Band-Aid on a Broken Leg
Tonight's 4-3 victory over the Flyers certainly represents the feel-good night the Isles have needed for about a month. They turned in a tremendous effort, outworking the Flyers throughout stretches of the game, while playing the type of up-tempo style that saw the Isles right in the thick of things only a few weeks ago. While I do think the Flyers came out taking the Isles a bit lightly, it was still gratifying to watch many of the up and coming Isles show their stuff--Jeff Tambellini scored on a rocket of a shot, while Sean Bergenheim used his extraordinary speed to chip one in, literally. I thought Nielson and Comeau were effective for the most part as well.
But that's not to say that all is well in Islanders Country. One win in the past 8, and the first at home in 2008 will do just about as much for the Isles as a Band-Aid would do for a broken leg.
While Hunter and Fedotenko snapped prolonged goal draughts, I think tonight's effort signifies that the Isles still could have a shot at reaching the playoffs, even if it parted ways with many of these soon-to-be UFAs. Let's face it, the Isles are never going to be an overly skilled team this season. And if Nolan could assemble a group who would be willing to work harder on a more consistent basis (aka kids who have something to prove), then I like the Isles chances heading down the stretch. I can't see the Isles holding onto Trent Hunter--I don't think there's a chance that Trent accepts the kind of offer Snolang would offer. He will want to test the waters this summer, as is his right. So for that reason, I would part ways with Hunter at the upcoming deadline.
While Mike Comrie has been effective as of late (as he was the first week of the season), let's not forget how many nights Comrie was either invisible or a determent to the Isles. He is still among the worst in the NHL in +/- ratings, and I think he should easily net a 1st round pick at the end of the month. What Comrie can do for the Isles this season and the next few simply doesn't compare to what the 1st rounder might do for the Isles over the next 10 years. He needs to go as well.
I would also like to point out one thing that Garth Snow has done exquisitely for the Isles. Over the summer, Snow did a great job assembling a defensive unit with enough depth and enough skill to endure the vigor of an NHL season. While the Isles have suffered injuries to key defensemen like Witt, Martinek, Gervais, Berard, and a season-ender to Campoli, never have I once felt that the Isles were unprepared to slot in a replacement defenseman. While MAB, Berard, and AJ have all been subject to Nolan's revolving door, the Isles have mostly put forth a consistent defensive effort thus far. Kudos to the Snowman.
Posts
30 comments:
Bill's recap from the last threat...
bill said...
Well I may be the lone voice of dissent, but I think that Hunter will be resigned. Just my feeling.
Nice shot by Tambellini. Should quiet a few around here. He is beginning to feel his game and is looking more confortable out there.
Bergy is also looking much better.
In fact, the overall speed of the Islanders has improved tremendously
in the last few games.
I like this line up.
Prediction: Comrie will not be traded and will resign for 3 or 4 years.
Hunter will resign.
Satan will be traded and then resign over the summer.
Fedetanko will be traded and goodbye to you.
How bad is Witt hurt?.....Bill
3 point night for Hunter. I think he is finding his game playing with Vasicheck and Tank. Playing with Sillinger and Hilbert speaks for itself.
Looking at the Isles schedule over the next few games only San Jose is what I would consider a tough game. Toronto, Atlanta, Washington and NJ are all very beatable.
Don't be surprised to see the Isles wiin 5 of the next 6 and jump back into the playoff picture.
If DP plays like he is capable of playing, he could steal a few games
over the next stretch.
The kids will start to click and score a bit.
Don't be surprised.......Bill
One goal in 12 games, and 4 goals in 60 career games isn't going to shut up anyone. Odd you didn't mention the empty net he missed, or the breakaway he choked on in Minnesota. Had that been any other player, you'd be on here ripping them. I will say, he has played better, but it doesn't change my opinion of him. A perfect example of why I don't like him is last night DiPietro missed him with a clearing pass, instead of trying to beat the defenseman to the puck to negate the icing, he skated half speed next to the guy and let him touch it for the icing.
I was thinking that we really can't trade all of the UFAs, we don't have anyone to replace them. We could get rid of Vasicek and Sillinger and replace them with Colliton and Walter. But, other than that, we don't have any wings that could come up and play, other than Okposo and Simon. Not to mention, Bridgeport is already struggling to put together 3 lines every night.
That's a good point about Snow rebuilding the defense last summer. I thought about that a few days ago too. Hopefully, he starts to rebuild the offense this summer.
Shink,
I presume you are referring to Tambellini. Can you really fault him for the breakaway in Minn? The guy made a good move and the goalie made a miraculous save, kicking up his right leg at the last available second. Look at the percentage of goals/shot in the shootout. It's usually somewhere bout 1/4. You can't expect a goal every breakaway.
