Sunday, December 2, 2007

To Whom it May Concern

To whom it may concern:

The New York Islanders are in a great deal of trouble. While they tease their fans with big wins while their goaltending and defense stands on its head, the Islanders do not possess the offesnsive capabilities to compete in the NHL. This is not about being pessimistic or optimistic, but it is about panicking. Isles fans are panicking because they have seen their beloved team score an average of 1.7 goals per game over the last 10 games. They are panicking because their top line produces a scoring chance once every 3 games. They are in disarray because the head coach rewards players who are undeserving and demotes the players that are needed to build a successful program.


Ben Walter showed in his 4 minutes of ice time per game that he can play in the NHL. Andy Hilbert has showed in his 15 minutes of ice time per game that he cannot. What is obvious to some is apparenlty very confuusing to others. This is an easy swap and it should be done immediately.

The Isles' powerplay has been rendered worthless and major changes need to be made. Mike Silinger still sees plenty of powerplay time, yet has failed miserably to resemble a PP forward. Trent Hunter should be positioned in front of the net on the PP, yet he is usually found losing battles along the boards. The last time I ripped Bill Guerin he scored a hat trick the following game. Well Bill Guerin not only doesn't score, he doesn't come close to scoring. He repeatedly misses the net as he is always shooting for corners instead of worrying about getting shots on goal. Mike Comrie is too soft on the puck and his dipsy doodles are not fooling anyone.

Wade Dubielwiscz is not an NHL goaltender. Even though he was often deserted last night, he could not come up with a big save the entire game. The Isles players must sense this and I'm sure it's no coincidence the Isles D has disappeared in both games that Dubie has started. It must be hard to stay focused while fearing your goaltender won't stop a 30 foot wrister.

The Islanders need to work their younger players into the lineup by trusting them with significant ice time. As of now, this is not a Stanley Cup team, and the Isles should focus more on developing their prospects instead of allowing their "spare parts" to eat important minutes. While the Isles are surely capable of stealing wins on occassion, the jury is out on the offense this year. So unless Snow can pull a significant trade, it's time to demote some of the regulars and bring up each of Walter, Tambellini, and Nielson.

Sincerely,

Islanders Country

34 comments:

Candyman said...

[Bill's comment from the last thread]

Bill said...
Somewhere in Russia, Alexie Yashin is laughing his head off.

Bergy had 7 shots in the first two periods and hardly played at all in the third. He finished with a bit over 8 minutes of ice time.
Isn't it about time that someone took Nolan to task for his mismangaement of these kids?

Will Bill Guerin ever score again?

The one time MAB cut loose, he rang one of the post. If ever there was a guy who had his confidence destroyed by a coach, it is MAB.
He is this year's Campoli.

Berard contiued his terrible play.
He needs to sit. He made this team to run the PP. It stinks and so does he.

Hilbert kept up his torrid pace. He is still on track to score 4 goals this year.

Alexie Comrie disappeared again. This is a disturbing trend. Anyone who thinks that this guy is a first line center....raise your hand.

I watched the Rangers dismantle the Sens this afternoon. How is it that they can play Callahan, Dubinsky and Staal, in such a veteran lineup and we don't have room for Tambellini, Walter or Comeau? Perhaps because they have a real coach in Tom Renney who understands the value of working new blood into the line up?

If I was Dubie, I would sue for non support. The entire defense was HORRIBLE. It looks like they don't want to play for this poor guy. He was absolutely deserted out there.

What happened to all those games in hand? Oh, yeah. We lost them.

Calling Garth Snow. Calling Garth Snow. Your team is in freefall.
You have to start acting like a GM.
Send Hilbert down, put Bates back on the I/R. Tell Ted it's time to sit down Simon. Bring up Tambellini, Walter and Comeau or Neilssen.

The ship is taking on water and it's time to DO SOMETHING, Garth.
Just bringing up ONE PLAYER (Tambellini) for window dressing is not the answer here. This team needs wholesale changes and it needs them NOW, before it falls off the map.

Is anybody listening? Does anybody care?....Bill

shinkdew said...

I find it odd that everyone keeps going on and on about Hilbert and the third line, when the whole problem is the fact we are getting ZERO production from the first line. They have scored four goals in the last 10 games. It's a miracle that we've won any of those games. This in turn also decimates our #1 PP unit as well. Bring up Tambellini, Walter, Neilsen and Comeau isn't going to change anything. They aren't even doing anything in Bridgeport, except leading them to a conference worst record.

