The Nashville Predators have scored 12 goals this month.

This is a team the Islanders should have beaten, even without the bodies they’re missing.

Instead, the Isles beat around the bush for 60 minutes, rather than establish the forecheck. On top of that, this team refuses to skate the puck into the offensive zone and repeatedly plays dump and chase, which, to me, is like praying to win the lottery every night before you go to bed [do you hear me up there, lottery gods?]. Why not skate the puck into the zone and start a cycle?

At any rate, I don’t have the answers to these questions. As a matter of fact, I don’t think anyone in the organization has the answers right now.

Time is running out boys. If this skid continues, the Isles will have dug themselves such a whole that the “Mole Man” wouldn’t be able to get out.

All childish comparisons based on Marvel Comics aside, this team is getting so bad that my mother, is even saying things like: “They stink, they can’t even complete a pass.”

This coming from a woman that doesn’t know the difference between Kyle Okposo and Hubie McDonough. However, in spite of my mother’s lack of Islanders knowledge, she’s without a doubt a die-hard. When my father seems to give up on the team after 65 games every season, my mother still watches the games and roots for them with all her heart. If that doesn’t prove her loyalty, maybe this will. She had Miroslav Satan’s back all season, especially when I was on him for under-performing, and was pissed when they didn’t resign him, saying he deserved another chance.

To see someone like that start to see the light makes me feel this team is really as bad as the rest of the NHL thinks.

Now with Doug Weight and Trent Hunter battling injuries, it’s going to be even tougher to change the minds of the rest of the league.

But hey, at least they know what the deal is. At least this team knows that they’re not only under-performing, they’re just not very good right now.

And the only people that get the Islanders out of this are themselves.

And maybe Chuck Norris.

“Nobody’s going to get us out of this slump but ourselves,” MacDonald told the AP after the game. “We know this and the coaches know this. Everybody has to get together and keep working. We are short on bodies, but we just have to keep battling and working hard. We’ll get out of it. I thought tonight we made a few good steps.”

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

Thank you Joey MacDonald. You played your tail off last night. You made one show stopping save after another and did everything in your power to ensure an Islanders victory.

The only problem was your defense forgot to show up.

That and Josh Bailey and Kyle Okposo proved that they have a lot of growing up to do defensively.

I said in my pregame piece yesterday that the Wild defensemen needed to be watched and not allowed to make that first good pass out of the neutral zone. With that obviously not happening, combined with the Islanders inability to generate quality scoring opportunities did the Isles in once again.

However, before a terrible third period, I really liked what I saw from both Mike Comrie and Okposo, who were hustling and were at least noticeable.

Then, again, it happened.

This team is so bad in the third period that I’ve seen blind people play NHL 09 with more competence. I mean seriously, why do they break down the way they do? Is it that they’re all out of gas by the time the third period comes, or is it that they are simply not good enough? The way things are going right now, most of the pundits out there will think the later, but I think it’s something else. Simply put, this team is missing something and I think I know what it is now.

They have the wily veteran leaders in Bill Guerin and Doug Weight, they have solid role players in Andy Hilbert and Richard Park. They have a shutdown defenseman in Brendan Witt [and even Martinek when he comes back] and they have youth in Okposo, Bailey and Bergenheim. This team needs DP back in the lineup and they need a legitimate sniper, to even be at .500. Right now, they don’t have enough firepower and as good as MacDonald’s been, he’s got way too much pressure on himself right now.

The way it is right now, it won’t matter who is in net for this team until someone decides to step up.

Who will it be? Who can it be at this point?

Sutton breaks foot- This is not good news at all. Up to this point, Sutton was doing his job and was even producing more offensively than I thought he was capable of. With Radek Martinek already on the shelf, the Islanders defense is doing to be running thin for the next month.

Witt talks about Scott Gordon’s system to Newsday- Witt can say whatever he wants to say about not liking the system the Islanders play, but when you get caught pinching and it leads to a goal, much like last night, you have to think the problem lies elsewhere. The problem in actuality is Witt’s skating ability. Many wondered how Witt would fit in when the league changed the rules and even though he made it out in one piece. Scott Gordon’s “Over-speed” takes the up-tempo game of the NHL to an even faster pace and Witt feels out of place physically and mentally. In order for this system to work, Witt needs to either adjust his game, or go somewhere that will accept him the way he is right now, which is one hell of of a stay at home defenseman. I hate to even say things like this, but that seems to be the case right now.

