with Striet, then I think the blue line stabilizes, as does the goaltending.
The forwards, well these guys gotta figure it out. For all the love, Matt Martin plays 12 minutes, 12 points and is -10.. I hope next season the isles put a pair of B-PORT wings on either side of our fourth line center Reasoner.
Hammering the GM for dumping 2 years of Trent hunter for $6 million as opposed to 1 year of Rolston for $6 million is pretty thin. -
CM says:
Let’s be honest. No major FA’s or trade will ever happen.
Easiest tweak is an experienced coach. That should be priority #1. An experienced coach would help with some respectability. This would serve as a sign that organization wants to win. Could attract an average FA in the off-season.
Then the Isles MUST relegate DP to Bridgeport for conditioning. Keep him there for a full season. Montoya and Poulin for 1 & 2 next year. DP does not need to be around the team. Too distracting. If he proves himself there then who knows…maybe Montoya or Poulin can be traded for some value the following year.
Wang!! sell or tell us your plans. What are your options? Be transparent for once. Please don’t cry poor. ToH does not want you. Cut your losses they will never be recovered. Leave to another burb or sell.
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Tom D. from New Jersey says:
Live in Jersey, a fan since 1972, a season ticket holder on a number of ocassions including a current half season plan.
Like many, I am frustrated and disgusted witn the state of the franchise. As a fan, I have made a big committment to support this team and in return I dont get to see a meaningful game, a team that has not improved since last season because we brought in washed up players who have regressed the chemistry. An owner and gm who disrespect the fans by saying nothing and doing nothing. No accountability in the organization from top to bottom. JT is great and the Club has a handful of decent players. The goaltending has held up well.
As much as I love the Isles, it is truly a Mickey Mouse operation, not worthy of supporting unless major changes occur.All signs point to this team being sold in due time and probably relocating. That is sad. It’s a disgrace to the legacy of the great players, Bill Torrey and Al Arbour. One can spin a few positives, still think there is a play-off chance, but I dont buy any of it.
It was evident on opening night the team wasnt going to be right and yet our gm has done nothing. Maybe he will bring up the kids during the second half, but it will be too late. IMO our skill players will wear down and the do nothing guys will continue to do nothing. Maybe Garth thinks that Marty Reasoner will come back and lead the play-off charge. Good grief. -
If the team commits to a 2 man goaltending tandem, say Montoya and Poulin next season, that would be a great help.
With AMAC and Hamonic playing 23 minutes of basically break even hockey a nite, if they can improve on the offensive end, that’s a nice second pair playing second pair minutes. The guys that are hurting us are not most tau, stais or eaton> look at their +/- and minutes played. If they 15 minutes a nite as third pair, they aren’t as bad as believed. No, Streit with 9 even strength points, and Jurcina playing what amounts to 19 awful minutes a nite are hurting this team. I think Striet is just “off”, trying to do too much his first season back . Take that disappearing Rolston money and invest it in a top pair defender, and much will be fix.
As for the forwards, they have to figure it out. Reasoner is gonna be centering our fourth linenext year, hopefully with 2 BPORT guys on the wings. Gets start the auditions now. Why not put Frans on the third line with Martin and Nino, and just let Bailey center Grabner and either PAP or KO. It’s about time to see if JB has a role on this team as something more then a bottom 6 centerman. Let’s Frans cover for Ninos shortcomings defensively, and let him and Martin smack a few teams around. You have got a few vets on the roster to cover when you need sit a kid down, and give him a change of view if he’s making a mess. But I’d rather watch some of the future instead of the soon to be past. It’d be nice to see one of the defenders, perhaps DReese, get more ice time at the expense of the soon to be gone third pair guys we are suiting up.
And I’d pay real money to get rid of the @&$-ing auto correct on this IPAD. -
tilerdurdin says: The forgotten Dynasty….
http://goodcanadiankid.com/island-forgotten-dynasty-york-islanders/
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All things aside, I think most of us are anxious to hear something about residency beyond 2015. Even if it is Queens or Brooklyn, I think many people will have an new outlook. Is there any truth to the rumor that there will be a game in Brooklyn next season?
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They are negotiations going on tot have a pre-season game there. We should all go and sell the place out.
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giz says:
In order for Isles to make playoffs either Panthers or Caps have too have bad 2nd half Isles also need…..
1. Great goaltending
2. Tavares line to stay hot
3. Another line other than Tavares get hot
4. Nino replace Rolston
5. Trade for a scoring top six LW
6. Top 4 dman
7. Grabner, Bailey, Neilsen step their games up
8. Streit plays better d 2nd halfI for one don’t see most of this happening
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Giz,
I like your list but I’ll bet the mortgage that #5 and #6 won’t happen.
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Don’t count on points 3 and 7 either
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I would have to agree with you on that Doug F it’s just wishful thinking from a die hard fan.
I think will make playoffs next if we add a top winger an dman an if Strome steps in an finally gives us a legit # 2 center. Columbus will be looking to shed salary I know Nash is the Prize but would think Umberger would cost alot less an is a good fit an leader also good size 6’2 220.
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I hear you…I like Umberger I bet the Islanders could get him but he does gave a five year $25 million dollar salary. I definitely trade Nielsen and a #2 pick for him. He would be the #2 center and then when Strome is ready, he could play wing.
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Also Umberger has a no trade clause which probably rules him out.
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Umberger went to Ohio State and I think there is a gravity towards him staying there. Don’t know how much more CBJ has to play for than stupid stuff like that.
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nyi 16 says:
K.S.& crew.. great job filling Botta’s big shoes, your doing a great job. I check this site 3-4 times a day.
Also, Tom D.- I couldn’t have said it better. Losing is just accepted with these guys, it’s like they dont care.
Regarding Franz and PA..Franz is not better than a 3rd line center so to me he’s not an integral piece. PA is having a great year but his game has some big flaws…I hope Snow is dangling both and Streit as well, this team needs to make some changes now.
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To add to that, I don’t want a 2nd rd pick, Snow needs to get some good young players that are are ready to play now. And Frans, not Franz.
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I was saying that last year at draft time. I think every was so fixated on Skinner at 10 the year before that they were looking for the diamond in the rough. But you can’t find a bargain in the top 5 of the draft. I will be more than willing to eat crow at the 2040 HOF induction ceremony for Ryan Strome, but I doubt it will happen. The top 4 were pretty much set in stone, but if you look at Couturier’s numbers last year, there is absolutely no justification for his slip in the draft meaning the Flyers were just down right lucky. He scored as many points in 10 less games (4th leading scorer) and was the MVP in the QMJHL in 2011 repearing his performance from the year before. What more was he supposed to do? I guess the joke is on us, Winnipeg and CBJ, who rumor has is already trying to shop Jeff Carter, wtf? Winnipeg was even more comical picking Schiefle, where the hell did that pick come from!?!?!?! Unlike Heatley and Gaborik after DiPietro, I think Couturier will haunt us for a long time to come. And if Strome is a total bust, watch out…
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chad says:
another snow screw-up was taking 6′ 180 pound ryan strome instead of 6’3 210 pound sean couturier, who’s got 10 goals and is a +13 IN THE NHL as a just turned 19 year old. all while strome toils in junior hockey
its gonna suck watching couturier turn into the next jordan staal on the flyers when it could have been on the islanders. snow is a dunce
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Can’t compare the two before strome has even played a game.