GPICK said...

How can you blame Dubie in last nights game? Only the 4th goal by Slava Kozlov was a goal hed really like to have back. His first shot on net in a month was a mini-breakaway by one of the best players in the game Ilya Kovalchuk who made Radek Martinek look like a pylon. Not often is a goalie gonna stop it in the that situation. The second goal he could have had, but Boulton outmuscled the defenseman, not sure who it was, for the rebound. The third goal was again, one of the better players in the game, Marian Hossa, on an all out breakaway. The odds were against Dubie on that one. And obviously, the Kozlov goal he should have had. But I dont know how you can say he didnt make one big save the entire game, there were 7 all out breakaways against him, and he made a few big saves on those. In the 2nd and 3rd periods, he played strong not just on those breakaways.

The powerplay has got to be fixed. All they do is just pass it around the perimeter and when they do get a shot off, its a low percentage play. What do we need to do to fix it?

Anonymous said...

SHINK SAID
" Bring up Tambellini, Walter, Neilsen and Comeau isn't going to change anything."

And you are sure of this because?
I can't imagine them doing any worse than Hilbert or Simon or even Guerrin at this point.

There comes a time when change need to be made for change sake. Obviously, what we have is not working. So what is your suggestion, my dear Shink?
Continue along this path and change nothing?
Go to Church and pray that Hilbert turns into Crosby?
Beg Alexie to come back? All is forgiven.
Have Garth strap the pads on and get back in the net?

Well, Shink, give up your pearls of wisdom on how to shake this team out of it's lethargy.
If you don't want the Bridgeport players, then who do you want and where do we get them from?

C'mon Shink, share your solution with us.......Bill

J Picker said...

A few changes that could go a long way. The lineup would look like this

Tamby-Comrie-Guerin
Tank-Vasicek-Satan
Bergs-Silinger-Park
Walter-Park-Hilbert

Witt-Martinek
Gervais-Campoli
Sutton-MAB

Rick
J. MacDonald aka send Doobie down to get some games as conditioning stint

So that means Nolan needs to realize these 'grinders' he loves can't get the 15 mins a game they have been getting and let some of these speedy kids play

Candyman said...

gpick,

I have been a goaltender over my entire hockey career and I have coached some pretty awesome goaltenders in the recent years. It was pretty easy to notice the flaws in Dubie's game last night. He had trouble controlling rebounds and looked very uncomfortable in net. If you watch replays of the breakaway goals you mentioned you will notice how Dubie stood still very near the goal line as each of Kovalchuk and Hossa broke in one on one. A goaltender must come out a few feet beyond the crease on a breakaway and slowly back up in order to effectively eliminate the best scoring angles. Dubie had done just that last season and he made a good poke check on a play later last night, but for the most part he looked hesitant and unconfident in goal.

Now nowhere did I say last night's game was Dubie's fault (if I did please point that out to me). My point is simply that he's not an NHL caliber goaltender and more times than none other teams will catch him in his human form (last night) and not his superman form (last 4 games last season).

Many will say how do we expect him to be ready to play every two weeks? Well that's his job--he's an NHL backup goaltender and it's his job to find a way to stay prepared in the long period in between starts. If he can't stay focused, I believe it's time to give Joey Mac a shot. He proved to be a more than reliable backup in the past.

Shink,

The first line has been awful--just read my letter. But that does not excuse Hilbert either who has been just as horrible.

PIGSKINSANDPUCKS said...

Bill,

You and I have not agreed on every single point, but something we agree on is giving the young players a chance (or, more importantly, Nolan's refusal to do so.) The one opinion of this plan where we differ is that I believe that the young guy's growing pains will translate into more losses.

However, I'm willing to go through that as a fan because, let's face it, this team is not winning a cup anytime soon. We would be lucky to make the playoffs at this rate.

I'd much rather see our kids develop (or not...either way, seeing a little passion exhibited on the ice would be a good thing). They may just surprise and, honestly, they couldn't do any worse than the current crop we have.

Chris Simon brings absolutely nothing to the table anymore. Clearly, he doesn't even bring leadership...I didn't see him on the bench, exhorting the rest of the team to get their heads out of their butts. He ought to be immediately replaced by Kip Brennan...a big kid who will be an enforcer and might chip in a goal.

People keep telling Snow to make a big trade for a sniper. Um...who do you want to trade, exactly? There is not ONE player on this team right now, with the exception of DP (and his contract makes him prohibitive),who could command an elite scoring forward in return. I don't care how many guys you package up (MAB, Hilbert, Bates...etc.), teams are not going to take our garbage and gives us a diamond.

