AHHHHH!!!
Disaster is indeed looming. HILBERT! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!! From everything I've read, Hilbert has had an awful training camp, while Tambellini was quite the sparkplug. Bill has been dead on—Nolan simply isn't willing to trust the kids. He insists on going with underachieving mediocre outcasts. Give me a break! Finally we were going to get a chance to see what one of our best offensive prospects has to offer. But no. Not today. Not ever.
There is no way to justify this decision. How could one possibly believe that Hilbert could give the Isles more than Tambellini could on a regular basis? The worse case scenario would have them being a wash, EXCEPT, that Tambellini is a kid; a kid waiting to prove to the hockey world and to his teammates that he is ready to step up. This goes right back to the Dunham situation from a year ago. Clearly Dunham had lost his game, yet Nolan insisted on playing him. When we look back upon the 2006-2007 season we will always remember Dubie and his heroics in getting the Isles into the postseason. What many of us have forgotten is how lucky the Isles were. They needed a miraculous collapse on the part of the Canadians and Maple Leafs, in addition to some good luck in games against the Rangers, Leafs, Flyers, and Devils. Nolan’s decision to stick with Dunham SHOULD have cost the Isles the playoffs last year. Now keeping Hilbert won’t have that drastic of an impact on the Isles’ early season success, but COME ON!!! WAKE UP!!!
Also, where in the world is Bryan Berard? I must be the only one who remembers a powerplay from a year ago that couldn’t produce quality scoring chances when the Isles needed them most. The Isles’ powerplay was HORRIBLE for a majority of the season last year, and much of the problem was hidden with the addition of MAB who’s booming slap shot helped improve the Isles PP numbers at the end of the season. BUT, the secret’s out on MAB, and without Tom Poti to dish off the puck, how does Nolan expect to have an effective PP? Does he suspect Radek Martinek, who will be eating extremely tough minutes against the opponent’s top lines as well as penalty killing duties, is the answer? COME ON!!! Martinek is NO Superman, plus if we would like him to stick around for, I don’t know, the ENTIRE SEASON, maybe it would help if we weren’t forced to rely on him to play big minutes on EACH of the powerplay, penalty kill, and even strength. The Isles had numerous chances against the Sabers in the playoffs to win a few more games than they did, but the powerplay truly let them down. I’m not sure what Nolan’s plan is for this season, but I can tell you this: you simply CANNOT rely on your team’s ability to outwork your opponents on a nightly basis. That’s not the way it works, or the hardest working team would never lose. Sometimes (and this time), you HAVE to make decisions based on skill. Hilbert has got to go and Berard better be signed by tomorrow.
-Justin
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45 comments:
Everyone is talking trade. I have to believe it too.. Snolan aren't stupid. The season has NOT started yet. Sending Hilbert down means someone picks him up for nothing. Signing Berard now means someone else has to be sent down, and likely picked up off waivers before they even get to CT. This line up (including the Simon suspension) is the only way to protect our assets.
I'm guessing Snolan is looking to trade Hilbert & Meyer for as much as possible- likely draft picks. Some team is going to bite, it just depends on when and for how much. Bringing Berard and Tamby on the active roster right now (3 days before the season starts) would involve losing 2 players for nothing. Right now, they're able to continue holding on to the talent(s) they own while working for a trade.
To me, if nothing gets done in the first month of the season, I'll be upset. But for now, this is fine. Also, Hilbert can NOT hit as many posts as he did last year. Either he'll play himself out of the league completely (which some say he did already in camp) or start scoring, in which case we a) keep him or b) deal him for even more.
A 21 y.o. Tamby will be just fine in Bridgeport for another month- he'll come up in November and still score 15 goals this season.
Also, don't forget about the Simon situation. Right now we have Bootland up on the team- an obvious place-holder for Simon. Bring Simon back, who can play the physical game Bootland can along with some scoring, all of a sudden the 4th line changes dramatically. Tamby should be back at that point, no?
