This post kind of overlaps with some of the current ones but I want it specifically designed to call out on important thing.
I believe this off season will be make or break for Snow. Some of you have been calling for his head for a long time, but in reality most were just being a fan (meaning ignoring logic and going with emotion). Logically, Snow still had a chance coming into this season and here is why:
Grabner (would he have a repeat performance)
Nino (would he be a factor)
Goaltending (would someone take the reigns and lead the team...)
Okposo (would he score consistently)
Bailey (would he regress?)
Capuano (full year with a new coach)
I think Snow was given a pass this year because these things needed to work themselves out. However, next season is COMPLETELY different. The only true question marks will be prospects making a difference and I don't even think it was that fair to count Nino into the above mix but I did as barely relevant. Next season these question marks will not exist, they have all been answered. The only question mark will be about resigning players/signing ufa's to improve the team and it's all on Snow.
Grabner - no he did not repeat and really had a sophomore slump. We cannot realistically expect him to be as much of a contributing factor as year one.
Nino - will have to learn the game, but is not an immediate contributing factor
Goaltending - i believe Nabakov stepped up and took the reigns and answered that question... will he be resigned?
Okposo - safe to say he isn't going to be a force to reckon with
Bailey - small improvements but nothing to impact a team
Capuano - sadly he didn't have much to work with, did he do enough to keep his job?
So with that said, I think Snow's job is gone if he doesn't make the playoffs next season. Do I think that should be the case, i'm not sure. Is the focus on him now? Absolutely.
This post kind of overlaps with some of the current ones but I want it specifically designed to call out on important thing.
I believe this off season will be make or break for Snow. Some of you have been calling for his head for a long time, but in reality most were just being a fan (meaning ignoring logic and going with emotion). Logically, Snow still had a chance coming into this season and here is why:
Grabner (would he have a repeat performance)
Nino (would he be a factor)
Goaltending (would someone take the reigns and lead the team...)
Okposo (would he score consistently)
Bailey (would he regress?)
Capuano (full year with a new coach)
I think Snow was given a pass this year because these things needed to work themselves out. However, next season is COMPLETELY different. The only true question marks will be prospects making a difference and I don't even think it was that fair to count Nino into the above mix but I did as barely relevant. Next season these question marks will not exist, they have all been answered. The only question mark will be about resigning players/signing ufa's to improve the team and it's all on Snow.
Grabner - no he did not repeat and really had a sophomore slump. We cannot realistically expect him to be as much of a contributing factor as year one.
Nino - will have to learn the game, but is not an immediate contributing factor
Goaltending - i believe Nabakov stepped up and took the reigns and answered that question... will he be resigned?
Okposo - safe to say he isn't going to be a force to reckon with
Bailey - small improvements but nothing to impact a team
Capuano - sadly he didn't have much to work with, did he do enough to keep his job?
So with that said, I think Snow's job is gone if he doesn't make the playoffs next season. Do I think that should be the case, i'm not sure. Is the focus on him now? Absolutely.
This isn't a defense of Snow.It's looking at what he and Wang told the fans going into the 2008 draft:
1.Since the team couldn't land top ufas ,they were going to build thru the draft,a major rebuild with homegrown talent.They pointed out how depleted the prospect pool was at that time.
Right now,several top prospect sites and publications rank the NYI prospect pool as one of the best in the league.
2.This is the 4th yr of Snow's major rebuild.The team is hovering around the nhl's version of .500 ,while more homegrown youngsters make their way to Bridgeport and LI.
3.Snow has done a good job signing high picks/key youngsters to cheap ,backloaded deals.
Grabner's erractic goal scoring would be a much bigger problem, if he were making$3m-$4m instead of $1m this season
The same fans who gnash their teeth over Okposo's 15 goals ,ignore that guys like Richards,Brown have similar pts while making 3x-5x as much.Penner's got 5-6 goals making $4m.
Snow got impending ufas like Moulson and Nielsen to sign team friendly deals,without even testing the ufa market
4..I don't expect to read he's on the hot seat from any credible sources.
