Figured it'd be nice to have a final thread summarizing each other's opinion on the team for this season. Please try to include positives along with the negatives, I don't want this to be a vent thread. I'd like it to be a final analysis of the team.
I'll start by saying that a few people on these boards have said the team has regressed. I don't know how you can say that when so many players had career years (meaning they have improved). Of course we are still talking about the team output but I think it's just highly illogical to call this season a regression. I think our forward corp improved and took a step to the next level. I think what killed us this season was just a pathetic defense bolstered by aging ineffective veterans. It was purely a lack of defensive talent that sunk our ship. Yes, secondary scoring was a sore point as well but I think if the defense had been more solid secondary scoring would have followed.
So, here are my breakdowns:
-Tavares is just getting better and better. Great to see a true franchise player blossoming and signed long term
-Nice to see Nielsen, Okposo, Bailey finish strong but I'm not sold on them being able to do this consistently. I do think Nielsen is still one of the most valuable members of this team and I would have loved to see what he could do around a team with stronger defense
-Nice to see Grabner finish with 20 goals, only 4 players did that with the Isles. He definitely disappointed this year and could not follow up with a strong 2nd year but if he can get between 20-30 every year he was still a huge steal!
-PA had a great season. I thought he was a little bit better defensively (still has a ways to go), but it was nice to see improvement there. It was also nice to see that he can put up points away from Tavares as well. I'm thinking he's gone through free agency but I can honestly say I don't think the Isles will be able to fill the void created when he leaves. Say what you want about the "Tavares Effect" this guy will leave us hurting offensively if he bolts
-Hamonic showed he's going to be a staple for us on defense and I think Streit finished really strong. After that, there is just nobody. MacDonald regressed, and the filler veterans were piss poor. I don't see any bright spots on our defense in the immediate future with out strong free agent signings. It will be enough that if we don't fix it we won't make the playoffs next year either
-Finally I'd like to wrap up with saying that I was one of the few last year who was trying to calm some of the screaming school girls in here about Montoya. You can argue injury all you want but I knew he would not be a long term solution for this team and his rebound control has always been horrendous. I said it from the very beginning and it proved to be right. Montoya is not technically sound and will not be a full time goalie for any NHL team in the near future. He's a career AHL'er. I feel confident with Nabakov as our starter for next year and we'll see how Ricky plays healthy and if he can stay that way. If not I believe Poulin is ready to start getting action as an NHL backup.
-I hope Nino spends a quality year in Bridgeport lighting the lamp and being poised to be a contributor in 2013-2014.
This team is run by liars, and there's no sign of them getting any better any time soon.
I appreciate the energy that you put into your breakdowns, and I've done that many times in the past, myself. The fact is, trying to rationalize something that's irrational becomes more heartbreaking as time goes on. I was once a guy in my 20's, all of my 20's, that believed this team was going to be good. It wasn't until I got into my 30's and became wise enough to see things for what they are. Eventually, I would like to feel like a kid again and enjoy watching this team win. Sadly, that is wishful thinking.
I'll try to keep the negatives to a minimum. With just 27 regulation wins and a minus 52 goal differential standings wise the Islanders are pretty bad. I expected more from them this year. The Islanders are improving very gradually. That being said there are positive things on the horizon.
Tavares is becoming one of the elite players in the league. Hamonic is showing that he is the real deal. Streit didn't have a great season but started to get back to form towards the end. Moulson and PAP are legitimate players. Bailey and Okposo both showing improvement. Nabokov resigning for one more season is a good thing.
One of the biggest problems with the team all season has been consistency. On some nights they look great and on other nights pathetic. How do you fix that problem? A top 4 defenceman? A new coach? I don't know. The future still looks bright for the team it is just taking a little longer than anticipated.
As the great Bill Parcell's said...You are what your record is. And our record states that we suck.
However, there are some silver linings.
1) JT is on the brink of Superstardom
2) Hamonic is ready to become a beast
3) IMHO we'll finally get some closure on the arena issue this summer & find out where we'll probably play post 2015.
These 3 points are the only reasons why I remain emotionally attached to this organization. The moves of ownership and management make it more and more difficult each year.
