Defense Needs to Step Up

Through nine games this season, the Islanders have no plus players on the team. Well not exactly. As of today, Daryl Bootland is the only player on the team that is not a negative player. Yes, you heard it right.

I don’t know what this means to some of you, but to me, I think it’s time for the Islanders to shake things up with the defensive pairings. I’ve already gotten into how mediocre Andy Sutton has been so far this season in previous posts, but I also think that Chris Campoli and Bruno Gervais need to be split up.

They’re both very good skaters and I think that if Gervais was paired with Sutton, it would help the defense overall. The same thing can be said of Berard when he comes back. The guy is still getting his bearings and if he was paired with Campoli, he wouldn’t have to worry as much about playing defense.

The way Bergeron has played this season, you have to wonder if he’s going to keep his spot on the team once Berard comes back. They both do the same thing on the ice and the Islanders can’t afford to have two defensemen that can’t play in their own end. As much as I like what Bergeron can do, you have to let a guy like Gervais, who plays responsibly, get playing time until things change.

Brendan Witt and Radek Martinek will come around as the season goes on, so I’m not worried about them. I was looking through some of my old posts and wasn’t shocked that Witt took his sweet time last season getting started. He’s not the youngest player anymore and with all the days off the team has had so far this season, it’s not surprising that he’s not playing as well as I think he can.

Nevertheless, it’s not because he’s not working on the ice, it just looks like he hasn’t gotten his legs going yet. The guy has been on the ice for way too many goals this season and it’s because he isn’t skating the way he should be. The guy blocks shots, takes the body and does everything else he has to do to help the team. I’m positive that he’ll revert to his old self again.

The same thing could be said for Martinek. Once he stops relying on grabbing people to keep them away from the net [evidenced by a few of the penalties he’s gotten called on this season] and starts really skating, he’ll be another d-man that will be a huge factor in the team’s success.

For the time being though, the Isles have serious things to work on before they can separate themselves from the rest of the team in the division.

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