5.With several youngsters development looking stalled ,I would not be surprised to see Thompson ,Bridgeport's head coach,replace Cappy when his deal ends.I expect more from Okposo,Grabner,MacDonald,Bailey
I do think Snow is on the hotseat if he misses the playoffs next year.
Grabner, Okposo, MacDonald and Bailey do better with a real coach.
Getting Nabokov to resign would be huge and they need to resign PAP.
Overpayment to PAP is probable.
Need to also overpay for a 2nd tier free agent like Jokinen.
Capuano is awful and should be fire as should the assistant coaches. Need a proven coach and let him bring in his own guys. Thompson would be wash repeat and rinse all over again.
Grabner, Okposo, MacDonald and Bailey do better with a real coach.
Overpayment to PAP is probable.
Need to also overpay for a 2nd tier free agent like Jokinen.
.
Gordon was hired with the rep, for doing well developing prospects.
Cappy replaced Gordon,who was considered to be more of a hardnosed coach.The only tough approach I've seen from the easy going Cappy was benching KO for 3 straight games and taking a backhanded swipe at Comeau(comparing his effort to Bailey's).
1-2 key youngsters with their development stalled would not be a big red flag imo.Not every kid is gonna develop like the scouts/front office hoped.But the isles have 4 key youngsters underachieving right now.
As for Parenteau......his not being dealt is my biggest criticism of Snow.He knows what Parenteau and his rep want.Either Wang and the isles were gonna pay the price or they were not.The press says Snow was shoping PA as late as trade deadline day.A Sens poster says Snow wanted a 1st + a very good prospect from Ottawa for Parenteau.Snow could not have gotten a 1st or just a very good prospect as time wound down on Feb. 27Th?
I do think Snow is on the hotseat if he misses the playoffs next year.
Grabner, Okposo, MacDonald and Bailey do better with a real coach.
Getting Nabokov to resign would be huge and they need to resign PAP.
Overpayment to PAP is probable.
Need to also overpay for a 2nd tier free agent like Jokinen.
Capuano is awful and should be fire as should the assistant coaches. Need a proven coach and let him bring in his own guys. Thompson would be wash repeat and rinse all over again.
why is it always the coaches fault?? the players don't share any blame?? 12 coaches have been fired since cappy has been hired..is he a long term solution?? no..but this issue isn't isolted to just this franchise
Since I doubt Snow will be able to bring in the veteran players this team needs to get over the hump, a coaching change could really make a difference. The team has no real identity other than 'it's JT's team'.
I want Mike Keenan. The core of this team is no longer in the honeymoon stage where they get a free pass because they are kids. I think Tavares would flourish under Iron Mike and you know he'll light fires under people like Okposo and Grabner (the new whipping boys). I'd personally like to see what he could do on LI.
This isn't a defense of Snow.It's looking at what he and Wang told the fans going into the 2008 draft:
1.Since the team couldn't land top ufas ,they were going to build thru the draft,a major rebuild with homegrown talent.They pointed out how depleted the prospect pool was at that time.
Right now,several top prospect sites and publications rank the NYI prospect pool as one of the best in the league.
2.This is the 4th yr of Snow's major rebuild.The team is hovering around the nhl's version of .500 ,while more homegrown youngsters make their way to Bridgeport and LI.
3.Snow has done a good job signing high picks/key youngsters to cheap ,backloaded deals.
Grabner's erractic goal scoring would be a much bigger problem, if he were making$3m-$4m instead of $1m this season
The same fans who gnash their teeth over Okposo's 15 goals ,ignore that guys like Richards,Brown have similar pts while making 3x-5x as much.Penner's got 5-6 goals making $4m.
Snow got impending ufas like Moulson and Nielsen to sign team friendly deals,without even testing the ufa market
4..I don't expect to read he's on the hot seat from any credible sources.
5.With several youngsters development looking stalled ,I would not be surprised to see Thompson ,Bridgeport's head coach,replace Cappy when his deal ends.I expect more from Okposo,Grabner,MacDonald,Bailey
I agree with this assessment, only I hope they finally go get a proven NHL disciplinarian (not screamer) that teach these kids how to take the next step because he's done it before.