So, really...we don't have any choice but to ride this out and then try to draft wisely. We may as well do it with young kids who play with energy.

-Frank

Candyman said...

I disagree. Packaging Gervais, Tambellini, and a first round pick could get something of value in return. Now do we want to go down that road? I'm not that sure.

Anonymous said...

J, I like Park as well as the next guy but:

Tamby-Comrie-Guerin
Tank-Vasicek-Satan
Bergs-Silinger-Park
Walter-Park-Hilbert

Having him play on too lines is a bit of a stretch for me. I am sure you wanted one of them to be Hunter.No?....Bill

shinkdew said...

Bill, my solution is we don't do anything. There are ups and downs in a season, you ride them out. Do you think Ottawa is going to blow up their team because they lost 6 in row?

Tambellini, et al are having trouble scoring at the AHL level, why do expect that to change at the NHL level? I don't need to pray that Hilbert turns into Crosby. Unlike Crosby, Hilbert is a third line player, knows his role and plays it well. You apparently are having a hard time dealing with the fact that he's a third liner, and is not expected to score. Unlike, Comrie, Guerin, Tank, Satan, Bergenheim and Vasicek, who play on the top two lines and are expected to produce.

Trading Campoli or Gervais would be a huge mistake. We don't have many good young d-man prospects to begin with, trading either of them would set us back even further. I'd rather trade Tambellini, but I don't think he has much trade value.

Anonymous said...

Shink, I hardly think you can compare our lineup to Ottawas. They have Heatley, we have (fill in your favorite Islander). They Have Spezza (Again fill in). They have Alfredson (We have ?). Redden ? Phillips? Shall we continue.

There isn't a single player on the Islanders that could crack the Sens top two lines. They can afford to wait. Especially with the lead they had.

Tambellini has 7 goals which is not bad and certainly better then the combined 2 that Hilbert and Simon have showered us with.

To do nothing is to committ suicide. By the end of January there will be 6,000 people in the stands on a Tuesday night.

Snowlan has to accept that you can't make a race horse out of a mule. And right now we have a team full of mules.

This team was fortunate to catch several teams in the throws of disarray early in the season.
The Rangers, Buffal0 and the Devils have all finally worked out thier early season kinks and are playing excellent hockey.
8 of our wins came against them.

On the other hand this team has regressed. This team is OLD and slow. The Thrashers skated rings around them.

Changes are needed NOW.

Bringing up some kids will have two benefits.

1. It infuses new blood into a tired group. Can you honestly think that these kids could do any worse.

2. It serves as a wake up call for several fringe players. Guys in danger of losing their jobs tend to play better. Losing a paycheck is a wonderful motivator.

Nolan has to change or move on. Bergy was the only forward to play with any fire last night. And for his efforts he was benched in the 3 rd period. 7 shots in 2 periods. And with a team desperate for offense, he sits.

Has anybody seen Garth Snow?...Bill

shinkdew said...

7 goals doesn't look bad on the surface, but then you look at what Bates, who you have called a spare part that shouldn't be on the team, was able to do in two games. So, if Bates can score 2 in 2 games and Tamby has scored 7 in 20+, that tells me he'll be lucky to score 5 in the NHL, if he played the remaining 58 games.

Those players you mentioned can and will play worse. Bringing up 3-4 players will signal to the rest of the team that we've given up and are packing it in for the season. You think they are playing bad now, wait until that happens.

We are five points out of first place, with two games in hand and you want to pack it in for the season? If they want to bring up Tamby, to take Bates' spot, that's fine with me. Anything beyond that is unnecessary and will probably spell the end of the season for us.

shinkdew said...

Tambellini was recalled and may play with Comrie and Satan.

Geoffrey Matthew said...

Park on the 3rd and 4th line? How can you play him on 2 lines? (That isn’t even a consideration) Justin is right Dubie isnt an NHL goaltender. He is too small ,doesn’t cover enough net he looks out of place and as Justin said “he looks very unconfident.” A goalie lacking confidence is the worst possible thing. More importantly, our smallest problem is our backup goaltender. Our real problem is not being able to score goals. The first two lines aren’t producing enough except for Vasicek. Hilbert isn’t good enough to play at all at even strength. He Is EXPECTED TO SCORE ON OPEN NETS and produce more. Its time to get him off the team. We might only be 5 points out of first place but we aren’t playing good hockey and 5 will become 10 then 15 soon. The most important thing for this team is to figure out how to score and unless we make a trade that most likely isnt going to happen.

