Imagine how I felt this morning on NHL.com seeing the Islanders only six points out of a playoff spot, despite playing their worst hockey since the year after the lockout. Despite injuries and ineffectiveness, this team still has a chance to turn things around. However, it’s all in their hands. If they can find a way to start scoring and limit their mistakes on defense, this season might still be worth saving.

You want to know what that paragraph was? It was the hopelessly devoted Islander fan in me speaking. He still has fond memories of Pierre Turgeon scoring his 50^th goal against the Rangers and crushing hits by Rich Pilon. He stayed positive when this team traded players like Turgeon, Todd Bertuzzi, Ziggy Palffy, Bryan McCabe and Eric Brewer away for nobodies like Kirk Muller, Trevor Linden and cough…draft picks…cough. He didn’t mind the combination fisherman/Isles jersey and actually thought Niklas Andersson could be a consistent offensive threat.

This part of me is currently embroiled in a fist fight of sorts with another part of me, the realist. The one that knew the Jets were finished after week four this season and the one that was pissed when the Isles got rid of Bryan Smolinski and Robert Reichel. The same way that could never understand how the Isles couldn’t get another high profile player to compliment Mike Peca and Alexei Yashin to make a serious run at a Stanley Cup and not a half-assed one.

As of right now, the realist in me is beating the living crap out of the passionate and faithful Isles fan. With every give away by Marc-Andre Bergeron, every filed toe drag by Mike Comrie, every nixed opportunity on the powerplay and bad penalty, the punches come flying in faster than a Mike Tyson spelling bee appearance.

I implore you New York Islanders, give the fans out there a reason to keep watching. Give the youngsters more time on the ice and give Rick DiPietro the support in net that he needs to get some wins. They’ve waited way too long over the past 15 years for this team to give them a smile that lasts longer than a few weeks. On the message boards and mailing lists, some of the more pretentious and pseudo hockey intellectuals have actually discussed the team moving and how it would be more convenient for them. That’s how bad things are right now. The only thing that can silence thoughts like this is your play on the ice. Make it happen.

Posted under Random Rant

Well, the effort was certainly better than it has been over the past few weeks, but the defense allowed a pair of back door goals that led to a 4-3 loss against the Penguins. Pittsburgh goaltender Ty Conklin was also extremely erratic and the Isles could have ended up with much more than three goals. If you haven’t noticed by now, this is a team that is headed in a downward spiral that looks like it can’t be stopped. It didn’t help that they were as close to scoring a goal as you can possibly get in the third and the zebra blew his whistle when he lost sight of the puck. When you’re playing as badly as the Islanders have been playing lately, you really didn’t expect the Isles to get the benefit of the doubt right?

While the game ended in loss though, I really thought they might have had enough moxy to get by with a win.

Seeing that both Mike Comrie and Ruslan Fedotenko scored for the first time in who knows how long, I figured the rest of the lines would be able to have some jump as well. The youngsters all played a spirited game and there were a few shifts from Jeremy Colliton and company where these kids looked good. However, something else needs to be done for this team to get out of this funk. The scary part is, aside from trading the underachievers, what can the Islanders really do? The way this season is going, I feel like this team is going to start trading pieces very soon. It hasn’t been easy for me to rag on this team over the past few weeks, but I feel that the writing is really on the wall. I’ve tried to accentuate the positives on this team for much of the season, but right now I don’t see many aside from the play of Rick DiPietro and Richard Park.

Anyway, back to the game, like so many other times this season, the defensive lapses really cost the Islanders. Things are going so bad for this team right now that the penalty killing, the trademark of the grit and defensive nature of this team, can’t stop the opposition anymore. The powerplay even managed to keep the team in the game and that still wasn’t enough. Nevertheless, the only Islander that should really feel bad about this is DiPietro. This guy made a few amazing saves last night and his defense just couldn’t throw him a bone.