Thompson seems like he knows what he's doing in BP, but it's time to get a proven commodity with a track record.
We owe it to the young players to stop breaking in AHL coaches on them.
Since I doubt Snow will be able to bring in the veteran players this team needs to get over the hump, a coaching change could really make a difference. The team has no real identity other than 'it's JT's team'.
I want Mike Keenan. The core of this team is no longer in the honeymoon stage where they get a free pass because they are kids. I think Tavares would flourish under Iron Mike and you know he'll light fires under people like Okposo and Grabner (the new whipping boys). I'd personally like to see what he could do on LI.
Keenan has potential to be the worst coaching hire since Milbury. Have no problem with veteran coach like MacTavish as long as he is sane.
I do think Snow is on the hotseat if he misses the playoffs next year.
Grabner, Okposo, MacDonald and Bailey do better with a real coach.
Getting Nabokov to resign would be huge and they need to resign PAP.
Overpayment to PAP is probable.
Need to also overpay for a 2nd tier free agent like Jokinen.
Capuano is awful and should be fire as should the assistant coaches. Need a proven coach and let him bring in his own guys. Thompson would be wash repeat and rinse all over again.
Jokinen? He's a journeyman in my eyes. He usually has a good 1st season with a team, then he fades out and doesn't always show up. We have a few of those already.
I think the Islanders have all of the pieces in place on offense, and if they resign Nabby, they'll be fine in goal. The Islanders need to overpay on defense. Adding Suter, or Carle will put the Islanders over the top and into the playoffs. I think you'll find Ullstrom and Cizakas more then ready to step in next year and Bailey playing alongside legit linemates will start to score more.
I just worry about defense. The Islanders are on the small side on the blueline and they don't have enough quality depth. Outside of Hamonic, Steit and McDonald, I'm not exactly blown away. Add Carle to that back line and resign Jurcina as a bottom 6 dman and they'll improve imeasureably.
They've got to take a shot. If not him, then Matt Carle. The Islanders might have an advantage this year signing free agents, because there's talk the cap may come down. Many of the big market teams are close to the cap now. The Islanders might have more cap space then just about anyone come the offseason.
The Flyers for instance will have $5 million in cap space. They have Pavel Kubina, Jaromir Jagr, and Matt Carle are all UFA's, to name a few.
This post kind of overlaps with some of the current ones but I want it specifically designed to call out on important thing.
I believe this off season will be make or break for Snow. Some of you have been calling for his head for a long time, but in reality most were just being a fan (meaning ignoring logic and going with emotion). Logically, Snow still had a chance coming into this season and here is why:
Grabner (would he have a repeat performance)
Nino (would he be a factor)
Goaltending (would someone take the reigns and lead the team...)
Okposo (would he score consistently)
Bailey (would he regress?)
Capuano (full year with a new coach)
I think Snow was given a pass this year because these things needed to work themselves out. However, next season is COMPLETELY different. The only true question marks will be prospects making a difference and I don't even think it was that fair to count Nino into the above mix but I did as barely relevant. Next season these question marks will not exist, they have all been answered. The only question mark will be about resigning players/signing ufa's to improve the team and it's all on Snow.
Grabner - no he did not repeat and really had a sophomore slump. We cannot realistically expect him to be as much of a contributing factor as year one.
Nino - will have to learn the game, but is not an immediate contributing factor
Goaltending - i believe Nabakov stepped up and took the reigns and answered that question... will he be resigned?
Okposo - safe to say he isn't going to be a force to reckon with
Bailey - small improvements but nothing to impact a team
Capuano - sadly he didn't have much to work with, did he do enough to keep his job?
So with that said, I think Snow's job is gone if he doesn't make the playoffs next season. Do I think that should be the case, i'm not sure. Is the focus on him now? Absolutely.
so now Snow has his Answers. But the question is what will he do about it....IMO nothing
Yeah, I wasn't implying Snow is on the hot seat now, but going into next season after having an off season to work with could very easily put him in the hot seat. Think about what we have going into next year and what who we will be losing. We are not guaranteed, in fact without decent signings, we are almost guaranteed to have a lower seeding next year than this year.