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Sorry, replied in the wrong place.
I was saying that last year at draft time. I think every was so fixated on Skinner at 10 the year before that they were looking for the diamond in the rough. But you can’t find a bargain in the top 5 of the draft. I will be more than willing to eat crow at the 2040 HOF induction ceremony for Ryan Strome, but I doubt it will happen. The top 4 were pretty much set in stone, but if you look at Couturier’s numbers last year, there is absolutely no justification for his slip in the draft meaning the Flyers were just down right lucky. He scored as many points in 10 less games (4th leading scorer) and was the MVP in the QMJHL in 2011 repearing his performance from the year before. What more was he supposed to do? I guess the joke is on us, Winnipeg and CBJ, who rumor has is already trying to shop Jeff Carter, wtf? Winnipeg was even more comical picking Schiefle, where the hell did that pick come from!?!?!?! Unlike Heatley and Gaborik after DiPietro, I think Couturier will haunt us for a long time to come. And if Strome is a total bust, watch out…
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Strome outscored couturier in a tougher lower scoring league and was becoming better while couturier was leveling off. Couturier also had skating concerns, and he is older than strome
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in the up coming summer free agent draft, their will be many top players available unlike last summers free agent draft. since wang didnt spend anything knowing its wise to wait for this summer, with parise at the head of the class, the isles can make a splash with parase and others since they are at the bottom of the cap floor and can be real contenders next year with the right moves from their outstanding owner and top gm. too bad that is just a dream and the nightmare will continue next year as wang and snow will do nothing except continue to sign the worst 4th. line garbage they can find to reach the bottom of the cap floor as strome will automatically make the team and play with the 4th. line garbage so wang and snow can ruin stromes career as they did with bailey and now nino.
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The Pork Chop Express says:
I think everyone agrees this season is very disapointing. My opinion for the rest of the year.
1. The isles need to trade for a legit top 6 player on a struggling team (Ryan/Nash). The isles do not need another number 1 pick. They have some good prospects, a couple of decent players that could be part of good package to get this done. By doing this they can show that they really want to build a winning team. This will allow them to be more attractive for UFA/RFA. During the offseason they can also explore the trade market to get a premier dman.
2. Teams will be interested in PA,Frans,Eaton, Nabby,Jurcina. If the isles can put together a nice package to get a better draft pick or prospects they should do it. These assets can be used for point#1. If they cannot get anything good for these players then you let them play the season out and resign PA/Frans.
3. Bridgeport- The team is putting together a nice streak. It would be nice to see them finish the year down there on a winning note. Perhaps Garth can sign some of his college players and to join their playoff run i.e. Anders Lee.
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KasierVanIslander says:
How does Wang/Snow plan on making the cap floor next year?
JT, Moulson, Gabner, KO, Bailey, Nino Reasoner Martin is RFA and Yashin
Streit, Hamonic, Amac and DP
that’s all! That under 24 mil add Frans and PA 6 total that’s 30 mil. Nobody will sign with us right? Are we going to give more washed up vets 5 mil?-
I hope you like Gomez and Redden!!!
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Jim Clark says: 1.7% chance of making the playoffs, according to sports club stats. Probably even less than that for getting the most chances in the fail for Nail lottery.
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Winning says:
Being a giants n yankees fan i get to have fun being a fan. With the isles being my fav sport n team its sad to lose my fav hobby(watching n going to games). At the end of the day its not the cups i miss, its having fun rooting for a hockey team. Rooting for this team to be good is like being snookies boyfriend and waiting for her to stop being a alcoholic.
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Lacka Tallint says:
Winning, Im with ya. Big Blue!! It sucks being a 37 year Isles fan……..
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As an Islander and Met fan … I can’t thank Big Blue enough!!! At least I have one real team (and JT)
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Ray Kaats says:
As long as Wang owns the team it can not win. If he stays the club might as well move.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see more Rolston, Reasoner, Pandolfo moves next summer. If a new CBA gets in place and Wang can’t use unmakeable bonuses to reach the cap floor, he will have to spend some $$ or manipulate the floor in another way. Based on what he did at CA, Wang is capable of violating NHL rules in attempting to beat the minimum.
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Dork says:
For a team that has been rebuilding for the last 2,000 years, Snow show be ashamed of himself that he doesn’t have a young player representing the rookies All-stars. You look at the rags player Haglen making it after only playing like 3 weeks with the team. Watch him win the speed competition to top it off.
JT finally made it after 3 seasons. Would have prob made it in his first year playing on a better team with established players around him.
I’m a disgusted and sick of this management.
Phtew! i spit on him
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You realize there was no all star game Tavares’ first season right?
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e says:
I have come to the conclusion that the islanders will not be able to sign any free agents of significance until the arena issue is resolved.
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@ Sm, great points.
my only quibble would be that heading into next season with montoya/poulin doesn’t give me much confidence. they don’t have a season of nhl games btwn them and neither one has shown the stuff to be a #1.
i do realize nabokov can’t wait to be released from his kidnapping to long island, so there isn’t much choice. -
nyi992001 says:
It will be the same thing as ever other year. They will be in the draft lottery again. Any trades that are made will be for some middle round draft pick who will only go to the NHL if he buys a ticket. And the only free agents that they sign for the Islanders will be players nobody else wants, and so called “depth players”, who are career minor leaguers. This will never change until they go to a new building or the team is sold. I’m not holding my breath.
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Sadly, you are 100% correct in your analysis.
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Everything in this piece is well-reasoned, logically considered and insighful. Which is why I have difficulty applying it to the Islanders. Two games under .500 is about where they figured to be, even though I naively hoped for better. This is now the point of the season where – as if on cue – they start winning a bunch of games, including some against seemingly stronger teams, and we think a turning point has been reached only to realize at season’s end it was all an illusory fake-out, another last-third-of-the-schedule run against opponents essentially in hibernation until its time for them to get ready for the REAL season.
Nothing matters except THE ISSUE. I love this team, but I won’t get fooled again. The only reason to watch the games is the continued blossoming of a true superstar in Tavares, and I can’t even do that because of Dolan gangsterism.
This sucks. -
donna says:
Excellent analysis Kevin, thanks for keeping this site going. Also really enjoyed the article on MSG ratings I had no idea how that worked and the article was a real education. look forward to reading more of your work. As for the playoffs, the way this team plays (inconsistantly) they are out of the race, even though as a fan I will continue to watch and cheer them on. Hoping that the new CBA will include a contract drop option or whatever its called so the team can get rid of the DiPietro albatross – -his story is already ancient.
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here are my islander objectives for the second half:
- finish the season above .500 (the weak nhl .500 will do).
