I understood why the team let Konopka walk. I thoroughly believed that Reasoner was going to be a big all-round improvement on the 4th line. Of course, he hasn't necessarily just been playing on the 4th line. He also doesn't look like the Reasoner I thought I had seen in Florida last year.
Still, I can imagine that Konopka's style and personality can be a wee bit overbearing over an 82 game season. In addition, there were many times where his play left MUCH to be desired. Take away the fights, face-offs and attitude and ZK is pretty much an ECHLer.
I also understand why a decision has been made against having Gillies hang around. There's little reason to dress a guy who only sees 3 minutes of ice and is hardly engaged in fisticuffs anyways - usually having taken enough penalty minutes per fight to almost always put us a man down.
Still, when you go from having the combined toughness of Martin, Haley, Konopka and Gillies to just Martin - who is proving more valuable as a mix between Steve Webb and Trent Hunter - it's no wonder that a culture of what was a developing team toughness has been completely removed from this club.
If the failure lasts over the next 15 games - and I can't see things changing much unless one impact move is made or the boys in this locker room magically start turning their talents into actual goals and wins - then I believe Snow will truly have to cut our losses and look at seeing what he can get for Streit, Nielsen, Moulson and Parenteau along with keeping a big ear open for offers concerning Bailey, Okposo and Comeau.
We know a goalie is going at some point, health and marketability permitting.
Now, I'm not saying 'bring up the farm', but I am saying 'make a facelift' or 'reshuffle the stack'.
Even if we were to make big moves and would see each of the aforementioned guys depart, we'd still have:
- Tavares, Martin, Hamonic, and MacDonald as young guns up now
- Nilsson, Poulin, de Haan, Donovan, Katic, Ness, Wishart, Cizikas, Ullstrom, Dibenedetto and Rakhshani to possibly step in as regulars of some sort over the next two seasons
- Strome, Niederreiter, Kabanov, Lee, Nelson, and Petrov hopefully being added as impact players over the next 3 seasons.
Naturally, there are a few other names in the system who will hopefully pan out in the not too distant future.
I mention this fully thinking and believing that the names above could go a good way in adding players for the here and now who can also help in the seasons to come. Particularly Streit and Nielsen would have to be of great interest to a number of teams out there.
Last edited by Chapin Landvogt: 11-20-2011 at 01:18 PM.
Last night's game was the first one I went to this season. Unless something major changes, it will be my last... what an embarrassment. Just when I was starting to give Rick some credit, he ***** the bed bigtime. The second and third goals were terrible and you could sense the team giving up after that. Not that the skaters are blameless here, they didn't look good from the outset and only got worse as the game wore on.
Nice to see Cappy fired up after that mess, you can only pull the Mr. Nice Guy act for so long when your guys are embarrassing you out there.
Since there has not been one thread dedicated to toughness and Since this topic is being brought up and talked about in numerous threads it makes sence to start an official toughness thread where we can discuss anything having to do with the current toughness or lack there of this current Islander team.
Here is my take on the current toughness problem. No one except Matt Martin hits or plays tough ect.
After this team played so well at the end of last year after icing a tough team we go back to having a small,non hitting, non fighting team.
This team almost every night with the execption of Martin plays with no edge,fire passion ect.
I seem to recal this Islanders team and at the end of last year playing better when the likes of Konopka,Haley and Gillies were dressed.
Our guys played with confidence when we iced a tougher team. You can tell from last year how scared this team plays now. Last year I saw passion,energy and a team that would not take s*** from anyone, this year I see ,small,scared,soft non physical,non hitting team.
Now on to my second point on toughness of this team.
This team fed off Konopkas raw emotion and follwed his lead. Last year we played with fire,passion,emotion ect.
He changed the culture and Identy of this team, teams knew coming into our building knew it was gonna be a tough hard fought game. That cant be said this year. Our non tough players even started playing a little bigger
For example guys like Tavares,Martinek,Gerveis,Baily,Macdonald,Comeau,Hi llen all fought for the first time in their career when then knew guys like Konopka,gilles and Haley were there to back them up.