Finally, regardless of what we say, we're not going to get any type of explanation/statement from the team. They're holding their cards close at this time to get the most value for the players they're hoping to trade, and hide who they really want on their roster. Right now, they say Hilbert is a 2nd liner- thats inflating his value, hopefully for a trade.
Relax everyone...this is the ONLY way to deal with this situation of having too many players who can/should be playing.
The Hilbert/Tambellini thing makes no sense. I think they'll have Berard signed soon. I still can't figure out why they think they need 8 d-man on the roster.
This is only a problem because Snow carelessly and whimsically offered Hilbert a contract for absolutely no reason.
As for a pending trade regarding a defenseman, I'll believe that when I see it.
While I can understand to a degree keeping Hilbert up here, not signing Berard yet is troubling. From everything we have read, Berard has done everything that could have been asked of him plus some. From the few preseason games that I saw, Campoli, Bruno, and/or Meyer did not show me anything special, nothing that Berard couldn't handle, and we all know that his presence alone on the powerplay would be valueable.
On Jeff Tambellini being sent to Bridgeport:
“In order for Jeff to be up here, he has to be among the top nine forwards. Jeff’s not a fourth-line guy. The way Sim and Fedotenko played in camp, and the way Andy Hilbert performed for us consistently last year, it was just one of those things. That’s not to say he won’t be back up here in a very short time. He’ll get his chance, and if he performs on a consistent basis, he’ll stay here.”
On filling the power play spot next to Marc-Andre Bergeron:
“We have a number of guys who can fit in on the power play. Campoli has some offensive ability and Sutton could jump into that position. Martinek is another guy. We have a bunch of guys who could fill that spot.”
Other Q/A at NYI.com
nyisles.....Trade? What trade? If you were a GM would you trade for a
player that will be waived and you can get for nothing?
Hilbert and Meyer have ZERO trade value.
One of the worst moves made by Snowjob was losing Zhitnik for Meyer. Look what Philly got for Zhitnik. Hoodwinked, again!!
All this nonsense about grit and work ethic are smokescreens for lack of TALENT.
Tambellini has TALENT.
Berard has TALENT as a PP QB.
I have been saying this all summer
and am totally disheartened to see my predictions come true.....Bill
RANT........
And another thing. Nolan did his best to destroy Campoli's confidence last year. He basically took a young Dman who had an excellent rookie year and broke him.
Now, he is pulling the same thing with Tambellini. There seems to be something oddly psychotic about his treatment of these young players. Perhaps because he himself was a fringe player and he identifys with the Hilberts of the NHL.
Well, that's not what a coach is supposed to do. Instead of making these kids doubt themselves, he should be there to support and nurture them. He is there to teach them and allow them to grow and learn from mistakes.
Ted Nolan has worn out his welcome here. His teams will never be anything more than 8 th place, first round knockouts. And that's if it's a good season.
There was a good reason he sat around for ten years with no offers. I think we are seeing that reason right now.....Bill
Or he just told Tambellini to go down to Bridgeport and learn to play defense, and we'll call you up at the end of October.
I don't know, maybe I just put more faith in someone who is a professional hockey coach, and whose primary job is to evaluate talent and make roster decisions than people who watch a few preseason games. I don't know why people are so down on Hilbert, and so up on Tamby. Sure, Tamby is young. But trust me, if he were the next Crosby, or even the next Camalleri, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. As I said earlier- either Hilbert will bomb, in which case he really is worthless either as trade bait or sending down to Bridgeport, or he will do well, in which case we can trade/keep him or Tamby. How is this bad again?
The season is 82 games long; our roster on day 1 on any given season does NOT look the same as it does on the last day. Be patient, and please stop being panicky. It serves no purpose except fan the fires of those around the country who think of NY sports fans for being 'fair weather fans'.