- finish with a better goal differential than they have now.
if they do these two things, imo the second half will have gone well. please don’t make me cringe with any mention of the playoffs which is like asking a midget to win the high jump. -
Beside needing a top 6 winger an top 4 dman we also need to add toughness! I would love to sign Tootoo in the off season but he won’t sign here that’s why we should bring back Asham. Could also use a tough stay at home dman Jurina has played ok this year but would like ….Boychuck, Allen, O’ Brein, Kubina or even Sutton forget about Weber we won’t sign here either. Snow is gonna HAVE TO TRADE FOR TALENT this off season or deadline. IDK if we gotta give up our #1 for a good nhl ready player, the time is now! Strome, Nelson, Lee, Cizikas, Petrov, Kabanov, De hann , Donavan, Mayfeild ect… we have lots of good prospects we can afford to trade our #1 for a year.
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As long as the Islanders are in the draft lottery (its been forever), even Snow is not dumb enough to trade it at the deadline. That chip you save for draft day. If teams like Det, Phi, Rags, Van, and even Toronto can trade for legit players for playoff run, I just dont get how Snow cannot do the same with the supposed young talent from the last 3 drafts. Step it up. However, I do see some 5th rd acquisitions, a couple of 4th rounders and maybe a low rounder in ’13.
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Snow is consulting Wang and Kevin Connolly as we speak
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mark says:
Great post. A few points/questions from you post:
1. Young talent – where is Calvin de Haan? He was sold to the fanbase as a no-miss prospect that would be called up mid-season. Lately, we haven’t heard anything about him. At this point in his development, is he really worse than the last d-man on the squad?
2. What went wrong? The Isles are 19-22-7, an 8 point improvement over 15-26-7 last year. Given the dramatic difference in health compared to last year, this is a very disappointing record. What, if anything, needs to change?
3. The Isles can afford to let Frans go to free agency. He is probably the 4th or 5th best player on the team and they would have a difficult time replacing him in the free agent market.Thanks…Mark
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ALEX GALCHENYUK…I believe the Isles will draft outside the top 5 and the best “late” 1st round steal will by AG. He’s filthy but nursing an injury this season. Not enough talk about him yet, but I like him flying under the radar with ? on his health….HES A YOUNG GUY and unless his recovery doesn’t put him back into game shape I think he’s NHL ready.
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Interesting trade rumor Eaton and Reasoner to Chicago for Bickell, Morin and a 2nd round pick..
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I must admit I don’t know anything about the two Hawks, but I would make this deal for no other reason than it is addition by subtraction. Eaton’s contract expires this year and won’t be back. We could have gotten more production out of Harry Reasoner than Marty!
If nothing elese, it opens spots for two Bporters who at least have upside. -
lmao reasoner and eaton aren’t even worth a 3rd
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Brian G says:
Whoever they draft in the top 6 should not be rushed to the NHL, enough of the forcefeeding. Let the young guys develop, Strome should be in Junior next year. Nino is playing on the 4th line???
Scott laughlin on XM said the other day, the islanders are looking at a 4th rd pick for Nabokov, no one really needs a goalie right now except Tampa, there is no market. If Isles were smart they should just ride him til the trade deadline and see if he is needed by someone else. I would rather have a 4th rounder then Ty Wishart.
other realistic UFA value:
Neilsen = prospect & pick
Parenteau = prospect & pick
Jurcina = 4th rd pick
Staios = 5th rd pick
Eaton = 6th rd pick
Pandolfo = 7th rd pick
Mottau = nothing (should be waived)
Rolston = nothing (should be waived)all of the young guys mentioned should be brought up soon…why not!
As far as UFA’s:
Everyone on this Blog is going to say sign Parise and Ryan Suter….let’s be real, this is who we are looking at:Defense:
Boychuk
Gleason
Grossman
Carle
Rome
O’BrienWingers:
Ruutu
Paille
Burish-
Carle Ruutu Burish Paille Rome and oBrien are the only ones I would look at in that list…the others are not good fits but we do need D depth so maybe I should bite my tongue..rather see some of those guys than Mott’s and crew
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Before I hear a “he’s missed his whole draft eligible year with a season ending injury”, I wuold like to point out that I think Alex will still have a shot to go somewhere in the top 10 in 2012. Brett Connolly played in only 16 games his draft year for the Prince George Cougars while battling a hip injury! He still found a way to put up 10 goals and 19 points in those 16 games and that was good enough for the Tampa Bay Lightning to draft him 6th overall in 2010. Connolly at just 19 years old is a full time player in Tampa so it seems like that gamble paid off…Isles..go after Alex!! He has been compared to Marian Hossa and he WILL be an NHL All Star in time! guaranteed! That ACL is a patient process don’t let it scare you he is who you need with Strome to develop this team…Yakupov is obviously the man, but Alex could be just as deadily!
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The same connolly who is getting less ice time than niño?
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Would love to get Ruutu an Burish this off season. Yakupov is going #1 most likely to the Jackets who will start a rebuild next year there not gonna trade the pick if anyting they will look for more #1 picks if they move Nash an others.
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The Sick one Six says:
I would give up the next two 1st round picks for either Nash or Ryan… I think if we had either one of those guys with a small upgrade in D we would finish 14-17th in the league. And to me any pick after 7 is a gamble or take the best player available.
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THE WIZZ KID says:
Hello again fellow Isles fans, Wizzy here. I agree with my fellow fans, get the kids up here and bring the muscle to protect them.Haley, Gillies and Martin have to be on the team. We may not win all the games with that lineup but at least we’ll see exciting hockey (Hey Garth and Charles are you listening, exciting hockey puts people in the seats !!) “If you can’t beat em in the alley, you can’t beat em on the ice”.
I live in Thunder Bay, Ontario and there are 10 players in the NHL from our city of 100,000 (including the 3 Staals). We know hockey. Get the muscle up and the kids and the progress this team can make towards the future will be fantastic and obtained on a low pressure situation.
I’ll be at the 3 game in 4 night home stand from March 29 (Pitt), March 31(Bos) and April 1 (Ott) and i’ll get a first hand look at the team. I hope to speak with as many fellow Isles fans as i can about the team.
By the way, Isles fan since 1975, first home game so i’m really pumped to see what all the hub bub is about.
Go Isles !!! -
As i continue reading my fellow Isle fans comments, i have to agree with one very important note. The playoffs are 10 X tougher than the regular season. If you think teams are taking shots at JT now, wait til the playoffs. Anyone remember Marchand from Boston rabbit punching Sedin (Van captain)4-5 times in the face with no response ? That was just after the whistle in a scrum. We have to get tougher so if PA or Frans has to be traded, so be it.
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Bob E. says:
the two losses vs toronto pretty much set the tone. We arent making the playoff b/c as long as Rolston is still an important part, we will not only lose 7-10 game sfor remainder of year.
We arent getting Nail. So no need to tank. Besides Many Bigtime players have been take out of top 5. Myers, Karlson, Kopitar were all taken out of top 10.
If you arent drafting 1 or 2nd, pretty much 3 thur 15 is totally up in the year. Their are tons of big Dman Prospects in the draft this year. We are fully stocked on fowards.
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Wasn’t Giroux picked 23 or 24? Bill Torrey built an incredible orgnaization with mid level picks. A number one anchor like Potvin or Tavares is the foundation, mid round guys like Trottier, Bossy, Gillies and Bourne were the framework and the Sutters were the finishing pieces. We have some of the frame in Grabner and hopefully Strome but still have along way to go.