J Picker said...

Clearly I made an early morning mistake by putting Park on both the 3rd and 4th lines.

Tamby-Comrie-Guerin
Tank-Vasicek-Satan
Bergs-Silinger-Hunter
Walter-Park-Hilbert

These are the lines I would like to see. Thank you Bill for pointing out my mistake.

If the top line doesn't start contributing on the offensive end, this season is going to be incredibility long and frustrating.

Candyman said...

Geoff,

I agree the backup goaltender position is hardly a glaring concern. I think J Pick made a mistake and wrote Park in on two lines. He meant to have Hunter as a third line wing as Bill pointed out.

Shink,

The Isles have been competitive due to their spectacular goaltending and very solid defense. Their offense is non-existent and an infusion of youth should be made. Simon brings NOTHING to the table and should be replaced. Hilbert is adequate defensively, but even a 3rd liner is expected to score10-15 goals per season. That's a significant price to pay in order to allow Hilbert to skate 15 minutes a night.

For all of you Trent Hunter admirers, I couldn't be more pleased that the Isles didn't sign this guy to a long term contract. Hunter would barely be a 4th liner on a team like Ottawa.

Anonymous said...

SHINK,

"So, if Bates can score 2 in 2 games and Tamby has scored 7 in 20+, that tells me he'll be lucky to score 5 in the NHL, if he played the remaining 58 games."

OK, can you explain to me what mathmatical formula you used to figure that out?
7 goals in 20 games works out to roughly 1 goal every 3 games. If he played 58 games that would be almost 19 goals. I would love to hear how you came up with 5. Higher math escapes me.

SHINK, Again: "Those players you mentioned can and will play worse."

Says who? How can you play worse that 1 goal in 22 games?
Bringing up fresh players signals that a team will not stay complacement and will not tolerate poor play. Exactly the opposite of what you say.

Why is it that you feel that bringing up players signals the end of the season? All it signals is that Snow is committed to improving the team and is not satisfied with the performance of certain players. Teams bring up players all the time. We are talking 3 players NOT wholesale changes. It is nowhere near giving up. It is striving to IMPROVE...Bill

Candyman said...

Bill,

What happens tomorow if the Isles win 6-1?

shinkdew said...

Bill - why would you think Tambellini would be able to score at the same pace as the NHL as he did in the NHL? He's on pace to score about 30 goals in the AHL. Hilbert scored 35 goals in the AHL twice and he sucks according to you. What does that make Tambellini? I'm merely illustrating that there is a huge drop off between numbers put up in the AHL and in the NHL. That apparently escapes you.

It signals that it's the end of the season because these kids you want to bring up are struggling in the AHL. How do you think they can play at the NHL level when they are having a hard enough time in the AHL?

Three players is wholesale changes, as the Islanders primarily play three lines. So you are basically replacing a whole line of players, and you don't think that's wholesale changes?

Nyisles82 said...

One note to think about-

A number of people (not 100% sure if it was here, Newsday, or Hockeybuzz) said at the beginning of this week if the Isles come out of their games for the week with 3-4 points, they'd be happy. We played tough teams all week, and played a lot of teams in the last few days. Well, we got 3/8 pts.

I'm not happy with their performance in the last 2 games, but I can't fault them at all against Dallas or the Sens. They played some of the best team hockey I've seen in a long time, and unfortunately got unlucky in both games with some bad bounces, shots, posts, penalties etc.

The last 2 games were bad for sure, but in the grand scheme of things, should we be sending off SOS flares after 2 bad games? It helps a lot to look at the long-term outlook on this team- 8th place in the east, an easier December coming up than the month of November was, and a lot of talented players who have yet to begin scoring.

To be proactive for some reactions- I don't think most of what is being discussed right here is anything but panic. When the Isles win, I never hear people talking about bringing up Nielsen or Tamby, or even really benching HIlbert (remember the Sens game?). When they lose, that is all that I see from Isles fans.

Justin- I agree. What if the Isles win 6-1?

I asked an analogous question all summer- while everyone was bashing the team, I asked the question at one point over on Newsday..."what if they make the playoffs". I hate being a pessimist, and I hate being a reactionary blog-poster, and I love watching people engage in some healthy cognitive dissonance when their doomsday premonitions come true.