If you have better ideas on how to coach & manage this team after watching some pre-season games on grainy NHL center ice online, then perhaps you should call up Mr. Wang; he might just hire you...
Watching Hilbert play for a full season is not watching "a few pre season games."
I also saw him play in Pittsburgh before that. They cut him.
Watching Nolan make stupid decisions (remember sticking with Dunham, or Robatille playing all those important minutes) qualifies as being a fan. And fans buy the tickets and have a right to voice their opinions.
I was a season ticket holder since the first Islander game. Hardly a "fair weather fan." Before that, I went to Ranger games. Having watched hockey for almost 50 years and played it for over 25
years, may just give me a bit of insight. Maybe not.
Putting your faith in a professional coach is not always the best idea. Or don't you recall
any of the half dozen coaches over the last 10 years. Bowness, Milbury, Sterling, Shaw, Peter L. Still have faith in their judgements?
As for calling Wang, why not? His GM only has 1 more year experience than me. You got his number?........Bill
Bill might be on to something regarding Nolan. It does seem he has been giving the benefit to the hardworking fringe players because they probably remind him of himself. Cutting Tambellini this year makes no sense. NO ONE IS SAYING THAT TAMBELLINI IS THE NEXT CROSBY!! But does anyone really think Hilbert can provide more than Tambellini at this point in their careers? Definitely not. Will Tambellini turn out to be a more useful NHL player than Hilbert? Definitely yes. And that's my point.
It's not like Hllbert is a 35 year old on the downside of his career. He's three years older than Tambellini. You guys need to relax. As somebody else has already posted, Nolan and Snow have been at every practice and game. They have a lot better idea about the NHL readiness of players, than anyone posting here.
Though I hate to do it, I'd like to point you all to Logan's Newsday blog for a pretty good summation of why Hilbert over Tamby. (i know we're all on this blog because we all hate those who post on newsday's blog...but he still writes well)
Sorry guys, still don't see the big deal with this. Having a team of pure goal scorers does not win games (see: Yashin). I'd rather not be the NHL's version of the Bengals...scoring 35 points a game but getting 45 against them. We have guys who can, and will score this season, and we need guys to play D.
Is it Friday yet?
I don't really think that this outcry (and if you do read Logan's blog, it is an outcry)is so much about Tambellini and Hilbert as it is about more of the same boneheaded thinking that keeps this franchise mired where it is.
People are frustrated at seeing top draft choices or prospects lanquish in the minors for too many seasons and then traded away for nothing.
Fans are upset when these players are cast aside for the likes of Hilbert, Bates, Park and company.
This is the thinking that has the Isles stuck on the bottom rung year after year.
This season was the perfect time to unload the fringe players and call up Tambellini, Comeau, Neilssen and Ben Walter. That's 4 players, so the arguement that people won't pay to see the Bridgeport Islanders won't wash.
These young guys could have been worked into the line up and learned from the veterans like Guerrin, Sillinger and Witt.
If these kids didn't work out, at least we would know that our future doesn't include them.
And besides, it's not like other teams are waiting to grab Hilbert, Meyer, Park or Bates. You can always find these type players on the waiver wire.
The Islanders made another poor decision this season. When will it ever end?..............Bill
Why would you want those guys playing on the fourth line? When they could be down in Bridgeport playing top line minutes. And please don't say they have nothing to prove in the AHL. They have all play one season down there. You make it sound like those guys have been down in Bridgeport for five years, tearing up the league.
Tambellini and Walter tore up the AHL last season.
Walter had 67 points and Tambellini had 59 points in 50 games. I don't consider that tearing it up, especially given the AHL scoring leader had 122 points.
Shink, Hilbert was released from four different teams (including the Isles). How much more proof do you need?
Walter and Tambellini both deserve a CHANCE to play at this level.
Scoring at a point per game pace in th AHL should merit at least a shot at the big club.
Tell me again how many points Park, Bates, Hilbert and Simon scored and how they are Nolan type players.