If Gordon sticks around for a few seasons and all indications are that he will, players that are brought to the team in the future won’t be in the same mold as Witt.

That, I think, is something to write about.

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Posted under Isles Thoughts 2008, Post Game Rants

On December 26, the Islanders will have 48 games remaining in their season. If all else goes as planned, they’ll have their franchise goaltender back as well. I don’t know how you guys feel about this, but to me, this may end up being a pretty damn good Christmas present to all Islander fans.

The only question is, what DP will the Islanders get?

Will they get the wild and crazy, puck-chasing lunatic that lives on the edge and gives Islander fans ulcers, or will they get a mature leader that can help take this team out of the mud and somewhere respectable?

Only time will tell on that one, but it should at least provide a bit more positive thought amongst the fan base. I think every Islander fan out there knows which DP needs to show up if this team has any chance at saving their season. Up to this point, it’s been obvious this team is missing something and with DP back, alongside a healthy Mike Sillinger, Mike Comrie and Kyle Okposo, the Islanders won’t have any more excuses.

Then it will all be about how bad this team wants to win and what they’re willing to do to get to where they feel they should be. Again, should make for a very interesting second half of the season.

As far as tonight’s game against Minnesota goes, the Islanders are in a rare situation. In my opinion, the Isles have a better offense than the Wild, especially with Owen Nolan on the shelf, but that all really depends on Marian Gaborik. Only in his second game back, the Islanders need to take advantage of his rustiness and try and get something past Niklas Backstrom or Josh Harding, both of who are two damn good goaltenders. The same thing goes for the Minnesota defensemen, who like any team coached by Jacques Lemaire are also pretty good at what they do.

However, they also have a few defensemen that are very adept at making that first pass out of the defensive zone, in Kim Johnsson, Marek Zidlicky, Martin Skoula, Brent Burns [now comfortably back at the blue line after a month and change as a forward] and Marc-Andre Bergeron. If the Islanders are going to produce offensively tonight, they have to establish a forecheck early and pressure these defensemen, especially Bergeron, who, as many Islander fans are well aware of [I still have an ulcer from watching this guy for a season and a half] has a tendency to cough up the puck. If they can then capitalize on those opportunities, this is going to be a fun game to watch.

Posted under 2008-2009, Pregame Musings

According to Greg Logan’s blog, it looks like Rick DiPietro isn’t going to be playing dress up any time soon.

Logan calls it a lesson learned. I, on the other hand, call it the Islanders organization finally using common sense.

In this world and especially in the world of sports, there are people in this world that regardless of how talented they are, don’t listen. They don’t listen when you tell them they can’t do things a certain way. It may be arrogance, it may be vision, but regardless, they fail to acknowledge that other people besides themselves may have the answers to the questions that are plaguing them. Some of them end up prevailing and become trend setters in the process. The others, however, take things too far and never make the most of their potential and become a footnote in history; the topic of late-night discussion in shady bars amongst the legions of sour fans whose hearts they broke.

After consecutive 30-win seasons, it looked like DP was headed down the first path I mentioned, but after a slew of surgeries and injuries over the past two seasons, it seems like he may be on another.

This recent decision of his however, may have him stuck in the middle.

The fact that Scott Gordon and Garth Snow are taking the initiative here and are letting him practice a bit before he comes back, while keeping Yann Denis on the bench, is proof that Islanders management has learned their lesson as well. For too long have they allowed DP to take matters into his own hands, on and off the ice. Still only 27 years old, the past two years won’t mean a thing if DP can come back healthy this season and help this team get rid of the water in the basement.

“The expectation is that he’ll be practicing with us by the weekend,” coach Scott Gordon told Newsday yesterday. “He’ll skate [Friday in St. Paul and Saturday in Nashville]. We’ll get into that routine. Until we see where he’s at, I would expect at least a week of practices.”

That’s exactly what I want to hear right now. Things are bad enough with this team and the last thing the organization and fans need is to see DP ruin his career before he hits his prime. He is supposed to be a pivotal piece in the puzzle and he deserves an opportunity to prove that he can help this team get their respect back. As I told you before, once a few of the other guys get back and DP gets back in the swing of things, that’s when the season begins for me.

I’m sure DiPietro feels the same way.