The empty netter? I mean it wasn't exactly empty with 2 defenseman standing in the goal.
I don't recall the play you are referring to regarding the missed clearing attempt. But if that's true, then that's unacceptable. It would be a shame if someone as fast as Tamb had a few lazy bones in his body.
I'm happy with the defense as well, but only because we aren't importing players from NHL europe as stop-gaps. We've got good players, but no one is great. Martinek regressed this year, and Witt has been injured way too much. MAB & Berard have been hailed and hated throughout the season, while Sutton has been a pleasant, but not stellar suprise. Camps was playing great, but went down too early this year. Gervais has shown flashes of brilliance, but I strongly suspect he does not have the body size or resiliance to maintain a high level of play consistently. Johnson, FMV III are good, but not going to wow anyone.
I'm happy with what we have, but I don't think we'd win a cup with this crew. We need one or two more studs back there, one of whom can run a PP.
I guess the best case situation right now would be to gain momentum, have a fire sale, and still make the playoffs, right? I just worry Snowlang won't be keen to sell sell sell if we win 6/7 next games...
Having watched the Isles in 2008, I'd say you have nothing to fear in that regard.
http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=229545&hubname=nhl
Didn't I mention this a few days ago?
Hey- maybe he'll provide the leadership and scoring we need!
Disgusting...shame on Snolang
In regards to trading Comrie and offering him a contract extension in the offseason, I believe we can talk with him until he is traded. This includes telling him that even if he gets dealt at the deadline that a contract for 2-3 years will still be on the table come July 1st. This all must be done before he is traded as he would still be a member of the organization.
Shink, Let's just tell the truth here. You have something against Tambellini and whatever he does it will never be good enough for you. As long as you are so thrilled with his stats, why not tell the complete story and also mention how many minutes a game he has played in his previous 57 games?
Judge him on how he does from now on, when he is finally getting real minutes. If he fails then it was not meant to be. But if he doesn't, the Isles gained a good player. Is there something wrong with that?.......Bill
Bill - he's averaged 10 minutes a game for the 15 games he's played this season. Same minutes as Bergenheim, Comeau, even Hilbert and Park if you don't count PK time. You tell me who has been more productive?
I don't have anything against him, I just think it's funny that Islander fans have been begging for him to be called up, and when he is and doesn't produce, they make all sorts of excuses for him. I suspect if he was playing 20 minutes a game and not producing, it would be because Nolan wasn't using him right, or Nolan blew his confidence by sending him up and down.
I doubt they'll let Simon play. I think they will let him practice, make him feel part of the team and be a healthy scratch every game and collect a paycheck. It doesn't make much sense to let him play, unless we trade everyone and need a warm body.
See that's a little misleading. Bergenheim has seen continuous time on the 2nd line since the beginning of the season. Park has seen time on the first line for months now. Hilbert too has been given time on the top 3 Isles lines, most recently on the Isles' first line. Tambellini was mostly relegated to 4th line duty when he was called up. Nolan would give him a shift on an upper line to start the game, but by the 2nd period, his time was significantly reduced. I am not trying to pick and choose here, I just call it like I see it. And what I saw was Nolan not giving Tambellini a fair look.
Regarding Comeau, he has been a pleasant surprise.
Shink, Playing on the PK keeps you in the game (I know, I did lots of it). It keeps you warm on the bench and keeps you focused.
You build up quite a sweat and you bust your rear end. You are in on the action.
Playing 3 minutes a period makes you feel like you never got warmed up and never really got into the game (I did that, too).
Sitting on the bench dulls your senses.
So don't tell me that killing penalties doesn't count as minutes played, because that's just a crock.
Ask anyone else who ever played the game on this board.....Bill
This team baffles, confounds, angers, and exalts me at times. They are maddingly consistent at being inconsistent. I'm not sure what they need to do at this point. A clearer picture will come about after the TB game.
River- not too sure about that. Trampa is weak and inconsistant as well. Even a blowout win (would that be our first all season??) wouldn't convince me of much.
Nyisles,
I think you mistook what River Alph meant. After the Tampa game, aka 5 games from right now and right before the deadline.
Injury Update - Witt is out 2-4 weeks with MCL sprain.
Yummy. Trade em all.
Here's an interesting stat that I just worked on for all of you. Currently, there are about 50 forwards in the NHL with at least 150 shots on goal. How do those players rank in shooting percentage? The bottom 3 are...
48. Trent Hunter - 5.1%
49. Mikael Samuelson - 4.8%
50. Jason Blake - 4.5%
Blake is also 3rd in the NHL with 246 shots.