To say that a team dosent play tougher when it has tough players getting their back is just wrong. Our players played bigger,and tougher played with more confidence with these guys in the line-up.
We had guys standing up for eachother, we had guys droping the mitts to defend players that have never done so in the past.
This team played like an actual TEAM when he was here.
The change from this years team compared to last is astounding. No one except Matin sticks up for anyone,defends anyone has any fire or passion and roll right over for the oposition.
Anyone notice the lack of confidence with our team? Thats what happens when everyone in the lockerroom looks at the next guys and asks himself the question dose the guys standing next to me have my back?
This is why you cant dress 4 lines of so called skill players, you need a mix of gritty tough players along with skill.
I would take Konopka,haley and Gillies over the stifs we replaced them with. This team actually played like a team when these guys were here. Some here will never get it, this is not NHL the video game,sometimes guys like Konopka,haley and Gillies can not be measured on the scoresheet.
I understood why the team let Konopka walk. I thoroughly believed that Reasoner was going to be a big all-round improvement on the 4th line. Of course, he hasn't necessarily just been playing on the 4th line. He also doesn't look like the Reasoner I thought I had seen in Florida last year.
Still, I can imagine that Konopka's style and personality can be a wee bit overbearing over an 82 game season. In addition, there were many times where his play left MUCH to be desired. Take away the fights, face-offs and attitude and ZK is pretty much an ECHLer.
I also understand why a decision has been made against having Gillies hang around. There's little reason to dress a guy who only sees 3 minutes of ice and is hardly engaged in fisticuffs anyways - usually having taken enough penalty minutes per fight to almost always put us a man down.
Still, when you go from having the combined toughness of Martin, Haley, Konopka and Gillies to just Martin - who is proving more valuable as a mix between Steve Webb and Trent Hunter - it's no wonder that a culture of what was a developing team toughness has been completely removed from this club.
Zim Zam Shabam... It gone.
This is why having 3 goalies is ****in stupid though, Y have a tender sitting in the press box when we can have someone who adds a little toughness even if he only does play 3 minutes a night at least he is contributing something to the team.
This is why having 3 goalies is ****in stupid though, Y have a tender sitting in the press box when we can have someone who adds a little toughness even if he only does play 3 minutes a night at least he is contributing something to the team.
Honestly, I think the team had to plan with Montoya being the starter and Ricky being an oft-injured back-up and thus, that's why Nilsson was brought over already (i.e. 'cause one of the BPort boys would be up on the Island a good bit one way or the other).
Not knowing what would happen with Nabokov, he was always just an extra in the back pocket... Hopefully an asset who could be pawned off.
Or a guy who could change his mind, come in and be a #1, and make Montoya expendable.
The one situation they knew could be the bad side effect is, well, the situation we have now.
It was risked, now we have it.
Bummer. Trading Nabokov will pend on him not hurting every game.
I recently pointed out that Montoya is quickly becoming the one guy we may be able to market. A shame, since we'd pretty much allllll rather have him in net than the other two - but they're just not marketable and someone has to go.
Ironically, Steve Valiquette backed up Poulin the other night.
Was our core ever that good?
Besided for JT our core of players that were sopposed to carry this team are just not that good.
Bailey is a complete failer. He Was never gonna be anything more then a 2nd liner 3rd liner .Trade him do whatever he will never be worth anything.
Comeau is the most overrated on this site. Listen I know he had a decent last 2 years but that was more a fluke imo, mark my words he never sees anywhere near 30 goals ever. For some to say he will be consistant 25-30 goal a season guy I just laugh.
In fact I am willing to say he played well over his head. He will never be anything of worth or get near 25 goals again.
Now lets go on to Okposo the one that was picked above the likes of Lucic and many others . He was never going to be better then a 2 line foward and thats a streach. The guy is soft,has no balls and is not that great of a goal scorer.
Now on to Frans who prob the most overrated Islander on this site. For a guy that has never scored more then 14 NHL goals in a season, cracked 45 points and plays as soft as anyone he sure was touted as a first or second liner , when in fact he's a 3rd liner at best. Posters on this site act as if our core was loaded with 1st line quality talent and that was never the case.
For the most part our core was made up of weak,small,3rd liners.