Posted under 2008-2009, Isles Thoughts 2008

Doug Weight is getting closer to that milestone and the Islanders are getting better, but again it’s not enough.

One great period wasn’t for the Islanders to win last night and why should it have been? How many times has this team played great for 40 minutes this season to only come up short? So when the Islanders managed to play one of their best third periods of the season, I wasn’t holding my breath.

It didn’t matter that Joey MacDonald battled back after a few shaky goals and kept the team in the game or that Richard Park played on his best games in an Islander uniform. It didn’t matter that Bill Guerin, Mark Streit and Weight were solid. It didn’t matter that Tim Jackman was killing himself in the corner or Freddy Meyer was doing a decent job against Alex Ovechkin.

One turnover, one shot, one game.

That’s how AO rolls guys.

Nevertheless, in spite of this, the Islanders got a point and played well against a team with both offensive firepower and a hot goalie.

I, alongside the rest of the Islander fans out there should be happy with that right?

Not exactly.

Mike Comrie, Kyle Okposo and Rick DiPietro should be back the next week or two and for me, that’s when the Islanders season will really begin. I know that sounds messed up, but yes, once those guys come back and are inserted into the lineup, that’s when I start to get excited.

Take a look at what the forward lines could be then.

Comeau- Weight- Guerin
Okposo- Bailey- Hunter
Bergenheim- Comrie- Park
Hilbert- Sillinger- Sim

Are these fantastic lines? Not really, but I think it’s fair to say the Isles have a solid group of centers, especially when Hilbert and Park can play center as well. As far as the overall diversity of the lines go, I also think all four of these lines can score goals if they have to, as every guy here can score at least 15 goals if they played a complete season. Is that something to be scared about? Absolutely not, but I think this is the setup this team need to truly take advantage of Scott Gordon’s over speed system.

Add in a healthy DP with a proven Joey MacDonald and I think the Isles will be much improved. Then once Frans Nielsen and Radek Martinek come back healthy, it may be possible that the Isles can make a trade or two to put them in better shape for next season.

Will they be amazing? No, but they will be a .500 team that can get away with a mistake or two every night.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

Undervalued and underutilized last season in Anaheim, Doug Weight came to the Islanders for a second lease on his career.

If any of the other team’s in the league didn’t pick up the one time All-Star, it was because he was coming off the worst season of his career and one that made it look like he was on his last leg.

That’s why many GM’S around the league and Islander fans alike thought Islanders management was crazy when they were the ones that brought him in this summer. However, Weight has easily been the team’s best player this season and has already proved his value, scoring 27 points in 30 games, two more than he scored of all last season.

Number don’t tell the whole story though. Simply put, you couldn’t ask for more from this guy. Alongside Streit, Weight has been something special on the powerplay and has done everything in his power to make sure the Islanders don’t embarrass themselves every night.

Now he’s just four points away from a milestone that every single hockey player from Pee Wee’s to Pros, dreams about.

1,000 points.

There’s just one problem, the Islanders are beginning to make good on the thoughts of every wannabe NHL pundit on the Internet and are playing themselves in a whole that not even the Disney version of the Might Ducks could get themselves out of. Sure they have Weight, who is their Charlie Conway and Trent Hunter, Bill Guerin and Streit are having solid seasons, but this team needs a lot more and fast or else this season is over.

And before the All-Star break.

That’s what makes this guy’s achievement a little bittersweet.

Even though Weight is a fun-loving guy who having a good time this season, you get the feeling that things could be so much better if the Islanders started winning.

“To play as long as I have and to be successful and to be coming up on that mark, I’m very proud of it and very excited about it,” Weight told Newsday. “It sounds like I’m answering in the politically correct way, but I want to mix it in with some wins. It’s more enjoyable around your team.”

It’s not like we didn’t all see this coming though, as all the fan boy blogs and even the guys secretly pulling for the team were hesitant to say where they thought this team was going to finish this season. A few weeks ago, I thought this team had the sneakiness to get into the playoffs.

Now it looks like Weight’s moment may be ruined.

What can the Islanders do to change that?

Posted under 2008-2009, Isles Thoughts 2008

When nothing is going right, do you try a quick fix or do you wait it out and possibly torment your fan-base and organization more?

