Comments (0)

By Mark D, January 3, 2012 9:20 pm

(Wrote this up for LHH, but then decided to switch it over here as everyone at LHH had a “get out the anger on Snow” day)

With the Islanders on nearly the same points pace as last year, just without the one win November, fans are left trying to figure out what has gone wrong. A promising end to last season had some of us hoping for more, at the very least the team being within striking distance of a playoff appearance. Instead the Islanders are closer to the first overall pick. While that isn’t particularly bad for the future, that three years into John Tavares’ already phenomenal career the team is back where it started is worrying.

It’s currently not out of the realm of possibility that the Islanders will have less then 25 wins this season. If they do it will be the first time since the 00-01 team finished with just 21 wins. Disregarding the lockout shortened 95 season, the Islanders have finished below 25 wins a total of 6 times, with 4 of those seasons being in the early half of the Milbury regime. It shouldn’t come as a surprise then that this Islanders team shares a similar problem of those teams.

Parade Of The Retreads

With the infusion of Charles Wang’s cash, Milbury was quick to predict the 00-01 team would make the playoffs or it would be his head. Bringing in a well past his prime John Vanbreisbrouck who had struggled with a good Flyers team in front of him along with former Bruin Garry Galley did little to cover the multitude of problems with the team. Garry Galley was just one of several former Bruins Milbury had coached and brought in well past their prime for one last try at re-capturing the magic of his cup run.

While we all applaud Snow for his willingness to rebuild the team and actually see the rebuild through, the reliance on older players who can no longer get it done until the absolute last moment is worrying. Two seasons ago it was giving Brendan Witt half a season before finally packing it in. This year it’s the play of Mike Mottau, Mark Eaton, Marty Reasoner and Brian Rolston.

While the Islanders might not have a choice due to the salary floor when it comes to Rolston, and Eaton can be a passable 6/7 defenseman, Mottau and Reasoner are sticking out like sore thumbs. What’s even worse about the decision making when involved when it comes to Eaton, Mottau and Reasoner is that all 3 were given two year contracts. So despite their struggles, they were kept around while better alternatives were let go.

Right now I don’t think anyone in the NHL would take Eaton or Mottau over Jack Hillen. Despite his common position as conductor of the scrapewagon, I’m sure most Islander fans would even prefer Bruno Gervais back over Mottau or Eaton. Obviously there are a limited amount of contracts that you can have, and the Islanders had to clear space for the incoming young dmen in BP.

Which also comes to Reasoner. No, I’m not about to argue that the Islanders should have kept Zenon Konpoka over Reasoner. But that the team seemed to be unaware of how close David Ullstrom was to being an NHL player is worrying. Much like the situation with Gervais and Hillen, the team decided to go with what should have been known quantities and the safe route in Eaton and Mottau. Reasoner was the safe route going into the season, but now that he’s being outplayed by Ullstrom, the Islanders are stuck with a 2 year deal on another older player.

One of the problems the organization has had for as long as I’ve been a fan is deciding when a player is ready for the big show. During the Milbury regime the problem was that guys were thrown into the fire far too quickly, and then blamed when they struggled. Now Snow seems to be taking it to the other extreme. Instead of replacing older guys who are struggling to keep up with the game, they are given every chance to keep their job. Meanwhile this seems to be at the expense of the youth, who are only given a chance as a last resort.

Two years ago Andrew MacDonald played great in a 2 game stint as an emergency callup for Brendan Witt who was hurt. Eventually MacDonald got the callup long term to replace the struggling Witt. But had Witt not been hurt, you have to wonder if MacDonald would still be an Islander today. He was in his final season of his ELC, and might have easily been ignored by the team.

This year you have to wonder what it would take for Ty Wishart to get a look before he becomes a free agent at the end of the year. Or what more the team might expect out of Dylan Reese as a callup? He did everything that could be expected out of him and was a breath of fresh air compared to Eaton and Mottau. Even if Wishart is struggling in the AHL, the Islanders have already have experience with a player who was struggling in the AHL but turned it around in the NHL (Montoya).