Petr Sykora was allowed to just park himself in front of the net, screening DP for one goal, while the backdoor plays hurt him on two other goals. Simply put, if the Isles play a smart defensive game, they’ll get the goaltending they need to win games. I don’t think Martin Brodeur or Dominik Hasek could win games with the defense this team has been playing as of late. If the Isles are really serious about making the playoffs this season something needs to be done right now, before it’s too late.

If not, they should start planning for the draft.

Posted under Post Game Rants

The last time the Islanders played the Penguins, it was December 21^st. While that may only be a month and a half ago, make no mistake about it, this is a completely different Islanders team out there. Not only have they lost the drive, passion and conviction they exhibited during the first 35 games of the season, they’ve completely forgotten how to score goals and have lost their edge on defense, making Rick DiPietro and Wade Dubielewicz both sitting ducks in net.

What would be nice is if this team could manage to stay out of the penalty box, start taking the body and then get a few powerplay goals under their belts. Earlier in the season, this team was one of the least penalized teams in the league. They knew they weren’t a team that could score a lot, so they stayed out of the box and capitalized on mistakes. Right now, they’re the ones that are making the mistakes and other teams are taking advantage. If they don’t start to win right now, this season is going to be over faster than an episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. But make no mistake about it, there won’t be a talking Milk Shake and politically incorrect humor involved. Instead, it will be the beginning of what will be big changes for this organization. If not, then expect to revel in mediocrity for a while…

I got my wish: A few days ago, I said I thought the Isles needed to call up some youth. The next day, Frans Nielsen and Jeff Tambellini are called up. In the next day’s post I said it would be cool to see a “Kid Line Version 2.0,” with Blake Comeau, Nielsen and Tambellini. Two days later, I get my wish. While the Islanders have broken my heart more times than my first teenage girlfriend, granting this wish may provide some interesting hockey tonight. By the way, even though they’ve been playing like crap in both ends of the ice lately and this season looks like it’s quickly heading to the dumpster, I still love this team like a fat kid loves cake.

In other news, Jeremy Colliton has been called up by the Islanders on an emergency basis to fill in for Miroslav Satan. A young center in the mold of Travis Green, Colliton only has six goals this season, but two of them have been shorthanded. In addition, he’s done a solid job all season on defense, which should allow him to play on the bottom lines and give someone like Richard Park or Sean Bergenheim to move back up the depth chart and play the spark plug game they’re known for.

We’ll see how it goes.

Posted under Isles Thoughts 2008, Pregame Musings

What is going on with this team? Earlier in the season, they’d lose tight games by a goal and while that was obviously tough for both the team and it’s fans, it was better than watching games like last night’s. Undisciplined, sloppy and completely lacking passion, the Islanders need all the help they could get.

Jeff Tambellini and Frans Nielsen weren’t really a factor and why would they be? The Isles were on the penalty kill entirely way too much during the game and were too busy making mistakes in the defensive end to give the youngsters the ice-time they need to be successful. Tambellini did manage almost 14 minutes, but like I said, the effort by him and his teammates alike just wasn’t there. Nielsen played a little over nine minutes [one second more to be exact] and never got himself in a position to show what he has. Regardless, they had five shots on goal between them. Considering the team only had 25 shots on Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the two new Islander call-ups could have faired much worse.

I mean, they could have been much better, but I think there’s too much of the same old pieces on this team. Players like Miroslav Satan, Mike Comrie, Josef Vasicek and a few others that have been on so many different lines and used in so many different situations in an effort to provide a spark that they just can’t. Satan has completely lost his passion for the game and hasn’t been the same player all season. Comrie’s new nickname as far as I’m concerned is Tony ToeDrag, because all season, that’s all I see every time a defender tries to take the puck away from him. Shame on me for thinking for a single second that he was capable of having a point a game season this year. As a number two center, Comrie would get the job done, but as a number one center man, he simply can’t cut the mustard.