Thats the problem, these guys were never that good and the fans expected these guys to be better.
This dosen't make me feel any better about the players we got in the bridge.
Why cant we start drafting players like lucic,Horton,Ignila,shane doan,brenden morrow, ect instead of soft pansays like KO,Baily,Comeau ect. I want big tough players being drafted not these smallish,soft type of players we are use to drafting. Matt Martin was a start but there need to be more like him drafted.
Was our core ever that good?
Besided for JT our core of players that were sopposed to carry this team are just not that good.
Bailey is a complete failer. He Was never gonna be anything more then a 2nd liner 3rd liner .Trade him do whatever he will never be worth anything.
Comeau is the most overrated on this site. Listen I know he had a decent last 2 years but that was more a fluke imo, mark my words he never sees anywhere near 30 goals ever. For some to say he will be consistant 25-30 goal a season guy I just laugh.
In fact I am willing to say he played well over his head. He will never be anything of worth or get near 25 goals again.
Now lets go on to Okposo the one that was picked above the likes of Lucic and many others . He was never going to be better then a 2 line foward and thats a streach. The guy is soft,has no balls and is not that great of a goal scorer.
Now on to Frans who prob the most overrated Islander on this site. For a guy that has never scored more then 14 NHL goals in a season, cracked 45 points and plays as soft as anyone he sure was touted as a first or second liner , when in fact he's a 3rd liner at best. Posters on this site act as if our core was loaded with 1st line quality talent and that was never the case.
For the most part our core was made up of weak,small,3rd liners.
Thats the problem, these guys were never that good and the fans expected these guys to be better.
This dosen't make me feel any better about the players we got in the bridge.
Why cant we start drafting players like lucic,Horton,Ignila,shane doan,brenden morrow, ect instead of soft pansays like KO,Baily,Comeau ect. I want big tough players being drafted not these smallish,soft type of players we are use to drafting. Matt Martin was a start but there need to be more like him drafted.
So Comeau and Nielsen are both the most overrated player on the team?
Added the infamous 23 minute frustrated gamer video at the beginning of this thread...
Now to the statistics:
Average of 9 rant threads/24 hrs and throughout the next two weeks, you will probably see an increase in average between +1.25 to +2. You are making the mods prettay, prettay, prettay busy with these redundant threads so keep it in here.
Mods, if you want to sticky this, I'm okay with it.....
As the frustrated gamer said:
"This is ****en worse than Panic! at the Disco"
EDIT: right as I posted this we got another rant thread! What a surprise!
Last edited by M Moulson Ale: 11-20-2011 at 06:30 PM.
This is why having 3 goalies is ****in stupid though, Y have a tender sitting in the press box when we can have someone who adds a little toughness even if he only does play 3 minutes a night at least he is contributing something to the team.
Trevor Gillies will not save this team. They guy is a worthless hack that's unfit to play in the AHL.
So Comeau and Nielsen are both the most overrated player on the team?
*Mindblown*
Get the point and stop splitting hairs. Since you cant get the point I'll try and make this as clear as day . Both Comeau and Nielsen have been overrated by this fan base, they are nothing more then 3rd liners.
I'm sure most of what I'm going to type has been written up very nicely in this thread, but if I get the jist of this thead, it is to vent our frustrations so we can go on with our happy lives.....
I'm 23 and I can honestly say that the best memory I've had of this team was a penalty shot in a series that we didn't even win....followed by a pokecheck by a goaltender in a shootout that allowed us to lose miserably in the next series. In a sport where over half of the competition reaches the postseason, this shouldn't be so....at some point something should go right, but it hasn't, in fact, it feels that its getting worse....
When other teams' fans make fun of the Isles for their meager performances in...well just about every season I've watched, I defend them by saying they have a great future, just you watch.
When other teams' fans make fun of the Isles for their crappy arena...I defend our crappy arena because, well, it might be crappy but its our's, and its got the best sight lines in sports.
When other teams' fans poke fun at the Isles' lifetime goaltender and his injury woes...I defend him by saying, he's had a lot of bad breaks (literally) but he's got heart, he keeps trying to come back and be the best that he can be. Sure he's pretty bad but you can't fault him for trying....