Here's to hoping we win the draft lottery.
HAPPY EASTER to everyone and their family!!! God Bless.
My Final thoughts are that we have some good young players lead by Tavares and Hamonic and if only we made some good FA and Trade aquistions for the rite veterans players we could be a good playoff team.. We have to stop signing over the hill players as stop gates. We have plenty of younf Talent and they cant all make the bigs, we need to think about trades.
Im Stoked about the Future because of guys Like Tavares,Hamonic,and Martin.
Also I do not believe Cappy is the rite coach for us, we need an expeiranced in your face type coach imo.
Overall I really thought that we had a shot at the playoffs but I was wrong, and unless we make some key upgrades we will be in the same boat next year.
I think that despite all the gloom and doom (horrible season, arena issues) we really need to sit back and realize what we have in John Tavares.
We have a 21 year old star that will only get better. He finished tied for 7th in the league in scoring. Only 6 players in the ENTIRE league finished ahead of him. Wrap your head around that for a moment. I find it mind boggling. It's been so long since we've had a player of this caliber, that it's kind of confusing to comprehend. A TOP TEN SCORER !
Now add this fact, only 6 players finished ahead of Tavares, YET, the Isles were the 4th LOWEST scoring team in hockey. Tavares was in on 41.3% of his teams goals, a FRANCHISE record ! He's the first Islander to score 80+ points since 1997-98.
It's amazing to think what we have in Tavares. I remember we all said after his rookie season, imagine how much better he'd be if we surrounded him with better players, well guess what, he's surrounded by the same players, and he's improved himself, and his teammates dramatically.
This is what I'm going to take away from this season, Tavares proved to us, and the world that he is now an elite player, and he's only 21.
On a side note, I want to congratulate Matt Moulson as well, he's become a true NHL goal scorer, and he's improved every year as well. Top 10 in goals and top 25 in points.
1.We are 3 yrs away from ending the arena mess.County pols have jerk the organization around,with lies about a new arena since the Milstein/Gluckstern ownership days.Soon it will time to **** or get off the pot
2.Our key youngsters, have another yr of development under their belts at the nhl,ahl,junior and college level.Competition is good The addition of Cizikas and Ullstrom imo,pushed Bailey and KO.Next season will have Donovan, De Haan and Ness fighting among themselves for a nyi roster spot.Nelson,Kabanov and probably Nino will get a ton of icetime at Bridgeport.
3. I can remember when the rebuild started,how weak our prospect pool was.4 drafts later,it's full of promising youngsters.
4.While I don't see the isles adding a huge salary like Nash,until the arena situation is settled,they have several backloaded contracts that will let them add a couple of players making salaries in the $4m range.It would help lessen fan frustration,if fans were realistic when it came to Snow and trades:we should realize from his interviews and actions, that Snow is not trading a high lottery pick for 1-2 yrs of an aging star and Snow is not trading a high lottery pick for a soon to be ufa.
Sorry, would love to be positive here, but I just didn't see it this year. Fifth straight year with a lottery pick doesn't scream 'success'.
OFFENSE
JT had an incredible year and Matty Moulson continues to drive the Kings bonkers for releasing him, but our other bright spot, assuming his ankle is ok, is probably out the door. Gonna be tough to replace that production.
Now outside of our first line, where was there growth? Bailey and Okposo finished strong, but that doesn't exonerate them from a miserable year overall. Both were completely non-existent for extended stretches during the important part of the schedule. That has to change.
Nino was completely mishandled from the word go and wasted a year of development when he should have been playing 1st line minutes and tearing up the WHL.
Frans was Frans again. Solid, nothing spectacular, but not like he took great strides forward either, still a solid 3rd line center who's being forced into 2nd line duty because we don't have an actual 2nd line center.
Grabner had what I can holy hope and pray was a bad sophomore slump. His only real asset is his speed and the ability to create offense with that speed -- only the offensive portion of that equation never materialized this season. Not ready to give up on him, but he needs to refocus this offseason.