I agree with a lot of what people are saying about Cappy. A bunch of veteran coaches lost their jobs and we passed on all of them. We definitely could have swooped up a professional and proven NHL coach to see if it would get some of these young guys on track and stop the cakewalk I feel they are getting under Cappy.
This post kind of overlaps with some of the current ones but I want it specifically designed to call out on important thing.
I believe this off season will be make or break for Snow. Some of you have been calling for his head for a long time, but in reality most were just being a fan (meaning ignoring logic and going with emotion). Logically, Snow still had a chance coming into this season and here is why:
Grabner (would he have a repeat performance)
Nino (would he be a factor)
Goaltending (would someone take the reigns and lead the team...)
Okposo (would he score consistently)
Bailey (would he regress?)
Capuano (full year with a new coach)
I think Snow was given a pass this year because these things needed to work themselves out. However, next season is COMPLETELY different. The only true question marks will be prospects making a difference and I don't even think it was that fair to count Nino into the above mix but I did as barely relevant. Next season these question marks will not exist, they have all been answered. The only question mark will be about resigning players/signing ufa's to improve the team and it's all on Snow.
Grabner - no he did not repeat and really had a sophomore slump. We cannot realistically expect him to be as much of a contributing factor as year one.
Nino - will have to learn the game, but is not an immediate contributing factor
Goaltending - i believe Nabakov stepped up and took the reigns and answered that question... will he be resigned?
Okposo - safe to say he isn't going to be a force to reckon with
Bailey - small improvements but nothing to impact a team
Capuano - sadly he didn't have much to work with, did he do enough to keep his job?
So with that said, I think Snow's job is gone if he doesn't make the playoffs next season. Do I think that should be the case, i'm not sure. Is the focus on him now? Absolutely.
With all due respect, I don't think you could be more wrong here.
You're assuming too much here. That this organization is run and based upon accountability and performance.
Not the case.
Do you hear Wang in any way showing care or concern for this team's on ice performance?
Trust me when I say that the last thing Wang is concerned with right now is this team's on ice performance.
He's riding the wave leading up to 2015.
Garth's a Fat Cat, literally and figuratively. His job is no where near being threatened.
Moulson and JT are a lock on the first line as we all know, but we don't have a better option than PAP to be on that line with them right now.. if it means we missed out on acquiring a 2nd round draft pick (or later), I'm glad Snow made the decision to keep PAP..
We all know JT is a stud, but he's actually still developing (unbelievably well I might add) and frankly I'd rather keep PAP on the team for the rest of the season just for JT's sake.. we can worry about next season next season.. JT has produced with PAP so why would it have benefited us to send that shock to the NYI system for a 2nd at the trade deadline? Just my opinion, but no thanks.
The bigger question is Capuano.
Part of me wants one more year of continuity and keep Capuano, Weight, Allen and Chynoweth.. the other part wants an established win-now guy, no matter who it is..
Part of me says we always change our coaches, we never let anyone develop.. the other part of me says we've waited long enough to win a play-off round and I don't wanna write off 2012-13 while we're still working on finishing 2011-12.
If JT wasn't developing then I'd obviously think very differently but my feeling is that one more year of clawing for every upward inch wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.. we have stretches where we're among the best in the league, and even our funks don't smell as bad any more..
Maybe another year of continuity isn't a terrible concept?
I've never been this torn, where most opinions on which way to go seem to make at least some sense.
With all due respect, I don't think you could be more wrong here.
You're assuming too much here. That this organization is run and based upon accountability and performance.
Not the case.
Do you hear Wang in any way showing care or concern for this team's on ice performance?
Trust me when I say that the last thing Wang is concerned with right now is this team's on ice performance.
He's riding the wave leading up to 2015.
Garth's a Fat Cat, literally and figuratively. His job is no where near being threatened.
This just about sums it up. It's cute that people think that the roster is being "evaluated" based on performance. Take a look at the cap hit vs. what the team is actually spending in cash on this roster and it's shocking.
Garth Snow will not be fired this season or next regardless of if the Isles make the playoffs or not. He came in to help out Wang and be the "team player" with Charles Wang. Those who are calling for him to be fired are not going to get their wish.