When other teams' fans talk about how Milbury depleted a very promising prospect pool for a bunch of retreads, has-beens, and long-shots....I want to curl up in the corner and weep but I don't, I respond with a "well, he's not our GM anymore," plus in today's salary cap days there's no way we could have kept all those guys I defend GMG, saying, look at the prospect pool we've got now, and they're not going anywhere.
When other teams' fans balk about how big of goons the Isles were agains Pittsburgh last year and how it was a sideshow act of epic proportions...I defend them saying they were stepped on by everyone from the commissioner right on down to the guy who scrapes the snow out of the zamboni at the Consol Energy Center, and they needed to show the league that they weren't doormats, and they needed to show it their way.
But you know what, I'm done defending this team....I've sat through year after miserable year, I've sat through the embarrassment of the Neil Smith/Garth Snow debacle, I've sat through having an owner imprisoned for white collar crime, I've sat through seasons with hope, little hope, and no hope at all, I've sat through games to the 60 minute mark, where the team was down by two after three minutes, I sat and watched the vote tallies come through minute by minute showing how even the residents of the county that the team calls home could give a rats ass whether it lives or dies, I've listened to taunt after taunt from opposing teams' fans of how crappy every inch of this team (save for JT), I've sat and watched while players like Kirk Muller, Evgeni Nabokov, and Alex Karpovstev (may he RIP) crap all over this team, basically saying that they'd rather not play at all than play for this miserable abomination of a franchise...I've sat through all of that, embarrassment after embarrassment and for some reason last night was my breaking point....through all those years, never has a team shown no semblance of effort whatsoever. Sure other teams may not have had talent but at least they went out there and they tried, not very well mind you, but they tried. But last night, this year's team accomplished the feat no other Isles team that I've seen has done, they gave up before the game had even started. Like the fella in the Browns rant video says, I as fan don't expect them to win every game, I don't expect them to go far in the playofs, I don't even expect them to be very good, all I expect of them is to be just a little competitive. Is that too much to ask? Is it too much to ask this team to show just a small morsel of respect for the people that call themselves fans, that spend what little they can spare from the hard earned money to support the team. All I ask is that the team at least tries to ice a somewhat watchable product, so I can sit down in my seat, at an arena in which I paid overpriced fees to park at, with my overpriced beer, and smile and forget the outside world for two and a half hours. If they can't put out that little amount of effort to show respect for their fans, than what logical reason do we as fans have for showing them respect and showing up night after night?
Get the point and stop splitting hairs. Since you cant get the point I'll try and make this as clear as day . Both Comeau and Nielsen have been overrated by this fan base, they are nothing more then 3rd liners.
chillax dude, I forgot the ... anyway, Nielsen and Comeau are very good third liners, Nielsen (when hes on) plays a solid 2 way game and Comeau is talented as all heck but just inconsistent and at times lazy... regardless, I dont expect them to be anywhere near the second line in the coming seasons... I wouldnt be surprised to see both traded to be perfectly honest.
"Leave it all on the ice" is something I used to hear all the time.
To me, it meant two things.
1) Any and all feuds, fights, arguements, whatever, stay on the ice.
2) Leave it all on the ice. When the game is over, you should have nothing left. Not an ounce of fight left in you, not an ounce of passion, not an ounce of desire, not an ounce of strength in you; it should have all been spent while on the ice.
I don't see #2 happening at all. (Save one or two players.)
I'm sure most of what I'm going to type has been written up very nicely in this thread, but if I get the jist of this thead, it is to vent our frustrations so we can go on with our happy lives.....
I'm 23 and I can honestly say that the best memory I've had of this team was a penalty shot in a series that we didn't even win....followed by a pokecheck by a goaltender in a shootout that allowed us to lose miserably in the next series. In a sport where over half of the competition reaches the postseason, this shouldn't be so....at some point something should go right, but it hasn't, in fact, it feels that its getting worse....
When other teams' fans make fun of the Isles for their meager performances in...well just about every season I've watched, I defend them by saying they have a great future, just you watch.