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Bossy went 15th trottier went 22nd, gillies went 4th, and Bourne went 38th
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blah blah. by the time next prospect is ready for the nhl, i’ll be due for a prostate exam.
We cant do anything right. we dont even know how to fail for Nail.
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Piper says:
1st round pick, Frans & Bailey (possible 2nd or 3rd if needed) for Nash!!
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thats close! CBJ will get the # 1 and they will certainly look to a team in the bottom 10 of the standings to acquire a pick from…I think you may be on to something here, but we may wanna see what Anaheim is willing to do first
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I’d rather have Ryan…for what you offered…I’d take out Bailey and offer Grabner to get either Nash or Ryan…
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I’d offer Grabner, Neilsen and a #1 for either Ryan, Getzlaf or Nash. You can then use Bailey in Neilsen’s role.
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Better make sure they want to be here. Remember Kirk Muller?
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agreed…but when you’re making $5-7 million a year you probably go…
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Columbus is going to win Fail for Nail and they will want to see how Nash looks with a center for the first time in his career … at least I think.
What I know is Chucky will not pay $7M per for Nash even if we could get him straight up for Mottau. And the Bride of Chucky (Snow) doesn’t trade.
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I’d watch out for the two Russians…I wouldn’t be suprised if they threathen to sign with the KHL if they aren’t picked by certain teams…
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This is terrible two ufas and a first(between 5th and 8th) for their franchise player. when last season they gave up a pick around the same as where ours will be and one of their top young players for a locker room cancer on a bad contract
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While I take some issues with the radio silence from Wang and how the Isles seem to have gone into austerity mode, without Wang the Isles might likely have been gone 5 even 10 years ago. He ponied up for Yashin and Peca and made reasonable if not overly generous offers to Smyht and Erhoff. He laid out a massive plan for the Coliseum and the renovation and revitalization of the Nassau Core. While this might have been the motivation, the politicians of Nassau have destroyed this. He was willing to spend his own money, like the Steinbrenners and Wilpons. Wang is handcuffed by the Coliseum and the inability to work out a reasonable.
In one of the richest suburbs in the world, no one else was willing to step forward and do something with the Islanders? How many billionaires live on the North Shore or in the Hamptons? No one else wants the Islanders. So how can anyone complain about what Wang is or is not doing?
If you have $150 – $200 million burning a hole in your pocket, I’m sure that Charles would likely take your call. If not, STFU!!! I’m sick and tired about hearing that Wang has done nothing for this team. Maybe someone can tell me about an owner that EVER DID MORE FOR THIS TEAM: Boe, Pickett, Milstein, Gluckstern, Spano… If only by his hands off approach on letting Torrey run this team, Pickett is the closest to Wang. But when all is said and done, the Pickett family was indifferent at best. Frankly, they let the Coliseum slip into disrepair on their watch and say what you will, did not due their due diligence in trying to sell the team to Spano. How irresponsible can you be? Wang has spent more money and been more proactive, adding the NY Dragons and IceWorks to the holdings as well. Of course results matter, but considering the obstacles in NC, ToH and SMG, I don’t know what anyone expects. In fact, despite his assertions otherwie, I don’t really see Gary Bettman or the NHL as a friend or supporter of this organization.
It’s really a shame. Not sure if an American sports franchise that left such an indelible mark on hockey and sports history has ever been reduced to such a fate. It pains me because that was my youth. I guess I will always have that. I wish I could appreciate it all over again with my kids.
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I like the logic. Only those with $200 million should call Wang. Everyone else, STFU. That’s just wonderful. 12 years of mismanagement and he gets no blame. OK Milbury was a mistake. But did it have to take so long to get rid of him?? Cmon Charlie wake up.
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Nice try Sidd.
None of this says he knows what he is doing. He has ulterior motives. He was snake as an owner at CA and still a snake with the Isles.
In retro, I wish the Isles would have died long ago rather than this emotional garbage. Being a fan of the Isles is like a bad addiction. We could all use an intervention.
Considering the way Wang is behaving and has behaved, I think the ToH made the right decision not to give into Wang. Isn’t it obvious ToH does not want him.
Sell the team Wang. Just watch Sidd, something will pop up. I’d go to the 11th hour on that too. Just hope he sells. If the worst things happens and the Isles move out of state..oh well. Chapter closed.
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IslesFan says:
Finally, someone speaking some sense here. Wang dipped into his own pocket to sign Yashin and Pecca. He was losing $20M per season to do that. What happens? Yashin falls apart and Pecca gets hurt. They tried with Smyth and he left for less money.
Wang came up with a plan. It was the HUB project and it required no taxpayer dollars. Just think all of the money generated from the HUB could have been put into the Isles…but no, the tower was too big, that traffic would be too much and the quality of life (of Uniondale and Hempstead, if you can imagine) would be ruined.
Yet, no one is mad at Kate Murray….no one is mad that the Nassau politicians. Wang is the only one to blame. He is to blame for having a building that the county does not repair (the roof has leaks…really!) and a lease agreement that Picket signed in which percentages of the profits go to Nassau and SMG.
“Yeah, but Wang does not know hockey.” No fooling, he did not buy the team because he loved hockey. He said that. He did not buy the team to get the development rights (that was the Milstein group, but they are not to blame for anything, just Wang). Alphonse D’amato asked him to save the team and he tried to do that. He counted on Milbury to know what to do and that backfired.
Bottom line, if Nassau would have given Wang the HUB project, things would be so much better right now….but yeah, keep blaming Wang….that makes sense. He is the only guy that has spent millions to try to save this franchise.
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Actually, I blame the politicians of Nassau, as well as the residents whom voted them in and of which the majority of which voted down the project. Therefore, I hope Wang moves the team away from Nassau and the county and its citizens will suffer greatly for their ignorance. I would love to see Suffolk, however Brooklyn & Queens would be fine as well.
As it was said months ago, and I believe it sums it up best “Show me an area that has been better off since a major league sports team has relocated”.-
The problem with the Isles moving to Suffolk is that it isolates them even more. I grew up on the Queens border. It was a 20 minute drive. Move the team Western Suffolk and that becomes a 45 minute drive without much traffic. Add in 7pm start times with rush hour and winter weather, well… Brooklyn or Queens would actually allow for direct access, even for Suffolk residents with LIRR stations right outside both Alantic Yards and Willets Point, which brilliantly, the Coliseum lacks!?!?!
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twocents says:
All I know is you can go back 5,6,7 years and you will see this exact same argument. It’s incredible, but nothing has changed. Something has to happen soon. If no arena plan is in place or almost so six months from now, then only 2 things can happen. A sale, or a move to Brooklyn. There could be a temporary move to Brooklyn while an arena is built/in the works, ala the Nets.
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This plan worked 5,6,7 years ago, but it is completely shot in this economic environment. No one will lend the money or float the bonds that Wang needs. He had all the financing in order back in 2004-5. In fact, I would go one step further and lay some extra blame at the feet of Tom Suozzi for turtling down the stretch after he had signed off on the HUB with Wang. While not exactly a ringing endorsement for Suozzi, how do you let some half wit political hack like Ed Mangano beat you down the stretch. Hated to leave LI last summer, but the more I write the more I realize how dysfuntional things are in this “antiquarian utopia.”