Vasicek is another one that is simply in over his head. He’s a third liner being forced to being a player that is needed to contribute offensively. He’s a solid overall player, but he’s simply not capable of scoring as much as this team needs him to.

It’s time this team starts to move in another direction. Last night’s game was just another punch in the gut to this team and an emotional beating to their fans. Things need to start changing.

Posted under Post Game Rants

Ask and ye shall receive.

Just hours after pleading the Isles to call up some young hungry talent, they not only call up Frans Nielsen and Jeff Tambellini, but they sent down Tim Jackman to make room for Kip Brennan. If you guys didn’t know, about six months ago, Brennan was featured on the Discovery Channel for a feature on which sport hit the hardest. They had all of these scientists doing these tests and watching Brennan do his thing was totally enjoyable. Anyone who hasn’t seen this guy take the body is in for a real treat. If he drops the gloves, that should be fun as well.

However, Brennan will only take the ice if Richard Park is fully recovered from the flu. Mike Sillinger will also miss the next three weeks, as he’s been fighting a hip injury for most of the season, according to team officials. What does this mean for the Isles though, you ask? Well, they may be much more inexperienced on the forward lines now, but they should have much more speed and hustle. Tambellini and Nielsen are having solid seasons in the AHL and could be able to give the Isles the spark they need on offense. All in all, it should be fun to watch them skate against the Ducks tomorrow.

In other news, Isles coach Ted Nolan announced that the team will only be dressing six defensemen tomorrow. Maybe Marc-Andre Bergeron gets to ride the bench and Bryan Berard gets another chance to do his thing on offense. He looks like he’s starting to get his shot back and even though his defense has been spotty, it’s been much better than Bergeron’s. In addition, he plays a solid physical game and plays with more heart. Hopefully, he can begin to solidify a spot with this team and give the Isles the confidence needed to part ways with another defenseman who I will not name… wink…wink.

On the Isles website, they had some interesting words to describe yesterday’s practice:

“Today, the Islanders went through one of their most intense practices this season. For an hour, the team worked primarily on their neutral zone play and break outs. And to finish their practice, the players took part in a bag skate that left them all thoroughly exhausted.

“The urgency is there,” said Nolan. “We’re playing against the defending Stanley Cup champs and we need to rise to the occasion. Our play recently has reflected in our practices, at which we need to work harder. If you want to play hard, you need to work hard. We had a hard practice today, which is hopefully the first step to getting back on track.”

I love the thoroughly exhausted part. It’s like the fans are supposed to feel bad for these guys who put themselves in a situation to battle for a playoff spot, rather than secure one. At any rate, we’ll see how this team puts it together with some new blood.

Posted under Isles Thoughts 2008

Ok, I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and I think the Isles need to do something to save their season. Only one-game over .500, this team is fading extremely fast. I know that the message boards are flooded with dozens of people that say that they should trade everyone on this team and start all over and I’m not even going to get started on all the ridiculous trades these people come up with, but something does need to be done.

I hate writing about things like this as I would rather analyze the way the team is playing and comment on that, but I’ve simply had enough of this team underachieving.

Here’s what I think. When the trading deadline comes, Ruslan Fedotenko, Marc-Andre Bergeron and Miroslav Satan go bye bye. I don’t care who they get for them. As a matter of fact, if the Isles could get some high picks and maybe a player or two that can help, just fine, if not, the picks will suffice.

Now Bryan Berard would take Bergeron’s spot, while Aaron Johnson would be the seventh d-man. To take Satan’s and Fedotenko’s spot, call up Jeff Tambellini and Frans Nielsen. While I’d rather call up someone more explosive like Kyle Okposo, rushing this kid could be catastrophic. Plus, they’ve been playing their tails off all season and deserve a shot. If that means that the Isles don’t make the playoffs this season, I can deal with that. As it stands right now, the Isles seem like a rag-tag assortment of misfits and talented grinders and youngsters. Getting rid of Fedotenko and Satan would allow the youngsters to finally crack the lineup. I’d love to see Comeau play with Tambellini and Nielsen, they’d be like a “Kid Line” version 2.0. Sure, they’d make mistakes, but they’d be fun to watch and would bust their humps on every shift.