When other teams' fans make fun of the Isles for their crappy arena...I defend our crappy arena because, well, it might be crappy but its our's, and its got the best sight lines in sports.
When other teams' fans poke fun at the Isles' lifetime goaltender and his injury woes...I defend him by saying, he's had a lot of bad breaks (literally) but he's got heart, he keeps trying to come back and be the best that he can be. Sure he's pretty bad but you can't fault him for trying....
When other teams' fans talk about how Milbury depleted a very promising prospect pool for a bunch of retreads, has-beens, and long-shots....I want to curl up in the corner and weep but I don't, I respond with a "well, he's not our GM anymore," plus in today's salary cap days there's no way we could have kept all those guys I defend GMG, saying, look at the prospect pool we've got now, and they're not going anywhere.
When other teams' fans balk about how big of goons the Isles were agains Pittsburgh last year and how it was a sideshow act of epic proportions...I defend them saying they were stepped on by everyone from the commissioner right on down to the guy who scrapes the snow out of the zamboni at the Consol Energy Center, and they needed to show the league that they weren't doormats, and they needed to show it their way.
But you know what, I'm done defending this team....I've sat through year after miserable year, I've sat through the embarrassment of the Neil Smith/Garth Snow debacle, I've sat through having an owner imprisoned for white collar crime, I've sat through seasons with hope, little hope, and no hope at all, I've sat through games to the 60 minute mark, where the team was down by two after three minutes, I sat and watched the vote tallies come through minute by minute showing how even the residents of the county that the team calls home could give a rats ass whether it lives or dies, I've listened to taunt after taunt from opposing teams' fans of how crappy every inch of this team (save for JT), I've sat and watched while players like Kirk Muller, Evgeni Nabokov, and Alex Karpovstev (may he RIP) crap all over this team, basically saying that they'd rather not play at all than play for this miserable abomination of a franchise...I've sat through all of that, embarrassment after embarrassment and for some reason last night was my breaking point....through all those years, never has a team shown no semblance of effort whatsoever. Sure other teams may not have had talent but at least they went out there and they tried, not very well mind you, but they tried. But last night, this year's team accomplished the feat no other Isles team that I've seen has done, they gave up before the game had even started. Like the fella in the Browns rant video says, I as fan don't expect them to win every game, I don't expect them to go far in the playofs, I don't even expect them to be very good, all I expect of them is to be just a little competitive. Is that too much to ask? Is it too much to ask this team to show just a small morsel of respect for the people that call themselves fans, that spend what little they can spare from the hard earned money to support the team. All I ask is that the team at least tries to ice a somewhat watchable product, so I can sit down in my seat, at an arena in which I paid overpriced fees to park at, with my overpriced beer, and smile and forget the outside world for two and a half hours. If they can't put out that little amount of effort to show respect for their fans, than what logical reason do we as fans have for showing them respect and showing up night after night?
3 games under 500 with the least amount of games played in the east, if they go on a 4 game winning streak they are 500 if they go on a 6 game winning streak they are back in the play off picture
Jesus dude just give it up. There is optimism and then there is just plain insanity. Listen closely...
THIS. TEAM. SUCKS.
Did you get all that? Sure, they COULD win 6 in a row. But they won't. And even if they did, they would go on to lose 10 in a row right after. Have you watched this team for the past 20 years? This team is worse than EVERY TEAM in the Eastern Conference. Every team. Winnipeg, Florida, everyone. Only Columbus is worse and not by much.
So Comeau and Nielsen are both the most overrated player on the team?
*Mindblown*
In fairness, he wrote "Comeau IS the most overrrated" and Frans is "PROBABLY the most overrated".
Quote:
Originally Posted by bvon44
I'm sure most of what I'm going to type has been written up very nicely in this thread, but if I get the jist of this thead, it is to vent our frustrations so we can go on with our happy lives.....
I'm 23 and I can honestly say that the best memory I've had of this team was a penalty shot in a series that we didn't even win....followed by a pokecheck by a goaltender in a shootout that allowed us to lose miserably in the next series.
nice post. I laughed, I cried.....still crying.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazy Ivan
I used to play ice hockey.