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I know a lot of us would love to see the BP kids come up to play some late/no stress games for the Islanders, but to be honest, I’d rather see them push for a playoff spot in the AHL, make the playoffs and then let the staff make decisions about the players future on the Islanders in training camp. The AHL playoffs would be a much better measurement of how far they’ve come in their development then meaningless games in the NHL. If Bridgeport does make it, I would certainly hope Nino would be down there after the Islanders season is over to give him an excellent opportunity and experience. Imagine having him and Kabanov down there for the playoffs. Bridgeport could go deep this year. Let the kids develop and grow in Bridgeport for the rest of the year and go from there.
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You know what concerns me during this rebuild? How many Islanders over the past 5 years have been in the All Star game as a rookie? Philly with a 29-14 record has two this year. And the strong get stronger.
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Yeah your right
Matt read > Travis hamonic,
Sean couturier > John Tavares,
Evgeny dadnov > Alex ovechkin
Nick Johnson > Sidney Crosby
Because points don’t matter only rookie all star game apperances do
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the truth says:
I am not one that thinks the islanders are that far from being a playoff team .You see the difference when Reese was added, the speed he gives us on defense made a huge difference. They need to move Rolston off put nino there, somebody else said it correctly the other 2 will cover for nino till he gets better defensively ,but he will never learn if he doesnt get at least 15 minute a night.jurcina is too slow replace him with donovan,move czikas up put him on the 4th line with rolston maybe rolston will even score with this young kid working his butt off in the corners he is a plus 18 in Bridgeport. I think were very close to be competitive every night.Capuano has cost them 6-7 games but i am willing to even give him the benefit of the doubt if he just does what everyone else on this blog says move rolston he is killing us.
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John says:
you get no sympathy for charles wang from me, sidd. sorry.
he has made his own bed and is a victim of no one other than himself. he was convinced by politicians in power at the time to purchase the isles for the real estate. little did he know that those same politicians would lose their power base. from the very get-go he has made one bad decision after the other. from partnering with a co-owner who would wind up in jail to naming a general manager who had the IQ of a turnip. i’ll never forget that gm on an interview given to this very site saying he passed on parise because he left those kinds of decisions to his support staff. yeah, when you are responsible for the product on the ice provide no input or make no final call on the single most important task at hand in a given year: selecting a high-end No. 1 draft choice. you think steve jobs would not have taken a look at the iPad or iPod before apple went ahead with its manufacturing plan? milbury ransacked the franchise and charles just let it go on and on thinking he was getting props from the press for some stupid blind loyalty. then he starts to come to his senses when he brought in neil smith and pat lafontaine only to drop that executive team when they pushed back on his relentless micromanaging. that in turn, led charles to select garth snow, a nice guy just thrilled to have the opportunity who has proven to have the opposite personality of mad mike but identical atrocious results. snow was a player i respected but as a gm he is simply in too far over his head. in his four or five years he has shown himself to be weak at networking within his gm fraternity, weak at the draft table, abysmal at bartering with his colleagues re: trades and ok at picking up cast-offs (molson was a steal, grabner not as much so). charles wang has created this entire mess. that’s why i don’t shed a tear when we hear how much money he has lost. he bought the team, he took the risk and if the isles had won four cups in a row he wouldn’t owe us a thing. much like we don’t owe him anything for the long-running era of failure that he has piloted with this franchise. the fact that he never quite realized that the only way he would ever, ever get the town and county to give him a sweetheart deal would have been if the team played like it did in the 1980s is beyond me. if it won the politicians would have been tripping over themselves giving charles the land, his lighthouse project and whatever else he requested. the island would have been his oyster. instead, he has presided over a mess of weak management, poor teams and a manifested lethargy that have rendered the hockey team meaningless in the eyes of the people we vote for every november. charles is his own worst enemy. don’t feel sorry for him. just hope he finds a buyer. we could do no worse, even if that means moving the team away. in reality the team left long island 20 years ago anyway.
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Couldn’t disagree more. He did not buy the team for the real estate. He bought the team to save it. The only way to save it is to get the real estate development rights and put the money from that into the team. Your argument about the political powerbase fails, D’amato a Republican convinced him to buy the team and Souzzi a Democrat tried to help him with the HUB. When Souzzi lost relection, the same democrats that supported Wang, went against him.
Sorry, I don’t miss Neil Smith. Funny how no other team hired him as a GM since his ouster from the NYR. He had all the money in the world to buy Stanley Cups with the Rangers and he got one, in seven games against a weak team. Yeah, he is an impressive GM. He let his star player (and some say savior) go and then welcomed him back when it was too late. Please. Stop giving this guy credit he doesn’t deserve.
If the Isles won the Stanley Cup, Nassau would give Wang whatever he wants? Are you kidding? It’s political, winning a Cup won’t change those allegiances, no way.
Ok, if you want the team to move, then you have given up. If so, why are you here? This is an Islander fan site and I would hope that everyone else who is here would like the Islanders to stay on Long Island.
If it is going to happen the Isles need to make money. No one is going to buy this team if they have to burn their own money year after year. The Islanders need to make money to reinvest in the team. Paying Nassau and SMG percentages of profits doesn’t work.
Oh by the way, let’s not say Milbury and Snow produced identical results. Snow stole PA, Mouslon and Grabner) Jury is out on Streit, but he is the captain of the team.
Milbury traded McCabe, Bertuzzi and a third round pick for Linden. Really? Stop it.
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Wang is shady as the day is long, just read some CA articles and note that essentially every direct report of his went to jail for long stretches. He is either the most naive person ever and everyone beneath was running scams that he didn’t have any clue of or he just didn’t have enough to fry. As hands on as he is with the team I will go with they just couldn’t come up with concrete proof against him.
And to say this was not about land, I feel is incorrect. He was in bed with D’Amato who was king of NY at the time and told him the arena was practically a given. It wasn’t. He even stated almost from day 1 the goal was an arena and then to get an NBA team here. So his priority was a team that didn’t exist over the Islanders.
He is also the guy that implored fans to take time off of work to go to open houses, rally’s, write politicians, etc. and we did it en masse. Mather things go against him and those same FANS and we hear nothing from him for months now. nothing. Could I get some of the days back by taking off supporting him then? Guess not.
Let’s also give him some credit for,letting his boy toy Yashin fire that hack Laviolette. Then his wife, Garth Snow gets to fire Gordie Clark, the Janikowski, Smitty, TROTTIER, Ted Nolan. You know all of the qualified people within the organization. Now the structure of the org is Chucky, The bride of Chucky (snow), Snow’s college roomie Dunham, and Snow’s boy Doug Weight the coach in weighting. He runs this org like a club team and the only reason we are even on the cusp of relevancy is due to JT signing an extension and somehow not getting hurt since he is surrounded by a group of pu$$ies.
Sorry but we should be long past throwing rose pedals at his feet, if he is the savior, I’d hate to see what the butcher would be.
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DK,
You say Wang is shady as the day is long, but you provide no proof. As I understand it, just Kumar went to prison, that means everyone is guilty?