No need to worry about the 4th line. That's an issue for playoff bound teams, not perpetual bottom feeding lottery dwellers like ourselves.
All in all, aggravating as hell that one of the best lines in the NHL is currently supplemented by under-performing schlock.
DEFENSE
Good to have Streit back, but it took him about 50 games or so until he looked like his old self. Who knows what to expect next season. Older and wiser or another year of wear and tear on the tires?
Hammer was solid and looks to be a mainstay of our top 4 for years to come. Nice little edge to his game, hope he continues to grow.
Andy Mac had a down year overall. Had some moments, but didn't feel like a consistent performance. Needs to right the ship next season.
Staois, Eaton, Jurcina -- not sure if any will be back next season. All depends on what we pick up off the July 2nd scrap heap leftovers.
Reese is an RFA and I'm guessing he'll be qualified.
GOALTENDING
Glad we resigned Nabby. Guy is solid and with an actual NHL team in front of him, he can be great. Just not sure what he'll have in front of him next season.
Montoya. Thought we found a solid back-up last year, but injuries, weak goals, and poor performances overall have really clouded his future. With Nilsson and Poulin starting to chomp at the bit, his time here may have ended.
DP. Ehh, no need to rehash the albatross portion here. However, with the CBA battle looming, will be very interesting to see if there's a amnesty clause included as part of the deal. If there is, could be the one chance to right this wrong. Whether we actually will is another story -- who else would go to American Idol shows with Chuckles?
COACHING
Cappy just looks to be in way over his head. Things being stacked against him don't help, but the guy just feels best suited for the AHL. Then again, even a real coach might have only been able to squeeze a few more watery points out of this rock.
That said, I still think the Doug Weight countdown clock is already ticking. Not sure if that is good, bad, or more of the same, but I think we'll find out at some point next season.
Not really ANY positives to take from the season. We finished with the exact same record as we had 2 years ago with the same "core". So right there is the definition of stagnant. The only ones I can think of is JT continuing to improve his play and jumping into the top tier of centers this year. The other is Hamonic and Moulson not regressing and continuing to play well
Okposo and Bailey were both inconsistent the entire season. Ending on a hot streak does not make a good season, just look at last year.
1. JT made huge steps forward and is a legitimate superstar, remember his rookie year and many had doubts after that 40 game drought, but he has arrived at the star level.
2. Moulson and PAP had great years. Moulson is for real, probably gets close to 50 goals next year.
3. Okposo, Bailey, and Frans had solid final quarters, a good coach will sustain that next year
4. Hamonic is the real deal, not much else to say
5. Martin is a solid physical presence
6. Nabokov was solid.
7. Reese, Cizikas and Ullstrom proved they belong in the NHL
Negatives
1. Capuano is not a real NHL coach, cost us 10-15 points
2. MacDonald and Streit both were inconsistent, they will both be better next year.
3. Comeau... what a huge letdown
4. Jurcina, ended with a 2 point game in which we let up 7 goals, he was awful this year, our worst player
5. Staios/Eaton/Reasoner/Rolston/Mottau/Pandolfo - all over the hill and it sadly affected us.
6. Montoya/DP - one was clearly exposed and the other was hurt again.
Looking Ahead
1. Have to resign PAP
2. Must overpay for a top 4 dman
3. Must not resign anyone listed in my #5 negative
4. Let Donovan and De Haan battle for the 6th dman spot
5. DP has to backup Nabokov
6. A new coach is really needed
If we could combine the bottom 6 strength of the 09/10 team with the top 6 strength of the 11/12 team our forwards will be fine, might need to add a solid bottom 6 vet who still has some game.
Bottom line.. we overpaid for a few points of Rolston, who was cancerous, so we can overpay to keep PAP and sign
Jordin Tootoo - 4 years 16 million
Matt Carle - 3 years 15 million
Now outside of our first line, where was there growth? Bailey and Okposo finished strong, but that doesn't exonerate them from a miserable year overall. Both were completely non-existent for extended stretches during the important part of the schedule. That has to change.