"Leave it all on the ice" is something I used to hear all the time.
I think, although I haven't seen it reported by our team of beat writers, that in Wang's world, the term "Leave it on the ice" is what the OPPONENTS DO. The Isles simply instruct the Ice Girls to scoop it all up and bring it back to Wang.
I'm sure most of what I'm going to type has been written up very nicely in this thread, but if I get the jist of this thead, it is to vent our frustrations so we can go on with our happy lives.....
I'm 23 and I can honestly say that the best memory I've had of this team was a penalty shot in a series that we didn't even win....followed by a pokecheck by a goaltender in a shootout that allowed us to lose miserably in the next series. In a sport where over half of the competition reaches the postseason, this shouldn't be so....at some point something should go right, but it hasn't, in fact, it feels that its getting worse....
When other teams' fans make fun of the Isles for their meager performances in...well just about every season I've watched, I defend them by saying they have a great future, just you watch.
When other teams' fans make fun of the Isles for their crappy arena...I defend our crappy arena because, well, it might be crappy but its our's, and its got the best sight lines in sports.
When other teams' fans poke fun at the Isles' lifetime goaltender and his injury woes...I defend him by saying, he's had a lot of bad breaks (literally) but he's got heart, he keeps trying to come back and be the best that he can be. Sure he's pretty bad but you can't fault him for trying....
When other teams' fans talk about how Milbury depleted a very promising prospect pool for a bunch of retreads, has-beens, and long-shots....I want to curl up in the corner and weep but I don't, I respond with a "well, he's not our GM anymore," plus in today's salary cap days there's no way we could have kept all those guys I defend GMG, saying, look at the prospect pool we've got now, and they're not going anywhere.
When other teams' fans balk about how big of goons the Isles were agains Pittsburgh last year and how it was a sideshow act of epic proportions...I defend them saying they were stepped on by everyone from the commissioner right on down to the guy who scrapes the snow out of the zamboni at the Consol Energy Center, and they needed to show the league that they weren't doormats, and they needed to show it their way.
But you know what, I'm done defending this team....I've sat through year after miserable year, I've sat through the embarrassment of the Neil Smith/Garth Snow debacle, I've sat through having an owner imprisoned for white collar crime, I've sat through seasons with hope, little hope, and no hope at all, I've sat through games to the 60 minute mark, where the team was down by two after three minutes, I sat and watched the vote tallies come through minute by minute showing how even the residents of the county that the team calls home could give a rats ass whether it lives or dies, I've listened to taunt after taunt from opposing teams' fans of how crappy every inch of this team (save for JT), I've sat and watched while players like Kirk Muller, Evgeni Nabokov, and Alex Karpovstev (may he RIP) crap all over this team, basically saying that they'd rather not play at all than play for this miserable abomination of a franchise...I've sat through all of that, embarrassment after embarrassment and for some reason last night was my breaking point....through all those years, never has a team shown no semblance of effort whatsoever. Sure other teams may not have had talent but at least they went out there and they tried, not very well mind you, but they tried. But last night, this year's team accomplished the feat no other Isles team that I've seen has done, they gave up before the game had even started. Like the fella in the Browns rant video says, I as fan don't expect them to win every game, I don't expect them to go far in the playofs, I don't even expect them to be very good, all I expect of them is to be just a little competitive. Is that too much to ask? Is it too much to ask this team to show just a small morsel of respect for the people that call themselves fans, that spend what little they can spare from the hard earned money to support the team. All I ask is that the team at least tries to ice a somewhat watchable product, so I can sit down in my seat, at an arena in which I paid overpriced fees to park at, with my overpriced beer, and smile and forget the outside world for two and a half hours. If they can't put out that little amount of effort to show respect for their fans, than what logical reason do we as fans have for showing them respect and showing up night after night?
I'd send a snail mail copy of this to Cappy and one to Garth.
I'm sure most of what I'm going to type has been written up very nicely in this thread, but if I get the jist of this thead, it is to vent our frustrations so we can go on with our happy lives.....