NYISLES since you put so much faith in professional coaches and GM's please explain how Hilbert was waived by 4 teams, Park by 3 teams and Bates by Boston.
I guess thier "professional" opinion doesn't count.
And I am still waiting for an answer about Bowness, Milbury, Stirling, Peter L, Shaw and the rest of the passing parade behind the bench.
How was their "professional" judgement? ....Bill
Sorry for the mistake. Park was waived by five different teams. And the Wild twice....Bill
Bill, I'm not sure where you get your information from, or if you just make things up. First, when did the Islanders release him? Last time I checked, his contract ran out and they resigned him. Second, he's been released by one team, Chicago. Third, Hilbert put up two 35 goal seasons in his first two seasons in the AHL. Hilbert scored 28 points last year, in essentially 60 games as he went scoreless in his first 20. And that was his first full NHL season.
Which team released Richard Park? As far as I can tell, he was traded from Pittsburgh to Anaheim, his contract ended. He signed with Philadelphia as a free agent, his contract ran out. He signed with Minnesota as a free agent. His contract ran out, he signed as a free agent with Vancouver. His contract ran out, he signed as a free agent with the Islanders.
And Bates was never released by Boston, his contract ended and he signed with the Islanders.
Shink, I get my player profiles on NHL.com.
Hilbert was released by the Isles and then signed a two way deal in July. He was cut loose by the other teams. How do you figure last year was his first season?
He played parts of 3 seasons for the Bruins. He played 47 games before the lockout for Chi/Pitt.
He also played 5 playoff games for the Bruins in 04/05. Where do you get your info from?
Park, and Bates were not offered new contracts by their former teams. That is being released.
You can play with semantics all you want, but the fact remains that these players were not tendered new contracts by their former teams. That shows you what the other teams thought of them.
When you are a fringe player and you are not tendered a contract by your current team, it is because they are no longer interested in you. Park was signed after a tryout. No one else was interested.
When a player is on his fourth or fifth team in the same amount of years, it is because he does not posess the talent to stick with one team. He is a spare part. And that's what the Islanders have too many of......Bill
Hilbert averaged a point per game on a line with Sid Crosby and the Penguins STILL wanted nothing to do with him.
Tambellini had 59 points in 50 games. Computing that over an entire 80 games season puts him at about 95 points. That would have been good enough for top 5 in the AHL in scoring.
We've seen Bates, Park, Hilbert, etc. and they don't bring anything that Tambellini couldn't bring. And the key is, Tambellini might possibly learn to bring more. For now we will never know.
Would it kill Nolan to give this kid a confidence boost and let him make the team out of camp? Either way, let's hope Hilbert does a good job. He knows he's in the hot seat.
Berard...still waiting Garth...
Sorry Bill, it's not semantics it's reality. Alexei Yashin was released. You can't release somebody that is not under contract. I guess Ryan Smyth was just released too. Hilbert doesn't have a two way contract. And I said it was Hilbert's first FULL season in the NHL. If you can find me another season where he played 82 NHL games that would great.
So in your warped view, Tambellini was just released? LOL. And how do you know none of those teams didn't offer them contracts? Are you their agent? Sillinger has played for 12 teams, does that make him useless too? If Park was indeed talentless, why did so many teams sign him to contracts?
Justin - Patrick Lebeau scored over a 100 points a couple of times and did nothing in the NHL. Darren Haydar led the AHL with 122 points, I don't see teams banging down his door looking for his services. Tambellini had his chance in 6 preseason games and didn't do enough to make the second line. You don't give a guy a confidence boost by letting him make the team and putting him on the second line. How much confidence do you think he'd have if he played 10 games and was blown out of the water and sent to Bridgeport?