Right now the team is already one of the worst in the league. It’s almost not possible for them to become any worse then they currently are. It shouldn’t be surprising that last year the team turned the corner when James Wisniewski, Eaton, Mottau and Jon Sim were all dumped in favor of youth. There is no reason then that this team should be doing worse then last year with the additions of Al Montoya and Evgeni Nabokov along with the return of Mark Streit and Kyle Okposo. Since we aren’t going to blame Cappy yet, the buck has to stop at Snow.

It’s a tough position Snow came into as GM of the team, and if you don’t believe that Wang has opened the purse strings, then it’s even tougher. It’s not his fault free agents don’t want to come to the team. Who knows what might have been if Christian Erhroff had decided to sign here. But at the same time the moves he’s made this off-season have the team somehow standing still.

As this season floats closer to being lost, there is no danger in giving some of the kids a try in the NHL. No matter how much time any of them spend in the AHL, they are going to make mistakes at the NHL level. You might as well have them up here making mistakes now, then when it really matters.

Comments (0)

By admin, March 11, 2009 12:48 am

Now is the most wonderful time of the year for the Isles. After the trade deadline they call up a bunch of youngsters and it gives the team a surge. Unfortunately it usually gives them just enough of a surge to get out of last place in the league. Everyone gets excited about next season with these young guys but they’ll struggle early on next year before they get dumped back to the minors.

So what about next year? Well next season is not looking particularly good for the Islanders. The “Franchise” player, Rick DiPietro, is coming off his second major surgery in two seasons.  He’s now gone about a season and a half without playing, not counting the few games he played this season which were inconsequential. Another season without a star goalie is not a good idea with the current defense.

So what do the Islanders really need to do to at the very least compete next season?

1. Sign a starting goalie. If not at least sign a quality backup with aspirations to be starter.  Before he started his run with the Leafs, I thought Gerber would be perfect. Right now Kevin Weekes is probably the best choice if he can be gotten. The thought behind this is that DiPietro will probably need some time in the AHL before he can start in the NHL. If the guy the Isles signs starts badly and by the halfway point of the season the season is lost then there’s no harm in bringing up DiP. If the starter does good then DiP can slowly come back as a backup before moving back into the starting position. Some people have pointed out Clemmensen as a possibility, but I believe he’s a system goalie and will be horrible outside of Jersey.
2. Sign another Quality Defense men. So far the best thing Garth Snow has done as GM was getting Mark Streit. He needs to get another one of those signings this year, probably two of those level signings this off season. Streit leads the team in Points and is the only player whose played just about every game to have a Positive plus minus rating. Streit is also young, which is surprising of an FA signing.
3. Sign a Quality 40-50 Point forward. Currently with 20 games left in the season it looks like not only will the only 40 point person be defenseman Streit, but that no Forward will get to 20 goals or 40 points. I was reading somewhere that the Islanders have been steady between this season and last in goals against, but that their offense has gotten even worse.  Last year only Columbus had less then 200 goals at 193, and it looks like the Isles might be among a few teams at the less then 200 goals mark. There’s no forward on the Isles that’s looking so good signing a quality veteran will hurt a youngster.  Of course by Veteran I don’t mean a 38 year old at the end of their career. I’m tired of the Isles getting those types of players.
4. Don’t expect to get Tavares. Of course losing more games as the season winds to an end will help to get him. The Islanders have a tendency to get bounced down the maximum you can in the Draft Lotto (you can only move down 4 spots, or move up 4 spots) along with a tendency to draft poorly. Plus I’d rather not wait two years for this new guy to make the NHL or make an impact on the NHL. Lets not unload all of our hope on one teenager, that never seems to work

That’s what has to be done to make next season better. But I doubt that the Islanders will spend the money they have on a forward, defense man and Goalie. More then likely Yann Danis and Joey McDonald will start next season as 1-2 depending on the health of DiP. If anything, DiP might be rushed into starting, which will not end well especially when he’s got 11 or so years left on his contract.