I'm 23 and I can honestly say that the best memory I've had of this team was a penalty shot in a series that we didn't even win....followed by a pokecheck by a goaltender in a shootout that allowed us to lose miserably in the next series. In a sport where over half of the competition reaches the postseason, this shouldn't be so....at some point something should go right, but it hasn't, in fact, it feels that its getting worse....
When other teams' fans make fun of the Isles for their meager performances in...well just about every season I've watched, I defend them by saying they have a great future, just you watch.
When other teams' fans make fun of the Isles for their crappy arena...I defend our crappy arena because, well, it might be crappy but its our's, and its got the best sight lines in sports.
When other teams' fans poke fun at the Isles' lifetime goaltender and his injury woes...I defend him by saying, he's had a lot of bad breaks (literally) but he's got heart, he keeps trying to come back and be the best that he can be. Sure he's pretty bad but you can't fault him for trying....
When other teams' fans talk about how Milbury depleted a very promising prospect pool for a bunch of retreads, has-beens, and long-shots....I want to curl up in the corner and weep but I don't, I respond with a "well, he's not our GM anymore," plus in today's salary cap days there's no way we could have kept all those guys I defend GMG, saying, look at the prospect pool we've got now, and they're not going anywhere.
When other teams' fans balk about how big of goons the Isles were agains Pittsburgh last year and how it was a sideshow act of epic proportions...I defend them saying they were stepped on by everyone from the commissioner right on down to the guy who scrapes the snow out of the zamboni at the Consol Energy Center, and they needed to show the league that they weren't doormats, and they needed to show it their way.
But you know what, I'm done defending this team....I've sat through year after miserable year, I've sat through the embarrassment of the Neil Smith/Garth Snow debacle, I've sat through having an owner imprisoned for white collar crime, I've sat through seasons with hope, little hope, and no hope at all, I've sat through games to the 60 minute mark, where the team was down by two after three minutes, I sat and watched the vote tallies come through minute by minute showing how even the residents of the county that the team calls home could give a rats ass whether it lives or dies, I've listened to taunt after taunt from opposing teams' fans of how crappy every inch of this team (save for JT), I've sat and watched while players like Kirk Muller, Evgeni Nabokov, and Alex Karpovstev (may he RIP) crap all over this team, basically saying that they'd rather not play at all than play for this miserable abomination of a franchise...I've sat through all of that, embarrassment after embarrassment and for some reason last night was my breaking point....through all those years, never has a team shown no semblance of effort whatsoever. Sure other teams may not have had talent but at least they went out there and they tried, not very well mind you, but they tried. But last night, this year's team accomplished the feat no other Isles team that I've seen has done, they gave up before the game had even started. Like the fella in the Browns rant video says, I as fan don't expect them to win every game, I don't expect them to go far in the playofs, I don't even expect them to be very good, all I expect of them is to be just a little competitive. Is that too much to ask? Is it too much to ask this team to show just a small morsel of respect for the people that call themselves fans, that spend what little they can spare from the hard earned money to support the team. All I ask is that the team at least tries to ice a somewhat watchable product, so I can sit down in my seat, at an arena in which I paid overpriced fees to park at, with my overpriced beer, and smile and forget the outside world for two and a half hours. If they can't put out that little amount of effort to show respect for their fans, than what logical reason do we as fans have for showing them respect and showing up night after night?
I'm 29 and I'm right there with you. The Islanders have lost almost an entire generation of fans because of mismanagment (ie ownership woes), poor drafting, poor public relations, poor free agent moves, etc. over the past 20 plus years.
I feel like I am back in High School watching Wade Flaherty, Barry Richter, Mike Watt, and Mark Lawrence crap all over the ice.
Get the point and stop splitting hairs. Since you cant get the point I'll try and make this as clear as day . Both Comeau and Nielsen have been overrated by this fan base, they are nothing more then 3rd liners.
Wow, according to players that actually play against him he's the second most underrated player in the entire league.
... anyway, Nielsen and Comeau are very good third liners, Nielsen (when hes on) plays a solid 2 way game and Comeau is talented as all heck but just inconsistent and at times lazy... regardless, I dont expect them to be anywhere near the second line in the coming seasons... I wouldnt be surprised to see both traded to be perfectly honest.
you!