Shinkdew,
Here's where your logic is flawed. Even though you are right that many players can produce at the AHL level while never having an impact at the NHL level, this is not the issue here. Having watched 3 preseason games myself and the entire 2006-2007 season I learned that Hilbert is a hard-checking forward with no scoring touch. Tambellini is a speedy winger with less defensive upside, but a better playmaker and scorer. The problem is we already have too many pure checking defensive-minded forwards in this lineup.
4th line caliber checking forwards do not belong on the 2nd line. Moreover, we have all seen Tambellini play more than 10 games at the NHL level, and I think we would all agree that he was never "blown out of the water." Rather, he seemed to give the offense a jolt that was sorely lacked many times last season. Lastly, I do not think it was about Tambellini not "doing enough" during the preseason. This decision was made because Snow recklessly offered Hilbert a contract and Snolan do not want to make that signing seem like an unnecessary waste of money. Seems like a silly way to choose a roster.
I haven't always agreed with Bill on this board, but I do agree with him here. The Heatley signing reinforced the direction the game is going in.
The new law of the land will be to tie up your stars before they ever hit the FA market.
This will cause some teams to allow their 3rd line/"Energy" players to go in order to free up the cap space. So basically, all that will available in years to come will be Darcy Tucker-types, who will then be given ridiculous salaries because that's what the FA market demands. There won't be a Crosby/Heatley/Spezza/Ovechkin in sight.
The only way to circumvent this travesty is to draft well and develop stars. We need to see NOW what we have in the Bridgeport kids so that we can address the lacking areas in the next draft.
That should be mean Tamby, Comeau, Nielsen, Aaron Johnson and Gervais get extensive playing time this season. If the season is a wash because of that...so what? We're not hoisting the cup anytime soon, but we COULD be doing so in 5 years with the right mix.
If we keep going with decisions like Hilbert over Tamby, we'll never get there.
-Frank
Justin - Tambellini wasn't blown out of the water because he was playing on the third and fourth line last year. Hilbert has to have some kind of scoring touch to have scored 35+ goals in the AHL twice. Not to mention he scored more points in his first two years in college than Tambellini did. The problem Tambellini had, is he wasn't good enough to play on the second line, and the third line was already set. If he wasn't able to score in preseason playing against other teams 3-4th lines and AHL squads, how is he going to do it against legitimate second lines? If they had a spot open on the third line, he'd probably be playing there.
I guess I can't really argue with you there b/c it's coming down to a matter of opinion, and it seems we will forever disagree. I understand your validations for keeping Hilbert, but I hope you see where I and a majority of Isles fans are coming from. We're just frustrated that Hilbert was rewarded for a poor season, especially since Tambellini is such an exciting young player.
Reports out of Newsday that Berard was quarterbacking the Isles top PP today. See ya later Freddy...
I see where you coming from, and it is frustrating. It makes sense to me why he was sent down. I'd rather the Islanders take their time with their prospects than rush them in. And then after a few sub-par years trade them away, only to see them blossom into very good players (aka Jokinen, Bertuzzi). I have a feeling, if Tambellini goes down and shows he can play defense, he'll be back up rather quickly.
Justin- Thats great news re: Berard. I really can't see anyone justifying not signing him at this point. He wasn't spectacular, but PP QB capabilities plus a non-liability on regular D means he should stay.
Wonder when we hear an official announcement? Maybe paired w/ a trade, getting rid of Hilbert and solving all our BB&O blog arguments? :)
FYI BD Gallof has a good piece on our D situation. The presence of Sutton, Witt, and possibly Berard should do wonders for Campoli's offense. He'll be able to step up more often knowing there's some solid D behind him, and should feel less pressure to become the #1 or 2 Dman so early in his career- which should allow him to play a more relaxed, and thus less error prone, defense.
I just had to book a trip for the weekend, meaning I'm on a plane tomorrow night and I'll miss the game! I can't remember the last time I missed opening night!!!