Justin & River- yup, I stand corrected. I for some reason thought we were playing Tampa tonight...
Yikes- thats a bad stat for Hunts. I DON'T understand why he doesn't play like a true power forward. He's so strong on the boards, which to me would indicate he would be able to do the same in front of the net. When was the last time you saw him crash the net? Oh yeah, when he scored last game. He's really frustrating to watch...and I wonder if this is simple coaching. If he doesn't crash the net, he gets benched. That would help him score, right?
Umm Nolan doesn't bench his favorites. Sheesh where have you been?
;~)
Losing Witt for that long can't be good. Hopefully, Gervais is able to play tonight.
I think Jesse Joensuu is either going to be signed by the Islanders or is looking to sign with the Islanders. I tried to translate an article in Finnish to English and it didn't really work out that great.
http://www.iltasanomat.fi/urheilu/uutinen.asp?id=1487103
I wish I could translate the article for you guys, but that's Finnish and is as familiar to me as Russian or Urdu or something like that...
Second intermission. Isles 3 for 5 on the PP. I'm going to bed - happy.
Comeau is starting to annoy me. He holds the puck way too long and endlessly skates around until he loses it. Get him off that line. He is killing it.
Put Bergy in his spot.
Stick him with Comrie and Guerin who need someone to bring the puck into the zone.
Anyone else see this?....Bill
Bill I 100% agree. And you had said it since the start -- that Comeau looks out of place on this line. He should be moved to the first line ASAP.
Nolan is not a thinking man. He just goes "hey might as well put all the kids together b/c, well, they are all kids."
"Next I'll have Nielson centering Guerin and Satan b/c each of their names end in 'n'."
"And I only came up with the Vasicek/Fedotenko/Hunter line b/c each of those players has a 'k' in their name. Oh wait, whattt?"
A win tonight would place us just 3 points out of the playoffs. This is the time that will make or break the season. Hopefully, the kids will respond and make it an exciting finish to the year.
Even if they don't make it, the playoff type pressure will be great experience for all the young players, who I hope to see as the backbone of this team for several years to come.
Neilsen and Tambellini need to step up tonight and show something......Bill
This will be short lived as Simon's impending return will surely lead to one of the above mentioned kids being demoted to the Bridge. Oh how I can't wait for that.
Well, not much to say about this game. Atlanta looked like they would rather be anywhere else on earth than the Coliseum.
Another great game from Hunter-Joe V-Tank. Where was this all season?
I would like to make a point about Bergy. He has really begun to play like an NHL player. If he can sustain this level of play, he will be a 20-25 goal scorer next year.
But the point is, that it has taken him a full 55 games to begin to come into his own. This is a lesson to all the Tambellini-Neilsen naysayers out there.
It is the rare player who steps right into the NHL and plays at the same AHL or Juniors level.
Bergy is continuing to develop because he is building confidence.
He no longer has to look over his shoulder and see Nolan motioning him to the bench when he makes a mistake or takes a penalty.
In my opinion, Nolan is a detriment when it comes to young players. He retarded Campoli's development last year and did the same thing to MAB and Bergy this year. He is forced by injuries to use Tambellini and Neilsen so far, but once Sillinger and Simon return watch and see what happens.
I would love to see Sillinger traded and Simon banished to the press box. Hopefully, Snow will
force Nolan's hand and insist that he stick with the kids. It is no coincidence that the Isles have started winning since the kid line went into effect. Even if they don't score, they force the other team to use a lot of energy to defend against them. In the long run, this wears down the opposing teams D-men because they bring speed to the Isles game. Something that has been sorely lacking for most of the season.
Let's hope they can keep this up......Bill
I thought that along with Bergy, Nielsen played the best game out there. He didn't score obviously, but looked confident and strong with the puck. I can see him being a key role in Okposo scoring a lot of goals in the next few years!
I too worry about Simon/Sillinger coming back. Watching the game last night made me realize once again how much harder it is to defend against a team that is faster than you. WIth Simon/Sillinger/Hunter on the ice, that basically allows the other team a chance to catch their breath.
The speed game is much better for Tank, Guerin & Comrie as well, who I feel have been slowed down by the grinding defense first style we were forced to play with our Old Man lines.
3/7 games won. If they can string together 4 more wins, what do we do??? I couldn't see anyone arguing that bringing back Simon would help, right? Keep him in the press box, and bring him back ONLY if we lose someone else to an injury. Please!!
All around the interwebs, Isles fans are not happy about Simon's return. That can't go unnoticed by Snowlang, right?
NYISLES, I am certain that Snolan and company read the blogs because the seem to do exactly the opposite of what the fans want. Then they scratch thier heads when they draw 8,000 on a weekday night....Bill
Post a Comment