Well, it happened. The Islanders lost one. It was bound to happen, but it was fun while it lasted, right? While the need to keep a winning streak is obviously an exhilarating one for athletes and fans alike, with today’s loss the Islanders can get back to business. They won a few games this past week without putting a 60-minute effort in and they did the same thing today. However, today it cost them.
Over the past week and a half, the Islanders were limiting the number of quality scoring opportunities in front of Rick DiPietro and in the third period of today’s game that didn’t happen. The entire Islanders defense seemed to take a collective nap during the final 20 minutes and the offense was stagnant. Any period when you’re out shot as badly as the Islanders were in the third simply doesn’t deserve to win.
Okay, on to other things.
I’m sure that plenty of Islander fans were thrilled today when the news broke that Trent Hunter, the poster boy of this site and one of the only real Islanders left on this team was signed to a five-year, $10 million contract. His goal numbers may be down, but he has twice as many assists as he had last year and is one of the league leaders in hits. He’s also leading the Islanders in shots on goal and is third in ice-time among forwards. I don’t know how the rest of you guys feel about this, but I think his decreased goal totals have nothing to do with his effort. He started off slow last season as well and ended up with another 20-goal season under his belt. Earlier in the season I predicted the same thing, and it may be a long shot, but I think he could definitely end the season with over a dozen markers under his belt, especially if his line with Ruslan Fedotenko and Joe Vasicek are allowed to stay together and gel.
And lastly,
The trading deadline is only a few days away and with Mike Sillinger out for the season, the Islanders may be looking to fill a few gaps on both ends of the ice. Miroslav Satan has a no-trade clause and I don’t think he’d approve a trade anywhere and I don’t think the Isles could afford to trade Vasicek and Fedotenko right now. Two weeks ago, I would have pulled the trigger on both of them in a heartbeat, but right now they’re a part of the Islanders best line. The only people I can really see this team giving up on is Marc-Andre Bergeron and Chris Simon. Powerplay quarterbacks with a shot like Bergeron don’t grow on trees and there may be a team out there that will be willing to take a risk on him. Simon will be a UFA this offseason and may generate some interest in a team looking to add depth and toughness to their fourth line. Again, they’d be taking a big risk, but that’s what this time of the year does to teams.
Regardless of my gut feelings though, Mike Comrie, Fedotenko and Vasicek will be very attractive players to a variety of different teams. Garth Snow has promised to build this team to a contender and while these guys are all effective players in one way or another, the Isles may be able to benefit more in the long run by parting ways with them.
Something tells me Tuesday is going to be very interesting.
Posted under Post Game Rants
This post was written by Patrick Hickey, Jr. on February 23, 2008
We had a chance to win this game right up until Marc-andre coughitup commits ANOTHER GLARING DEFENSIVE BLUNDER!! I hate to beat a dead horse, or one trick pony, as I’ve called him before, but he can’t play defense worth a crap,and only has 1 weapon on the pp, the big slapper, which I think he misses the freekin net with over 70% of the time anyway. Trade him for a used puck bag or a coaching whistle without the pea in it!!!! Drop this useless frog already… he’s hurting us!!