(Don't worry, if the Isles tank, I'll also enjoy some cognitive dissonance, but at least I'm not currently pushing the women and children aside to get to the lifeboat to save myself on this supposedly sinking ship...I'm still sitting down, eating my dinner, and waiting to hear if the captain also thinks this ship is sinking. Somehow I think the captain (e.g. Snow, Nolan, if this analogy is not clear yet...) have access to more information, experience, and expertise than us "passengers" (fans, for the slow ones), and I'll trust them. Maybe blindly, but then again, I'm a psychologist, not a hockey GM).

Anonymous said...

Shink, No, I don't think that is a wholseale change. 3 players on the roster are 1/7 th of the entire team, which consists of 22 players. If you want to include just forwards, then three players are 25% of the forwards.

Considering that we have seen Sim, Johnson, Jackman and Bates at different points of the season play forward, right there you have 4 different players who have played the position.
They alone, increase the percentage to 33%. So, no. It is not a wholesale change.

Hilbert has had plenty of opportunity to prove his worth at the NHL level. And he has failed miserably.
Tambellini has never played the minutes or the amount of games that Hilbert has.
Why not give him the same chance Hilbert has had?
Give him 22 games at 16-18 minutes a game and then we can compare notes. Until then, AHL comparisons are worthless.

Shink, you are the one who came up with the total of 5 goals for Tambellini. How you arrived at that figure, I have no idea. I look forward to an explanation of your mathmatical formula.

Justin said: "What happens tomorow if the Isles win 6-1?"

Well, the obvious answer is that we get 2 points in the standings.

Kidding aside, that won't change the long term problem of lack of production from ALL of the forwards.
If we score 6 goals in each of the next 10 games, as we scored less that 2 in the last ten, then I would say the problem is solved.

A one game outburst does nothing to confront the very real problem of lack of scoring.
If we score six tomorrow, does that mean all of our problems are solved? I think not. It's just one game.

And what happens if we lose 6-1?

Nothing, it's still just one game.....Bill

Candyman said...

Bill, you've hit my point exactly. This long term goal drought has highlighted a deficiency among the Isles roster. Why not change up some of the forwards? At least we might see a drastic change in the lines for tomorow.

Try out Satan with Comrie, and Vasicek with Guerin. Give Tambellini a boat load of minutes. Take Silinger off the PP. Let DP start the next 50 games. Etc.

Anonymous said...

NYISLES...Panic? Exactly how does one panic on a blog?
I guess if you label fan based discussion as to the direction that their favorite team is headed, as panic..... then panic it is.

As I recall the posts, most fans would have been happy to take 3 points from the Stars, Sens and Ranger games. I would have gladly settled for that, had we won the Thrashers game. But, we didn't.

In point of fact, the entire team was embarressed.

The problem is not so much that the team lost a few games, but the lack of scoring up front. Averaging less than 2 goals a game in not acceptable in the NHL. Are you satisfied with that?

As a psychologist, when a patient comes to you suffering from clinical depression, do you advise him to continue on his path or do you advise him to make changes?
I am just curious about that.

This is just a layman's opinion, but having "blind trust" in anyone seems a bit extreme to me.
I wonder, did you also have that blind trust in Milbury? Or Maloney before him?
How did that work out for you?.....Bill

Candyman said...

Interesting notes:

Tambellini recorded 21 points in 20games after being sent down by the Isles earlier this season.

Tambellini was quoted as saying:
"Right now I need to step in and show that I can play and really assert myself in this league and with this team," Tambellini said. "I need to show this coaching staff that they can rely on me for a full season. I'm thinking about nothing else but that, really making my own stamp on this team."

Geoffrey Matthew said...

Sorry Pick. I didn’t realize you didn’t even have Hunter in the lineup and made a mistake. Hilbert might have better AHL stats but I still think we have to give Tambellini a chance. The AHL is different from the NHL and maybe Tambellini will adjust better then Hilbert. Some players adjust to the game style of different levels of hockey better then others. Why not give Tambellini a chance? If Tambellini doesn’t produce then it isn’t like we will be losing that much offense anyways. It’s more then time to mix things up offensively. I am one of the biggest Hilbert haters and I am even sick of talking about him. Hilbert is definitely a problem but a bigger concern is our entire team not scoring goals. We know by now we have a great starting goaltender and play pretty solid defensively. We need to figure out our power play and finding ways to put the puck in the net. As for 3 out of 8 points people considering that a good thing? How can anyone consider that a good thing and then say we are a great team but get dominated in every aspect of the game by the Rangers and Atlanta back-to-back games?