That’s the question plaguing the Islanders right now. Not to say that Sean Avery is exactly a quick fix, but he may be the injection of spunk this team needs right now. Over the past few games as well, the Islanders have put Jon Sim, who, let’s be fair here, is a poor man’s Avery, on waivers, making it obvious his services are no longer needed. Considering Avery isn’t extremely overpriced at four million per, do the Islanders take the plunge?

I know how many of you feel about Avery and I’d be lying if I said I was a fan of his antics. However, if the Islanders are to part ways with Sim, they don’t exactly have a youngster to plug into Sim’s spot. Considering where the Isles are as far as cap space goes, it’s definitely a risk they can afford to take fiscally. I just don’t know if Avery’s prescence in the locker room would be worth it. Just the fact that Mike Comrie goes out with Hillary Duff seems like it could be enough to set off a disaster in the Islanders room.

Like I’ve been saying over the past couple of days, I feel like this team is headed in a downward spiral that needs to be stopped. Can Avery help to stop it?

Simply put, hearing some of the things Scott Gordon has said as of late have been downright scary and haven’t stopped me from feeling that this team needs to be shaken up a bit.

“You say, ‘I don’t want to kill them in practice and not get it in the game,’” Gordon told Newsday. “Well, now I’m at the point where it doesn’t really matter. This needs to be addressed, and it probably should have been addressed three games ago.”

And what happens when your coach feels this way? Mike Sillinger strains his groin from being worked too hard in practice. Even more great news right? I don’t know guys, you listen to guys like Sean Bergenheim and Richard Park talk to the media and they say the team is still confident and they’re battling, but it just doesn’t feel that way.

The way the team has played, going from surprisingly good to downright awful over the span of just three weeks, makes me feel that something has to be done to get this team going.

So considering that, I take you back to the original question, do the Isles take a chance with Avery?

Posted under 2008-2009, Isles Thoughts 2008

What is going on here?

Where is the passion? Where is the intensity?

In the end, it was a better effort than what they put forth against the Penguins, but it’s not anywhere where it should be.

The game started off extremely slow, with both teams feeling each other out, making me wonder when either team was going to “show up.” Rick Nash scored a goal early on that got disallowed and Tim Jackman had a golden opportunity of his own as well, but Columbus goaltender Steve Mason had his number, making that listless feeling I had in my gut stick around a bit longer.

The second period felt similar until the Blue Jackets got on the board and the Islanders started to show their true colors. Only 11 shots through the midway point of the game, Mason wasn’t exactly busy. It’s not like they didn’t have chances though. Simply put, the Islanders powerplay just wasn’t getting it done and whenever they had an angle on a shot, they were shooting the puck right into Mason’s chest, rather than make him work.

The line of Doug Weight, Trent Hunter and Blake Comeau was buzzing at times, but they weren’t able to finish. Mark Streit too had a few opportunities, but was unsuccessful. After Jason Chimera skated past everyone on the ice and scored the Blue Jackets second goal of the night, everything looked like it was about to fall apart.

The look on Scott Gordon’s face was the same exact look on my face after Nate Thompson took a penalty less than a minute after the goal. Unfortunately, I was at my girlfriend’s house, so I couldn’t assault her animals or scream. So instead, I was forced to grind my teeth.

Then, out of nowhere, Richard “I never stop hustling” Park potted a short-handed goal that got the Islanders back in the game.

My girlfriend’s animals were without a doubt safe now, as were my teeth.

After the period was over and C.J. Papa interviewed Park and I listened to him speak candidly about the team’s attitude right now, I felt that maybe, just maybe, things could turn around in the third.

The way Joey MacDonald was playing early in the period nearly cemented that notion, but the Isles couldn’t get one past the goal line. The lines were mixed up for the period as well and Tim Jackman and Comeau [who has to sharpen his skates or get some new ones!] as well as Weight and Bill Guerin had a few chances. But again, things just couldn’t go their way.

Another Blue Jacket goal with just about nine minutes to go cemented another Islanders loss, making this writer consider wishing upon a star, to Santa Claus, or anyone one else with the ability to change this team’s luck, hoping for something to change soon.

But what can be done?

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants

In lieu of all of the losses lately, it’s gotten me thinking: would thinks have been different if Rick DiPietro was in net, rather than Joey MacDonald?

During a few of the earlier games this season, where Mac’s lack of positioning played a part in several goals, I would have to say yes.