Also, let me get this out of the way. The Islanders will not be moving to KC. First off Kansas City has less of a fan base then NYC. There’s a reason no major team has moved from NYC to anywhere since the Dodgers and Giants went to the west coast. NYC is the #1 Media Market in the US, how can anyone think about leaving NYC (and even Long Island for that matter) for Kansas Freakin City!? Not only that, but no team which has won the Stanley Cup has moved or disbanded since the 1932 Montreal Maroons. It would be an insult to the state of American Hockey, that the team which was the greatest Dynasty in the States is thirty years later looking to move. Wang should just build the new stadium and forget about his Mall idea and all that extra BS. If your going to build a stadium, just build a stadium, no need for a mall, a hotel, a faux lighthouse and everything else he wants. Keep the Islanders on Long Island!

Comments (0)

By , January 18, 2009 7:13 am

In one of the greatest Farces of the Wang ownership of the New York Islanders, they have agreed to play a game next pre-season in KC against the LA Kings. Supposedly KC is one of the cities that is working hard to get an NHL team to move there. Lets not forget that there was a time that Nashville was campaigning hard to get a team to move there, and how did that work out? Or for that matter Phoenix, Atlanta or Florida? There are a bunch of teams in poor Hockey markets that are struggling, and yet Wang is going to try to force the hand of Uniondale officials by playing a game in KC?

No Team in the modern NHL has moved after winning the Stanley Cup. The last team to win the Cup and to not be in existence today is the Montreal Maroons of 1934. Its been almost 75 years since a team disbanded after winning the Cup.  That in itself should say something of the Cup, let alone if you are the ONLY US FRANCHISE to put together a 4 year reign with the Cup. Theres no reason the NHL will let the Islanders move, there is far too much history.

They tend to blame the Colosseium on the failures of the Islanders. No one will look around and ask why we had GOD DAM MIKE MILBURY running this team into the ground for the greater part of the 90s. Why even when Wang decided to actually spend some money they spent it so poorly that the Islanders made it into the playoffs only to be beaten in the first round. Why does no one show up at the Islanders games anymore? Here’s why.

Since the great upset when the Isles beat two time defending champ Penguins, the Islanders have not only not won another playoff series, but in 15 Seasons since then (and including the Semi Finals against the Canadians) the Islanders have only won 7 Playoff games, and 3 of those came in a single playoff series. To make matters even worse, when the Islanders were bad in the late 90s, they were really bad. From the Strike Shortened year until 2001-2002 they managed only one season with 30 wins, one season with 29 wins and the rest weren’t even close to 30.  Just as a basis, NHL has an 84 game season. During that time the Islanders actually became the first team to lose to the Atlanta Thrashers, who started their existence 0-21 until beating the Islanders at home.

If KC wants a team its just going to lose in 10-15 years anyway, or wants a JR Royals team so we get to hear how unfair the salary cap is in the NHL let it have an NHL team that hasn’t done anything and doesn’t have any fans. Theres no need or reason for them to try to get a team with a dedicated fan base and a rich History. Really, No one cares about the Atlanta Thrashers. No One cares about the Panthers. No One cares about the Coyotes. Take one of them, but leave the history and the legacy of the Islanders behind.

Let me finish with saying that this had better be a stunt by Wang to try to pressure Uniondale. Given that the AFL has closed for the 2009 season though, theres less keeping him tied to Long Island. Wang is also the owner of the Long Island Dragons in the AFL who play at the Colosseium too. Intrestingly enough the Dragons were formerly the Iowa Barnstormers of Kurt Warner fame.

Its rather sad that this has happened, as in good news today the Islanders have brought back Dubie. An injury to the worthless MacDonald, and appearently DiPietro being shut down for the rest of the year means the Islanders were only down to Yann Dennis, who appearently is as likely to stop a shot as he is to hit the lotto. I hope Dubie goes out and has a great season and proves Garth Snow wrong about him.