Geoffrey Matthew said...

Sorry everyone....I didn’t even realize Tambellini was called up today until I just went on the Islanders site Tambellini-Comrie Satan.That line should have a very big night. The lines look great for tomorrow and I expect us to finally score some goals and win 4-2.

J Picker said...

We need to realize that 3 out of 8 points is not a good stretch of hockey at all. I had stated that if we went 1-1-1 against DAL, OTT and NYR that we should be happy but after the loss to ATL our solid week of hockey (yes we didn't score goals but we did hold our own with those 3 teams) was thrown out of the window.

We can only judge Tambellini if we he gets enough ice time. Lets hope Snow finally told Nolan enough of this veteran favoring and we will see plenty of Tambs with Satan and Comrie and more Bergie with Hunter and Silinger.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Tambellini has been called up because he is being showcased. There has been a lot of trade talk lately and Tambellini is one of the few chips the Islanders have to trade.

Just a thought. Any opinions?....Bill

Candyman said...

I genuinely believe Tambellini was called up due to the Isles recent lack of scoring. It's funny because it took the Isles to score less than two goals for about 4 weeks. Most teams would not have waited so long to make such a minor tweak to their roster. And Nolan claims that he is going to give Tambellini his fair shot to stick in the NHL this time.

Even when the Isles were winning 2-1, 1-0, Nolan seemed content with his offense, which in my opinion was a drastic mistake made by the Isles' coach. He assumed the Isles could play out the season in 2-1, 1-0 form, which was obviously very wishful thinking. When asked about the lack of offense in those games, Nolan simply stated he did not care as long as the isles were winning. Good teams and good coaches don't view their teams in a vacuum--they address their flaws constantly in order to continuously better the team.

Bill, you raise an interesting point, and although I do not believe that was the sole reason Tambellini was recalled, it sure is a secondary benefit. The dilemma is of course that if Tambellini has a very strong showing in the next couple of week (which would increase his trade value), the Isles would probably be that much less inclined to move him.

shinkdew said...

You bring up an interesting point Bill. I think they brought him up due to their lack of scoring. But, I also believe this could be his last chance to prove he belongs. I suspect the Islanders are going to give him decent minutes and if he doesn't produce, they will probably trade him. It could be as part of a package (like mentioned in Newday today) or a prospect for prospect trade (Walter deal).

I'm looking forward to seeing how the new lines play. According to Newsday they are as follows:

Tambellini-Comrie-Satan
Fedotenko-Vasciek-Guerin
Bergenheim-Sillinger-Hunter
Hilbert-Park-Simon

I'm a little skeptical about the first line defensively. Comrie doesn't really play defense and Satan is decent. It seems like a lot to put on Tambellini.

I think tonight is when Guerin finally scores.

Candyman said...

Shink let's hope you're right about that. Remember since Bill Guerin recorded a hat trick against the Caps earlier this season, that means he has scored in only 3 games this season. (Guerin has 5 goals on the year).

Anonymous said...

Tambellini gets two assists tonight and Satan and Big Joe both score. MAB bangs one in on the PP and the Isles win 4-1. Someone scores an empty netter. I can't see that far ahead. My crystal ball is cloudy......Bill

Candyman said...

Half way through the game: still no goals, but Tambellini looks good. I love having Hilbert off the 3rd line. Silinger continues to butcher the PP.

Anonymous said...

Bruins 3 Isles 1

So much for the crystal ball !!!

You guys who don't think that this team needs wholesale changes have finally convinced me.
After watching this thrilling display of hockey prowress, why would anyone want to change this powerhouse line up?

Ted Nolan is an absolute genius. His resovle to stick with the same players who pump in goals at a 2 goals a game pace is simply brilliant.

Simon, Hilbert, Park, Sillinger, Hunter and Guerin are all "Nolan type players." Who could ask for anything more?

Ted's decision to keep Vasiceck off the PP because it may put too much pressure on him to score is pure logic. I don't know why other coaches don't keep their top goal scorer on the bench more. Hey, hockey players are fragile.

If DP would have pitched a shutout we would have won 1-0. How long can we carry this guy?

Even though the Islanders let kids under 16 in for free, a lot of those kids looked like empty seats tonight. Must have been the camera locations.

Great to see the PP score again. And with two minutes to go ! That's coming through under pressure. So we didn't score on the first 5 trys. Who's counting?

This team is gangbusters. Let's not spoil a good thing by bringing up kids who may ruin the chemistry
by scoring.......Bill