However, with guys like Brendan Witt, Radek Martinek and Andy Sutton all out of the lineup, I think MacDonald did as good a job as anyone in the NHL… and that includes DiPietro.

Nonetheless, it would be idiotic to think that in spite of his injuries that DP isn’t still the Islanders franchise player. Without him, they haven’t been .500 team.

While it would take a toll on any player to see his team floundering without him, I think it’s been extra tough on DP, especially with the huge contract and constant expectations put on him.

“I’m not even sure I can put into words how hard it’s been,” DiPietro told Newsday. “It was a long summer, a lot of rehabbing, and a lot of things to get ready for this season, and then to have it not work out like it did in the beginning and have to go back and do it all over again—it’s tough. Definitely you realize how much you enjoy playing the game and the competition of being in net for the games, but now I’m rested and maybe we can go on a run to finish out the last half of the season.”

What is capable of at this point though?

Over the past two seasons, DP has had surgery on both knees and his hip. Can he still be the goaltender the Islanders need at this point? Can he be one of the players that helps lead them to the promise land of consistent entry in the NHL playoffs every season? Can he be the one that takes this team from semi-laughing stock and gets them the respect the need to get a new building as well?

I don’t know.

That’s the biggest problem for me as well. Over the past few weeks, I haven’t been able to escape the feeling that this team is missing something. It’s obvious that Kyle Okposo, Jeff Tambellini and Mike Comrie aren’t that something and we all know how much Radek Martinek is missed right now, but he isn’t the key to this team.

Again, is that key DiPietro?

Posted under 2008-2009, Isles Thoughts 2008

It was the kind of game that almost had me fling one of my animals across the room. By the time the game was 5-1, I let off a scream that signaled loud and clear that the next person or thing that pissed me off was going to get a size 16-wide Perry Ellis dress shoe right in the arse. Rather than change the channel, I forced myself to sit through one of the worst hockey games I’ve ever seen in my 16 and a half year tenure as an Islander fan

Because of that, my poor dog and cat were stuck on the cold floor, nestled next to each other in my bedroom doorway, wondering why they couldn’t be up on the warm bed with their burly and usually-affectionate master.

I’ll tell you why, because this team is an absolute disaster right now. Watching an Islander game over the past two weeks is like the morning after eating a dozen sliders from White Castle. You have the burning feeling in your chest and your so full of gas that a bump in the car can ruin a pair of pants. After every goal, I felt the need to just go to the bathroom and let it all out.

Overall, the Islanders lost their cool and got horrible goaltending from both Joey MacDonald and Yann Danis, creating a smörgåsbord of mistakes that the Penguins exploited every time they had the chance. On offense, the Islanders were a complete joke and lacked the overall polish needed to score. The hustle and passion that was totally evident a week ago with this team has dissipated faster than the smell of a dollar store air freshener.

Kudos to Penguins coach Therrien [I'd say his first name, but he seems to change it every few days] as well for keeping his top players throughout the game as well. No sarcasm there either. I would have done the same thing if the opposition was as bad as the Isles were last night. No mercy, especially when the Islanders were so sloppy and were taking bad penalties throughout.

Sim clears waivers- He’s back, but what are the Islanders going to do with him? Still on pace for a dozen goals, what else can they ask out of the guy? Especially when most of the team isn’t producing the way they should be. Sim isn’t so much the problem as this entire team right now.

Something needs to be done and fast.

In other news, according to an ECHL press release I received yesterday Joey MacDonald was the MeiGray Group ECHL Alumnus of the Month for November.

Here’s what else the press release had to say about the Isles netminder.

MacDonald, who entered the 2008-09 season with 17 career NHL appearances with Detroit, Boston and the Islanders over a seven-year career, made 14 consecutive starts from Nov. 3-29 as Rick DiPietro has been sidelined by a knee injury. He was 8-5-1 with a goals-against average of 2.64 and a save percentage of .916 while leading NHL goaltenders in games (14), minutes (842) and shots faced (439).

The 28 year old began his professional career in the ECHL in 2001-02 and was 12-15-7 with a shutout, a goals-against average of 2.88 and a save percentage of .922 in 38 games with the Storm. He returned to Toledo on a rehabilitation assignment in 2005-06 and in his only appearance made 25 saves in a 4-1 win against Trenton on Nov. 12, 2005.

Posted under 2008-2009, Post Game Rants