That also means that Ted Nolan is going to have to start having more faith in his younger players. Tambellini is having a monster season in the AHL and can contribute if he’s allowed to get some bumps and bruises. The same goes for Nielsen. All season long, I’ve watched this team play strong and then go on week stretches of mediocrity. Now over the past dozen games, they’ve shown a total lack of focus, grit and passion. Something needs to be done. Satan and Fedotenko have looked like ghosts of their former selves and Bergeron [as I’ve mentioned numerous times before] has been a complete disaster on defense. If this team had a legitimate first line and could score, it wouldn’t be so bad, but we know that that’s not the case.

On that note, I’ll turn the question over to you guys. What do you think should be done with the Isles?

Posted under Random Rant

I figured since the team has been playing miserably lately and that I don’t want to sound like a broken record, I’d bring back an old segment to the site, Islanders Memories.

It’s not that I wasn’t a fan of the Yashin signing when it was originally made, because I was, but I was really worried that the pick they gave away, Zdeno Chara and Bill Muckalt would come back and bite the Isles and their fans in the arse. Sadly, Chara and Jason Spezza have developed into bona-fide NHL stars, while the Islanders overpaid for a then point a game player who never panned out for a majority of reasons.

During his time with the Isles, there have been so many excuses made for why Yashin never helped the Isles get past the first round. The biggest one though was always that the Isles never had him on a line with players of his caliber [anyone remember how bad Isles fans wanted to sign Tony Amonte to play with him a few years ago?]. People who usually say that forget that Yashin enjoyed his most success while playing with Shawn McEachern in Ottawa. Anyway, Mariusz Czerkawski was coming off of two very solid offensive seasons and Brad Isbister was the next big thing [before he developed Oleg Kvashitis and got injured a few times], so Yashin never had an excuse to play like crap with them. For most of his first season with the Isles, his linemates were the ones playing like garbage as well, while he averaged close to or more than a point a game.

A hat-trick against the Rangers during the regular season and a solid performance in the playoffs and it looked like Yashin was doing alright. However, the next four seasons were marred in inconsistency, freak injuries [Yashin almost got his hand cut off my Michal Handzus after he fell down and the huge European accidentally ran his skate across his wrist] and problems with other players and coaches.

Rather than continue on this story that everyone knows, I think a nice way of looking at this is realizing that the deal the Islanders made with Yashin changed the NHL forever. I mean, look at how many long-term deals have been made in the league this year. I don’t think they would have been this commonplace if not for the Yashin [and maybe even DiPietro] deals. Also, by spending the money that they did, the Islanders reclaimed some of their fan base back and got back to the playoffs a few times and proved with solid ownership, any team can make the playoffs. While they never did win the cup with Yashin, they did get their respect back in part to bringing him.

That might not be that important to most of you, but as far as keeping the team afloat and changing the motif of hockey on the Island, the acquisition of Yashin helped make that happen. Could things have been different if guys like Tim Connolly, Taylor Pyatt and Chara were allowed to stay? Who knows, but either way, the Isles aren’t league doormats anymore. That to me, is a good thing.

In the end, argue all you want about how bad Yashin was for the team, but realize that they wasn’t completely destroyed by his presence and lived to fight another day, like every other team that has had free-agents busts. Understand that there are actually fans supporting this team now. Before that, there were just a bunch of die-hards that were sick and tired of the way things were going. I know it’s great to think that the Isles could have had a few snipers and great defensemen on the team if they could have held the hammer, rather than drop it, but the fact of the matter is they’ve been far from cellar dwellers since they acquired Yashin.