Haha yeah let's trade Hilbert and Freddy for a sack of pucks. But you're right then there would be nothing to talk about. I can't wait for tomorow night. We better come out flying and hand Buffalo a 5-0 loss. I'm sick of opening up the season with a bad loss. Where last year we opened on the West coast, this year we are opening with a home & home against the team that knocked us out of the playoffs. We should be ready to go.
Shink So anyone who played less than 82 games never played a "full season"? I don't think so.
I believe you can play 9 games and still be returned to Juniors. How many games can you play to be considered for Rookie of the Year?
Oh, and since Hunter never played a full 82 game season, I gues he is still waiting for his first full season.
The difference between Smyth and those fringe players is that Smyth was offered a contract. They were not. Sillinger was traded FOR at the deadline several times because teams were attempting to make a run at the Cup. He was sought after. I guess you just don't understand that difference between the two......Bill
"Sorry Bill, it's not semantics it's reality. Alexei Yashin was released. You can't release somebody that is not under contract."
To be technical Shink, Yashin was not released. His contract was bought out.
If he was outright released the Isles would be on the hook for his full amount of contract. This was not the case. His deal was bought out and they are still paying him a percentage.
Where do you get your information from?.....Bill
Hey Frank !! Welcome to the new NHL. Good to see you move from the "dark side." LOL LOL....BILL
I just saw on another site that Berard will not be with the team for tomorrow nights game because of Snow's inability to "get something done" with the roster.
Don't you hate it when the season opener sneaks up on you?
The franchise that couldn't shoot straight.........Bill
I saw that as well. The man who is to be your PP quarterback isn't playing b/c you lost track of time. Good one Garth.
Martinek signed a three year contract extension. NYI.com says he will here through 2011-12.
1) Not an Islander fan here, but it doesn't look good when Berard, who it seems from the way he has been used in the preseason(and reports from practice), would have been used as a top 4 defensemen
2) He may well be signed shortly, but to not have the best possible roster in place by opening night is inexcusable. Would sending down Freddy Meyer be a huge loss?? Or is Snow, like his predecessor, not like to admit a mistake?
I think you hit it right on. Snow does not want it to appear that he lost track of his players right before the season starts, which would force him to waive someone like Freddy Meyer. If the Isles PP goes 0-6 tonight then this foolish decision making will be amplified.
That's great news on Martinek.
I don't understand why they just don't put him on waivers. It makes me think that something else is going on. Maybe his wife or kid is having some problems, and they don't want to add to it? But if that was the case, he probably wouldn't be practicing.
It's just one more example of Snow being in over his head.
Hopefully, we won't miss the playoffs by one point (like the Leafs did last season) because the power play failed and precious points were lost. They count the same at the beginning as they do at the end.....Bill
Since I am the first one to jump all over Snow, let me congatulate him on a really good move. Signing Martinek was a smart play. It's good to see that a committment was made to a worthwhile player.
Now, get to work on Hunter....Bill
Two hours till game time. Even though some of us disagree with some of the decisions made by the fron office, we all post here because we want what is best for the team.
That being said, here's to a good season, an exciting season and most of all an entertaining season.
I hope everyone here enjoys themselves and that we have something to discuss besides free agents at playoff time....Bill
Snow better do something soon, Vancouver just lost one of their PP d-men.
Campoli and Gervais are the last pairing tonight. Martinek be on the PP with MAB.
Anyone know what happened to Masi Marjamaki? He was in camp and obviously didn't make the Islanders, but he's not on Bridgeport's roster either. He played down there last year.
WOWWWWWWW WHAT A GAMEEEE
COMRIE WAS AWESOME
DP ALMOST SCORED!!!!
Hilbert was the worst player on the ice...
Gervais was eh...
I thought Hunter looked like he was skating in quicksand...as usual...
Sutton was by far the worst player on the ice.
They need to do something about passing in their own zone. They got better as the game went one, but that first period was terrible.
I thought the fourth line played pretty well. We might have the fastest fourth line in the league.
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