I posted 1-2 months ago, my expectations for the inconsistent Okposo going forward:55-60 pt forward,doing the grunt work on his line.Aggressive puck pursuit and fighting for pucks along the boards.He finished with 24 goals.If he'd done anything in his first 15 games when he had 0 goals,he'd have pushed for 30 goals.
You don't think having the Bridgeport forwards come up and play well,didn't have Bailey and KO take notice?Put on some pressure?
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Nino was completely mishandled from the word go and wasted a year of development when he should have been playing 1st line minutes and tearing up the WHL.
I agree.The most frustrating part about this season, is that Nino has had a wasted season of development.
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Frans was Frans again. Solid, nothing spectacular, but not like he took great strides forward either, still a solid 3rd line center who's being forced into 2nd line duty because we don't have an actual 2nd line center.
I don't see Frans as the longterm answer at the 2nd line center spot.I think he is keeping the seat warm for Strome or Brock Nelson.I expect him to be dealt in another few seasons,with a younger cheaper center on the 3rd line.
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Grabner had what I can holy hope and pray was a bad sophomore slump. His only real asset is his speed and the ability to create offense with that speed -- only the offensive portion of that equation never materialized this season. Not ready to give up on him, but he needs to refocus this offseason.
Grabner to me is like gravey.A 14th overall pick that we lucked into,costing only a waiver wire fee.He made $1m this season.I agree he needs to bounce back,show this was no more then a sophmore slump.
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Good to have Streit back, but it took him about 50 games or so until he looked like his old self. Who knows what to expect next season. Older and wiser or another year of wear and tear on the tires?
Hammer was solid and looks to be a mainstay of our top 4 for years to come. Nice little edge to his game, hope he continues to grow.
Andy Mac had a down year overall. Had some moments, but didn't feel like a consistent performance. Needs to right the ship next season.
Reese is an RFA and I'm guessing he'll be qualified.
I'm glad we will have such a large turn over on defense.Streit,MacDonald and Harmonic are the only three I care about keeping.We only got a small sampling of what the Bridgeport youngsters bring,but I was pretty pleased with how Donovan,De Haan and Ness looked.
Snow has to add at least 1,preferrably 2 veteran defenseman.If that means trading some of his quaility prospects ,then that is what he'll have to do.I don't want to see Donovan or De Haan in next season's top 4.
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Cappy just looks to be in way over his head. Things being stacked against him don't help, but the guy just feels best suited for the AHL. Then again, even a real coach might have only been able to squeeze a few more watery points out of this rock.
That said, I still think the Doug Weight countdown clock is already ticking. Not sure if that is good, bad, or more of the same, but I think we'll find out at some point next season.
Early in the season I was on the fence about Cappy.But,watching him destroy Nino's confidence has made it clear he needs to be replaced.Cappy was making Nino a healthy scratch and playing him on the 4th line,well after the playoffs were a pipedream.
I can't say I want Weight as head coach.I'm tired of the isles coaches being rookies , the guy learning on the job!
I think we showed we have a team that has some good SKILL. I think the team had enough SKILL to make it into the playoffs. However I think most of this team plays like a bunch of AMATURES. Way too many nights they dont even show up. I dont think Cappy is a bad coach, he makes some dumb decisions, but I think he is probably a decent coach, however, he is the WRONG coach for this team. This team is not mature enough to get themselves going... they need a coach that will get there ***** in gear every night. Is Weight a good coach, I dont know... but I would like to think that he will be able to light their fire a bit more than Cappy did.
We need a better coach... thats it I think. We can dump the dead weight and bring up the goods from Bridgeport I think we have a team that can make it into the playoffs.
Not really ANY positives to take from the season. We finished with the exact same record as we had 2 years ago with the same "core". So right there is the definition of stagnant. The only ones I can think of is JT continuing to improve his play and jumping into the top tier of centers this year. The other is Hamonic and Moulson not regressing and continuing to play well
Okposo and Bailey were both inconsistent the entire season. Ending on a hot streak does not make a good season, just look at last year.
As much as I disliked seeing Eaton ,Mottou,Staios and Jurcina playing for the isles this season,their presence on the team,kept the isles from rushing De Haan,Donovan and Ness.