If the team completely and totally collapses — and I mean a 10-65-7 record next season — maybe it would be possible that a new GM comes in and Snow gets booted up to "President" and gives up the GM duties, but Snow will remain with the Isles for a long time.
We as fans need to stop calling for the GMs head and start calling for results where it counts most — with a new arena. That is Charles Wang's biggest failure to date, and everything hinges on that one issue. Wang has shown a willingness to spend money albeit on the wrong players in the past, he is willing to spend — but he is not going to do so until the arena issue is put to rest. If no deal is reached, you can expect the Isles to remain at the cap floor — with one exception. I think Snow is a "hockey" guy, and I think he will fight for his drafted home grown guys. Wang did not have to give Grabner, Okposo or Tavares deals that go beyond 2015...all three do!
If he sells the team everything changes, but I don't believe that will happen before there is one more legit try to get an arena done somewhere in the local area (Queens or Brooklyn).
P.S.
With the revelation that Suffolk is in as poor financial shape as Nassau, I am 95% sure that the Islanders will not be going to Suffolk, and frankly, the only two options that seem remotely financial feasible are queens or Brooklyn.
This just about sums it up. It's cute that people think that the roster is being "evaluated" based on performance. Take a look at the cap hit vs. what the team is actually spending in cash on this roster and it's shocking.
Bingo! Been saying this for three years already. Wang's running this on the LCO (Lowest Cost Option).
Bingo! Been saying this for three years already. Wang's running this on the LCO (Lowest Cost Option).
Not to be a dick, but why does every thread have to be polluted with this stuff?!, it has become almost unreadable.
Two things:
1. Wang is taking a BATH every year with this team. Every Freaking Year. Do you guys seriously expect him to spend himself into oblivion because the team sucks? The arena is crap, the TV ratings suck, and the county doesn't want to build a respectable barn for the team......what would YOU do in that circumstance? Clearly you want him to spend millions a year to make pedantic *******s on message boards happy. Oh, and he's spent plentttyyy of money in the past and tried to spend even more money last year, but no one wanted it.
2. Say it with me now, WE CAN NOT FIRE WANG. In fact, we have no bearing on whether he owns the team at all. Can we remember for just one moment that he saved this team from two rounds of fraudulent owners and if it wasn't for him, the Isles would be the ones in Winnipeg right now!?
Do you guys seriously expect him to spend himself into oblivion because the team sucks? The arena is crap, the TV ratings suck, and the county doesn't want to build a respectable barn for the team......what would YOU do in that circumstance?
I don't blame him.
This thread is about Snow on the hot seat, and needing to make the playoffs, and what needs to be addressed, what players to sign, etc. It's not unfair to point out that all of that doesn't really matter a bit... Snow's job is pretty damn safe and the team is making decisions based on finances more than hockey. That's all.
I'm curious how long Thompson's contract is. With the way he's succeeding with Bridgeport (far above anything Capuano did, with far less than Capuano had), if we don't make him our coach, he will be leading another NHL team to success soon.
With all due respect, I don't think you could be more wrong here.
You're assuming too much here. That this organization is run and based upon accountability and performance.
Not the case.
Do you hear Wang in any way showing care or concern for this team's on ice performance?
Trust me when I say that the last thing Wang is concerned with right now is this team's on ice performance.
He's riding the wave leading up to 2015.
Garth's a Fat Cat, literally and figuratively. His job is no where near being threatened.
I wouldn't purport to know what Wang's motive is because that would be ludicrous, presumptuous, and downright arrogant. I do, however, know that Wang runs his business based on performance, and Hockey is a sport which is performance based. If he ignored performance completely, the team would not have resigned key pieces. You seem to be a bit jaded which is making you sound irrational.
Wang has ceased to divulge many of his teams plans based on the ridiculous negative liberal media in NY and I don't blame him. No more open letters in Newsday he learned his lesson because in the end the press is in control of the perception.
With that said most of the posts here I agree with and I hope the Isles move to the top of the list finding a seasoned coach. How much time does Cappy have left on his contract, anyone know off hand?