Also I don’t know where you are coming up with D’Amato saying the getting the land was a given…never heard that tale before. It does not seem to make sense, but the Milstein group wanted the land before Wang came here and they could not get it.
I also never of the NBA story, but what is wrong with that. The goal is to put money into the Islanders organization. Despite you might think, they are not raking in the money.
Milbury wanted Yashin, Wang reached into his pocket and paid for it. Milbury wanted Pecca, Wang paid for it. It didn’t work.
Wang wants a new arena and a way for the Islanders to become self-sufficient. He comes up with the HUB project and it gets nulified by Nassau politics. Again, you post is devoid of any blame on Nassau…you only blame Wang.
As for Laviolette….remember that Carolina let him go too. Apparently somebody thought something was missing. If I remember correctly Trottier left.
Also, I don’t remember Wang telling people to stay home from work to support the vote. In any event, you lost a day of work, Wang lost millions.
I am done. My point is that I think Wang came into this with good intentions. Until the Islander organization can generate revenue, they cannot spend big money on free agents and high caliber players.
I don’t see what would have been so wrong with giving him the development rights to build the HUB. I blame Nassau County politics. Sorry.
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Are you kidding me? He begged people to go to every town hall, write to congressman, start petitions …. We did it all and it failed He then cuts us out and doesn’t say a word since.
Kumar took the fall for following his boss’s orders. Stephen Richards head of worldwide sales is serving 15 years upstate as his family isinAustralia. At least 20 other others in management lost their jobs for just being at the tale end of the chain, 3 were friends of mine.. And one couldn’t get a job for 4 years because of the firing. So yeah I do take the wang parades a little personally. Try google.
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Also what you call 20 million in losses I call a tax write off.
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While Googling check to see an article on one of wang’s protégés, he headed Cheyenne Software whichnCA acquired. He stayed on as a VP then left for another company and he was indicted for coking the books. He then put one in his own chest on the front lawn. Is just happened a few months ago.
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D’Amato was a long time board member of CA
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Aside from the facts, Wang is an angel.
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Bean322 says:
AMEN John
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TROTTIER did not leave. His contract was upped and was not renewed. Snow said he’d be reassigned. He was …. To a couch in Pittsburgh.
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I absolutely agree with you that Wang bought this team for real estate and political patronage. There is no denying that. What gets me though is that the Islanders had been for sale at various times over the course of the previous seven years and all they could come up with is a scammer like Spano and the dopes Milstein and Gluckstern. (Talk about incompetence, this schmuck was also part of the group thatn dragged the Jets to the desert, eventually saddling the NHL with another lead anchor.) Rather than complaining, can anyone explain how in all these years the Islanders have never been able to find a caring, competent owner. Sadly, for all the drama we have gone through, Wang still has invested the most and been the most proactive owner of all. Oddly enough, it seems that after the NHL expansion fee (undefined but deemed hefty, probably around $8-10 mil) and paying the Rangers a territorial fee (quoted at $4 mil, Roy Boe probably paid more for the Islanders than George Steinbrenner paid for the Yankees ($8.7 mil in 1973 with partners, soon bought out). Talk about a bad investment.
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winning84 says:
Bottom line is Isles wont be any better next season either. They will have the lowest payroll in NHL again. THey will have a bad top 4 of NHL defensmen. THey will have the lowest paid coach (whoever it is). They will have the lowest paid GM (whoever it is). THey will have Dipietro playing occasionaly,…there is no hope. The team is moving in a couple seasons. Probably Tavares agent already told him they are moving to Canada which could be the only reason Tavares would sign half his career away to last place cellar dwellar seasons.
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Also the Blackhawks won a Cup within 4 years of rebuilding. We are in year 5 since Snow uttered that phrase and the only suremfire kids in our lineup are JT and Hammer. I realize we don’t have the financial capacity of the Hawks but in 5 year’s you’d think we would have a couple of legit kids actually playing.
Niño might be legitimate but he plays -6 minutes a night to ensure he doesn’t produce and make any incentives. So he will basically earn 1/3 of his cap hit, exactly,as Chucky wants.
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RICH L says:
danfromouteast, you want rolston on the 5th line? I want to see him on the unemployment line.
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A bunch of great posts on this thread from fellow fans, but I believe that what is posted here will be repeated next year also. sorry.
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So correct Rich this is Groundhogs Day.
And as much as a few guys don’t want to acknowledge, a huge reason it does not change is DP. The fact he is forced to be here for the floor and knowing he will never be healthy keeps us in a 3 ring circus year over year. And don’t think his presence, and 3 goalies, didn’t severely impact the team the last 2 years.
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The islanders are like wearing a pair of brown shoes with a tuxedo.lol
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Watching the Islanders is like what a windshied is to a flying bug over the road.
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If snow goes and attains more over the hill geezers, and bad signings next year,along with his retarded picks, I hope his scrotum rots off.
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Snow’s nothing more than wang’s man servant. And weight is snow’s in turn. Wang has the org structured like the Ming dynasty. He is the emperor and has say over everything.
And as far as geezers wouldn’t it have been nice to not trade for Rolston (which might have kept Parise off of a rival) and signed Asham and Versteeg for that money?
Asham loved it here and would have come back, but we would never condone his occasional fighting, defending teammates, and playing like a high energy above average bottom 6 forward.
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I think the Isles will be a dominant team in 2015 with all the young kids that will be coming to fruition at that time. It will be painful the next couple of years. As far as the Wang bashing goes, boy are you fans clueless. Let’s bust a guy who is losing money, got spanked by the inept republicans and dems on long island to try and make it work in Nassau for the team and community and you think it is his fault???? The people on this site probably voted for idiots like Jacobs/Cuomo and Murray. All 3 could not run a Subway/burger joint correctly without going into debt. So please go to your ranger closet if you lost hope. The kids in Bridgeport, Notr Dame, Denver look good! Gotta be patient..
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Here is a clue….building through the draft only does not work. Only a fool would believe enough picks will turn out to be top notch players. It is a disgrace what Wang has done to this team.
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Funny how things worked out for the Pens and the Hawks. You build a solid team, then you finish it off with veterans liek Marian Hossa, not the other way around. They are going about this the right way but our pieces have not maturred yet. Most of all, a secure future would change alot of things. That is not all management;s fault.
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NoManIsAnIslander says:
Was it management’s fault at Wang’s Computer Associates?
Fraud investigators uncovered everything you need to know about Chuck Wang’s character and integrity (or lack thereof).
Once a scoundrel always a scoundrel.
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chris says:
This is all wangs fault.. 1..he should have never bought the team..
2…After making the mistake of buying the team, he did something good he put in place NOLAN AND SMITH..then he had a brain fart and its been all downhill..I wonder where this team would be with those two guys still in place..
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If Wang never bought the team, the Milstein group would still own the team. Yeah, those were better days, Don Maloney, hiring Mike Milbury, selling Palffy off, horrible new logo. I think Niklas Anderson was one of our top players.
You know what, you convinced me. Wang should not have bought this team….things were so much better before he came long!
Thanks for helping me see the light.