Now if only they could escape mediocrity…

Posted under Isles Memories

The inconsistency that is being exhibited on the ice over the past two weeks by the Islanders is growing increasingly tiresome. The constant giveaways in the offensive end are getting annoying. The sub-par powerplay is getting excruciating to watch. The new lines did nothing. The defense let Rick DiPietro down again. All in all, today’s game was a complete disaster.

Marc-Andre Bergeron needs to find a new home. Hockey fans in Edmonton know the game better than the majority of hockey fans in the world and they booed him every chance they got when he played there. Now I know why. The guy coughed up the puck so many times today that Ted Nolan should put some Dayquil next to his locker. Why Nolan keeps rewarding him by putting him on the powerplay is insane to me.

Speaking of the powerplay, you know this team is having problems on the powerplay when Bill Guerin, Freddy Meyer and Bruno Gervais are at the blue line during the man advantage. However, the failure of the powerplay to produce wasn’t the only problem today. Again, the Islanders were scored on shorthanded and now they’re tied with the Carolina Hurricanes with 10 SH goals against.

Overall, it was just a horrible overall performance. If this game [or the game against the lowly Los Angeles Kings the other day too, for that matter] wasn’t a wake up call to the team and the organization, they I don’t know what else would be. But what can this team possibly do to change their recent fortunes? Can they really afford to bring up someone like Kyle Okposo at this point in the season? And if they can, is he ready? What about Jeff Tambellini and Frans Nielsen? Are they ready to escape the shackles of the AHL and start helping out. If this team keeps losing and is out of the hunt come trading deadline, they should give these kids a chance and part ways with more a few players. Bergeron being one of the first people on that list.

Simply put, this team needs to start scoring more. Mike Comrie was nonexistent on the ice and every line didn’t have that killer instinct. The opportunities where there and even though Cristobal Huet is a solid goaltender and played an even solider game, the Isles could have and should scored more than one goal. Regardless of what game you play, one point on the scoreboard isn’t going to cut it. Not even Martin Brodeur or Marty Turco could be successful on a team that scores as much as the Islanders. Something needs to be done before this team officially tanks their season.

Posted under Post Game Rants

Well, I said yesterday that last night’s game was going to be a must win. Los Angeles has been struggling all season and the Isles, who have been playing horribly at home, needed a win. Didn’t happen did it? Again, just a mediocre offensive performance and not the smartest defensive effort I’ve seen this season. With the game so close in the third, the Isles needed to just keep the game at even strength and start a forecheck. Instead, they get called for a too many men penalty, which led to the Rob Blake goal.

In addition, the other goal that the Kings scored with Wade Dubielewicz in the net by Matt Moulson was another prime example of the Islanders defense not keeping up their end of the bargain. How many chances was Moulson going to get before an Islanders defenseman jumped into the play and did something? I think Moulson is still wide open in front of the Islanders net as we speak.

Speaking of the Islanders net, Dubielewicz deserved a much better fate than that. Sure his rebound control is still shaky at times, but giving up one legitimate goal and then being hung out to dry on the other, he should have come out with the W. You can see by his actions on the ice every time he gets scored on that he’s a gamer and hates being beaten. It’s sad that he and Rick DiPietro have had to play nearly perfect hockey all season to come out with points. It’s a shame that this guy can come off the bench and leave his heart on the ice and his teammates can’t pick him up.

I don’t know, maybe this flu things is really taking it’s toll on this team or maybe they’re not nearly as good as they led us to believe earlier in the season. Or maybe they just keep a good ole Irish kick in the rear. The offense has got to start producing and I’m just totally sick and tired of naming names. You know what? The entire team isn’t producing and the entire team needs to step it up. I don’t care who you are, what your role is on the Islanders, you need to start scoring. Simply put, when your leading scorer only have 36 points and every team you play has two or sometimes three players with more points, it’s time to start making changes, either on the lines themselves or personnel wise.

As far as the defensive effort is concerned, every player on this team needs to make themselves accountable on the ice and play with a level of desperation they haven’t played with over the last ten games.

Posted under Post Game Rants