I'd rather have had to put up with 1 yr of Rolston and Pandolfo,then have Strome or Nelson on the roster
1.We are 3 yrs away from ending the arena mess.County pols have jerk the organization around,with lies about a new arena since the Milstein/Gluckstern ownership days.Soon it will time to **** or get off the pot
2.Our key youngsters, have another yr of development under their belts at the nhl,ahl,junior and college level.Competition is good The addition of Cizikas and Ullstrom imo,pushed Bailey and KO.Next season will have Donovan, De Haan and Ness fighting among themselves for a nyi roster spot.Nelson,Kabanov and probably Nino will get a ton of icetime at Bridgeport.
3. I can remember when the rebuild started,how weak our prospect pool was.4 drafts later,it's full of promising youngsters.
4.While I don't see the isles adding a huge salary like Nash,until the arena situation is settled,they have several backloaded contracts that will let them add a couple of players making salaries in the $4m range.It would help lessen fan frustration,if fans were realistic when it came to Snow and trades:we should realize from his interviews and actions, that Snow is not trading a high lottery pick for 1-2 yrs of an aging star and Snow is not trading a high lottery pick for a soon to be ufa.
Agree. The County jerking around NYI with the arena fiasco will result in yet another season of low payroll and sucking. No hope.
Last October I previewed this season and wrote JT and Moulson are good but couldn't do it alone, Okposo and Bailey were overrated and would struggle, Grabner would be watched closer by opponents and not be as good and the D would suck. Sadly, it came true.
im not completely disappointed in the isles this season, im def not happy about it, but the way i saw this team play in the beginning of the year, i thought it could have been a lot worse. i thought if everything went right, they would make the playoffs. we all know that didnt happen and a lot of expectations were not met. a lot of us had grabner putting up 30 again, Okposo breaking out, reasoner putting up at least 10 goals, bailey breaking out, nino scoring more than 1 goal. If all of those things happened,we maybe a playoff team.
tavares, wow, what a player we have here. 81 pts 4 the year, i really couldnt ask more from mr tavares. if we didnt have him, i think we might be worse than Columbus.
moulson- as much as some think its all tavares with his goal scoring (which maybe true) i think he is a legit nhl player. i have no qualms about him, even tho he maybe 1 dimensional.
pa- he drew a lot of ire last year, but he had a very good year this year. i hope he is back with the team next year. I have nothing bad to say about the 1st line. I dont think there has been a team in the NHL to have more pts from their first line than the isles. if only the other 3 lines had somewhat decent production.
I think our poor D and lack of production from the other lines, as well as, lack of production from amac and hamonic made this team not reach expectations.
Goaltending has been fairly solid. Nabokov really impressed me this whole season, happy he is with us next yr, guy has been a winner most of his career.
As the yr ends, i am sad the isles arent in the playoffs. Hopefully we get real lucky and win the draft lottery.
I think that despite all the gloom and doom (horrible season, arena issues) we really need to sit back and realize what we have in John Tavares.
We have a 21 year old star that will only get better. He finished tied for 7th in the league in scoring. Only 6 players in the ENTIRE league finished ahead of him. Wrap your head around that for a moment. I find it mind boggling. It's been so long since we've had a player of this caliber, that it's kind of confusing to comprehend. A TOP TEN SCORER !
Now add this fact, only 6 players finished ahead of Tavares, YET, the Isles were the 4th LOWEST scoring team in hockey. Tavares was in on 41.3% of his teams goals, a FRANCHISE record ! He's the first Islander to score 80+ points since 1997-98.
It's amazing to think what we have in Tavares. I remember we all said after his rookie season, imagine how much better he'd be if we surrounded him with better players, well guess what, he's surrounded by the same players, and he's improved himself, and his teammates dramatically.
This is what I'm going to take away from this season, Tavares proved to us, and the world that he is now an elite player, and he's only 21.
On a side note, I want to congratulate Matt Moulson as well, he's become a true NHL goal scorer, and he's improved every year as well. Top 10 in goals and top 25 in points.