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Wang is getting bashed for mis-management. Milbury for so long? 15 years for DiPietro? Minor league coaches? C’mon, a group of 5 fans could have run this team better.
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20m in losses to a billionaire is a tax write off.
If he concerned about turning things around he’d hire a non backup goale as GM would have brought in Hitchcock in Nov and would give JT some help. He gives about as much of a damn about this team as I do of the Alberta curling championship.
The islanders were the key to free land. It didn’t happen partially because of politicians, partially because there are 7k in the seats a night because he drove the fan base off, and lastly because he is super shady.
His biggest accomplishment this year was hawking a 3rd jersey that made Fishsticks look good. He never got past chapter one on hockey for dummies.
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Fans are clueless?!
Chuck Wang bought a Hockey Franchise for one purpose, and that was as leverage in a 77-acre land grab scheme (which failed miserably)… And now he’s positioning to sell the Team to Canadian buyers.
We’re the stock holders and investors at Computer Associates “clueless”, too?
(Google:Charles Wang and Computer Associates)
We’re the donors and board members at the Smile Train charity “clueless” as well?
(Google:Charles Wang and Smile Train)
Hey, bud, who needs clues when the facts are clear.
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Again Wang is very very shady. It makes cutting billion dollar deals that much tougher.
And let’s not forget even if the lighthouse were passed he said he was going to do all the retail and some housing before the arena. That alone shows where the teamisas a priority.
For Wang it was always land one, getting an NBA team two, Isles a distant third.
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i just wish montoya had played in toronto and nabokov at home. going for a win in toronto was a bit of a stretch and a rested nabokov at home would have been a better shot at the split. i know they were chasing wins, but four of five going into the break is as good as you can do. can’t win every game, cappy. and in the end it costs the team a few wins to pretend otherwise, iow it backfires.
i just wish they’d get the little things right instead of ineptitude in every detail. -
Keith says:
1 year away from the Isles having enough quality Top 6 forwards that the PA Parentau’s of the world will not make this team. They should sign Frans to a 3-4 year deal as he is a solid 3 or 4th line center and shootout stud. PA to a 2 year deal and trade him next year. No other team will give PA PP time and Top 6 minutes, enjoy it while it lasts. The most important off-season to do this year is to sign Petrov, get him to North America, that will tell us how serious the Islanders are about the rebuild. Petrov, Nino, Strome, Ulstrom, Rhak, Kabanov, Cszikas will all push for roster spots soon. That is when the Islanders will get better. Keep Nelson and Lee in college for another year.
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What are u talking about? Parenteau has 43 points their are teams that don’t even have a player with 43 points let alone 2 right wingers
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Parenteau is 10th in scoring for right wingers and 2nd in assists
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I don’t get all this PA bashing. Ville Leino got 6 yrs, $27 million. While I am not saying that is what the Isles would give him, you don’t think there is ONE team in the NHL that would give him that kind of money. There are not alot of scorers like this available and they don’t all have to be tough. For all the complaints about his softness, he is only -4, not too shabby on a team like the Isles. Just take a look at Marty St Louis’ early career stats. I can imagine quite a few people complained about keeping him because of his stature. Probably glad they didn’t. I really don’t get why people are so anti-PA, because he wore a Ranger uniform? They didn’t even draft him, Anaheim did. Most of all, HE WANTS TO PLAY HERE, not a mantra we are used to hearing.
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Isles are never going to beat the bruins with soft forwards like PA, yet alone any team in the playoffs. PA loses every 1-on-1 battle, he’s good with open ice and on the PP but not going to take us to next level.
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From ESPN’s Insider
What’s holding the Islanders back?
The New York Islanders are staring right at the prospect of missing the playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons. That, of course, would continue their streak of not winning a playoff series since the 1992-93 season.
So what exactly is holding this team back? They have one of the best young forwards in hockey in John Tavares, and his play has helped other players like Matt Moulson reach new heights. They’re clearly not a Stanley Cup contender, but why doesn’t it feel like they’re at least progressing towards a playoff spot?
One reason could be the fact that they can’t seem to land any big name free agents. And, as ESPN’s Craig Custance points out, that isn’t because the club won’t spend money. Rather, it’s because many top tier players want to join a team where they feel they can win. So now the Islanders face a tough dilemma: to add players that will make them noticeably better, they first need to have more success.
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NYISLES001 says:
How many high picks have we had. Snow and his stupid picks: DeHann, Baily, Niederrieter, and weakling Stromme. While the better franchies with real scouts and GM’s pull out great picks (see the Flyers and a kid named Courtier picked after us).
Even an idiot could have picked Taveras with the first pick.
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Agreed…Snow needs to package some these guys he picked and make a big slash or two in the trade market…
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Snow picked JT so we can say an idiot DID pick him!!!
Dead on too … All picks acquired by dropping down for Bailey were traded back to move up on de Haan. We could have stood pat both years and landed Colin Wilson or Schenn with Kassian or John Moore. We’d have a lot more size then too.
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So we have given up on Strome before he has even played a single NHL game?
Wow. The guy has incredible skill and people wrote him off already. Incredible.
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Where is Strome referenced? We are talking Bailey and de Haan!
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I personally wanted Strome. I think he has an incredibly high ceiling. He is small but has a lot of Nugent Hopkins in him.
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See up above, the drafting of “weakling Strome” was considered a “stupid pick”. I am not a scout or ticket rep, but he seems to have a tremdous skill set. He does need to spend time in the gym and put on some muscle. That is why I say he may need another year after this year to develop, but that is the guy I wanted Snow to pick and I am glad he did.
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Jim Clark says:
Should we be surprised that free agents don’t want to come here? Early on Wang stamped this franchise as cheap when he threatened to have Zdeno Chara sit out the whole year after his initial three year contract expired. He did the same this year to Josh Bailey. You don’t think players (actually their agents) remember that?
But cheer up. Snow’s five year rebuild has given us the third oldest team in the league.
And we can’t take satisfaction in the Rangers floundering..for the first time in decades they actually seem to be doing things intelligently: draft well, treat their players right and add a few high priced free agents who do things right. It could be a very miserable playoff season.-
To the islander ticket reps posting, I mean wang proponents ….. I have one question. When JT gets cheap shotted and knocked because everyone knows we are a 1 man team (not even one line) and he is surrounded by a bunch of candy a$$es outside of Martin and hammer …. Will you still be throwing confetti at Chucky and the Bride of Chucky?
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So if you blame Nassau politicians for not giving Wang a chance to turn the Islanders around instead of blaming Wang exclusively, I guess that makes you an Islander ticket rep. Whatever.
If the majority of Islander fans want Wang to sell the team, then I hope someone comes forward to buy the team from him and keep it on Long Island.
By the way, I do agree that the Islanders are pretty much a 1 man team right now.
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I am putting 95% on politicians, but I do thing wang’s shady past may be a bit of a hindrance.
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william says:
I’d like to see Nino put with PA and maybe Bailey or Nielson .Maybe just maybe we could have two lines that could score. Don’t know if the other two lines could stop the opposition though. And if we could somehow make the playoffs, and that’s a big if. The boys have shown they can play good teams when they want to.
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FROM THE OTTAWA SUN
“Expect Islanders GM Garth Snow to be busy once the action resumes next week. All of the club’s potential UFAs — including P.A. Parenteau, Frans Nielsen, Mark Eaton and Steve Staois — are being shopped”
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well, i guess the ottawa sun has some cloes-up view of what the islanders are doing.
maybe they’ve heard from other gm’s who have talked with snow.
in any case, shopping potential ufa’s might be part of a due diligence. if you get an offer you really like, you do the trade instead of risking losing a player for nothing in return.
as for staios, i can’t believe anybody would be interested at this point.
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Nielsen is overrated. He is a soft player and has minimal scoring ability.
Bring up Czikas, the kid is a tough hard nosed player with good defesive ability who gets in your face.
Also Ullstrum, like the way this kid drives drives to the net with speed.
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Danfromouteast says:
I think neilsen has some good qualities yes he is soft but it would be less noticed if cizikas ullstrom and haley and maybe gillies were up and his abilities would maybe even be increased.
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From the blogs, it seems like they have interest in Bickell from Chicago…
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there’s a valuable role for nielsen on a good team. it’s harder to see that on the islanders. he’s also worth three or four points just by his shootout skill.
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As far as I am concerned, Nielsn, Staios and tge other sriffs can go. Time to brig up Donovan, Ulstrum, Czikas and Poulin. They are all talented hard nosed kids.
Czikas maybe a future Selke Candidate in the NHL one day.
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DougF: They should be playing better. One of the reasons I hammer Snow is that he should have had more talent with the number of high picks. Forget the FA’s for a second, they should be a much better team by now just with high end young talent. We keep hearing about all of the young talent etc, well it is time already to prove it.
Problem with Snow is that he tries to outhink other GM’s and scouts and draft a player he feels was underrated in the first round. Most of the time this backfires and you need to go with the consensus pick and try not to think you are smarter then every other scout in the league.
He did this with Baily, Okposso, and Niederreitter. Looking at the bottom line results, none of them (maybe except for Okposso that last 20 games)has shown potential allstar ability. Baily is a good kid, but he is missing that extra step and so is Niederrieter to get free and create chances. I laugh everytime I see Baily try to make a burst move like Syndney Crosby or Taveras and get tripped up. He just does not have the talent. Yet Snow reached up for him when other players were avaialble. Snow has consistently done this.
Also, their scouts got to stop this crap of drafting 5’10″ midget defenseman. Snow drafts oversized uncoordinated goalies and midget defenseman. Bottom line is Courter is in the NHL getting better evry game, has size and could be a force (like Andrachuck) and Stromme is wimpering with a fracture face because he can’t defend himself against a stiff in JR hockey. This really pisses me off to no end.
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don’t blame strome for that low-life that suckered him.
otherwise, i’d like to see niederreiter get about 13minutes a night. we criticize his defense, but if he plays only 8minutes it’s harder to expect him to think defense first.
the islanders seem to think that by keeping their kids developing together at bridgeport, once they finally get to the top club they’ll be able to adjust and contribute much more quickly. we’ll see. -
NYISLES001: I am in agreement with you even though I think Strome will be very good. Strome should alot in the Junior tournament. Snow hasn’t really done well with the high picks that he has had. While the Rangers seemed to have drafted better.
I am concerned of what he’ll do in this years draft. The two best players are Russian and I wouldn’t be suprised they sign with the KHL unless they are drafted by the more established eams like Toronto, Rangers, Boston, Vancouver, etc…With that in mind he should be able to trade the pick and get the power forward or defenseman they desperately need.
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The rags drafted better after Gordie Clark took it over. He ran our amateur scouting dept before Janikowski did. Both have been canned and it is all Chucky, the bride of Chucky, and Kevin Connollys show now. That’s why 6’2″ 215 lb Colin Wilson is becoming Nashville’s best forward while we passed on him twice to reach for Bailey.
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And this is why the Islander organization always sucks and the Ranger, Flyers and Detroint are elite.
Same in other sports. The great organizations: Giants, New England, 49′ers always seen to rebuild young talent and be champioship contenders. The friggin Jets continually suck and dispoint.
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I’m a Giants season ticket holder so I’m happy right now…
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Go BIG BLUE,!!
It has been about 3 weeks since Rex anointed his team the super bowl, why the delay?
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NYI says:
Strome is ripping up juniors and people talk bad wow.
I personally think he was a very good pick. Couturier is playing well because he has better players to play with. If Couturier was on the Isles he was no better than Nino.
I also think the Isles are slowly gettingf better every year. In the near future we can add Strome, the Kirills, de Haan, Cizikas and Donovan.
The only problem is not getting big free agents and the arena.-
Danfromouteast says:
Rolston, Reasoner,Pandolfo aren’t big time F/A? Kidding I agree with you. Nino is 19 and playing with guys on the fourth line who have no business playing in the NHL which might hurt his growth. Strome I think will be fine. We still need some size, grit and overall team toughness. One more season for cappy as coach at most. This guy has no fire at all. He bottles his emotions or something. Torterella would’ve been livid after the toronto/refs game and would have said something which in turn rubs off in the players by them playing with the same fire as the coach. This team needs some character.
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Nobody is mentioning Johan Sundstrom? I watched the junior cup ,they made him alt. captain, On a team full of talent that what the coaching staff thinks of this kid .6-3 210 pd. two way hockey player, a steal in the second round of the draft last year. 7 players off of team Sweden will be selected in the first round . Sundstroms Upside is huge,he is way ahead of Strome physically, he will make the team next year and be a real good player in this league.The kid spelling this wrong amajad is another no miss from Sweden scored go ahead goal for them and was best player on ice for team Sweden and the best player in the tourney.
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For those that have FIOS, the AHL skills competition is airing on Hamptons TV channel 14. This same channel has been airing an OHL game every week for the past month or so.
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Yes, I would love to see Petrov, Sundstrom and Brock Nelson on the same line. Then Taveras, Strome and Niederreiter on the same line.
I heard this kid John Perrson (Islanders drafted in 6th round) is the 2nd comming of Matt Martin. Heard he is one of the toughest kids in the WHL and can score. He has a little Leclair/Cam Neally in him.
I will say they are drafting well in rounds 2 to 6, but they have to do better with these top 10 picks.
Excellent work, Kevin. Loved this piece and the one on the MSG ratings. Big respect to you, Keith and Alan for keeping PB running and making it your own. Thanks also to the die-hards (all Islanders fans are die-hards, right?) for continuing to check out the blog and supporting your New York Islanders.
You are correct: none of the older vets will bring back much more than a 4th round pick. If the Islanders and Frans can’t come to terms on an extension in the next few weeks, Frans could bring back a solid prospect or a 2nd rounder or possibly a veteran dman better than the 5-6-7s they’ve been throwing out there.
Like I said on the podcast yesterday, if any of these 45-point teams are incapable of putting together a winning streak to get back in the race — or their GMs are incapable or unwilling to make the changes to help them improve — it’s sad. I’m well aware of the math. I also know these teams have more than 30 games left. Too early for anyone to throw in the towel.
Let’s see if we can get a live chat together at some point in the next week.
Take care.
Chris Botta