And the think that's even more mind bottling (lol) about Tavares is, he did this all with unproven talent. Imagine what he could do with a true superstar on a line with him. I was a little nervous about how he would pan out but I couldn't be more pleased. At first I thought he was just talking the talk and saying the right things for face, but he's walked the walk and signed the contract to prove it. He's definitely someone to be excited about no joke!
I think that despite all the gloom and doom (horrible season, arena issues) we really need to sit back and realize what we have in John Tavares.
We have a 21 year old star that will only get better. He finished tied for 7th in the league in scoring. Only 6 players in the ENTIRE league finished ahead of him. Wrap your head around that for a moment. I find it mind boggling. It's been so long since we've had a player of this caliber, that it's kind of confusing to comprehend. A TOP TEN SCORER !
Now add this fact, only 6 players finished ahead of Tavares, YET, the Isles were the 4th LOWEST scoring team in hockey. Tavares was in on 41.3% of his teams goals, a FRANCHISE record ! He's the first Islander to score 80+ points since 1997-98.
It's amazing to think what we have in Tavares. I remember we all said after his rookie season, imagine how much better he'd be if we surrounded him with better players, well guess what, he's surrounded by the same players, and he's improved himself, and his teammates dramatically.
This is what I'm going to take away from this season, Tavares proved to us, and the world that he is now an elite player, and he's only 21.
On a side note, I want to congratulate Matt Moulson as well, he's become a true NHL goal scorer, and he's improved every year as well. Top 10 in goals and top 25 in points.
this, exactly. i remember when we first got yashin, he scores 75 pts the first year, we all said "we need a winger for yashin" yashin is the kind of guy that needs a good winger so he will have better numbers" this is exactly why tavares will go down as one of the best players in the history of this team. this guy raises the level of play of all his linemates. he is a guy that creates offence all on his own. . his vision and playmaking skills are amazing. i cannot believe some of the stuff he pulls off
I think it's safe to say once Hammer got the puck to the face, and Nabby caught the flu a bit after, the Isles' chances at the playoffs were shattered.
I think it's safe to say once Hammer got the puck to the face, and Nabby caught the flu a bit after, the Isles' chances at the playoffs were shattered.
Even safer to say that when the team didn't fundamentally improve in the offseason, our playoff chances were shattered.
Sounds like we might rinse and repeat this summer!
Positives: JT, Moulson, Hamonic, Nabokov, Montoya before his injury, Martin, Nielson, Streit returned to form after his injury and time.
Negatives: Comeau fell apart, MacDonald looked pedestrian, not strong, Montoya looked bad after his concussion (does he neet time like Streit did?), Haley only kept up minimally if at all, toughness non existent save for the designated tough guys and JT, SNOW MADE NO TRADES TO UPGRADE, Wang made no strides on building issue, our Snow/Boston connection free agents SUCKED, no help in top six up or top four back, bad checking, bad on faceoffs, bad on penalty kill last 2/3 season, defense giving up too many goals, Grabner didn't show as much, Rolston was dead weight and a malaise, Konopka missed, Cappy was not good at all at leading the kids, no battle, lost leads all year, WE HAD SCOTT ALLEN EVERY SECOND INTERMISSION AS REGULARLY AS A HERPES FLARE-UP.
Oh, and our owner doesn't care about winning.
We need a top six star player and a top four reliable and physical defenseman. We have to hope Donovan can play and will give us a second powerplay option to get us some offense.
We need a better coach and assistants - THE BEST WE CAN GET AT WHATEVER COST.
Our guys are solid to pedestrian with three greats (JT, Streit and Martin) for the positions they hold. We need someone to emerge as a top line threat to take pressure from JT. Moulson can sit on that line but he doesn't draw checks from JT.
PA is a keeper. Hamonic, Streit and MacD are keepers on D. Nielson is a keeper but has to be a stud third line center, not a forced into being good second line center. Our offense will improve IF OUR DEFENSE IS BETTER.
How I wish we hired Hitchcock.
DP.....whatever. He's our herpe.
Hope for Strome and Donovan and a miracle in Petrov or Kabonov or Lee. Pray for a Chelios type defenseman being acquired.
