What's Ahead For New York? More Of The Same

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Like I wrote the other day, no doubt these players are doing the absolute best they can.

Too slow, old, small, not physical enough on the backline and with the changes made at forward the same issue.

Colorado's forwards and defenders just picked the New York Islanders apart and beat up on them good because they were slow in skating/reading/reacting far too often.

I noticed the players struggling for air in the higher altitude.

Isles could have used three of those younger, bigger, fast-skating, physical defenders that Colorado had. Just as they needed a few bigger, fast-skating, physical forwards not named Matt Martin to protect Tavares better.

Even struggling Colorado saw what was going on and one of their players started yelling at his team and it worked. They just wore the Islanders down and beat on them because they could. The chances the Isles seemed to get were off of Colorado willing to trade chances, with a few smart plays as well.

Of course, the Isles should have won, Grabner's chances (especially in the final second of regulation) is as good a chance as can be generated. Was the officiating poor from not calling Reasoner vs MacDonald early to other bad calls? Yes.

It's not the point.

Win or lose it does not change how Colorado dominated in the physical and skating department, even if the Isles are as desperate as a team can be for points.

The point of the final three months of last season was a moderately to above avg successful team that was very hard to play against virtually every game, that did not back down, it was successful in the standings and on the ice.

That club seems now like it's a distant memory with the tweaks made in the summer to get older, slower, smaller, and easier to defend/attack.

Nothing I see short of drastic changes on the older backline and forward spots to get younger and bigger changing this.

Truth of the matter is unlike every other year, this time Garth Snow pushed the wrong buttons in who he identified as players who can help take his core to the next level.

Perhaps they can steal a game or two here and there, but the kind of hockey that needs to be played to make up seven points (just to get to the eighth seed) is not going to happen with the club as currently constructed.

There will be no hiding Sunday or in the next two weeks moving forward from what has been working against them since opening night as the schedule picks up, the standings leave no room for falling any further behind.

Common Sense Time:
Yes, we have Dolan's joke professional media covering us in print/television, when they are not being ordered by courts to show games in HD they claim for years are all shown in HD.

They are now so lazy they go to amateur fan blogs to break fictional trades, get over it, we have written about this enough, I made clear it's only going to get worse and the coverage is a joke. Arthur Staple is the latest former Ranger beatwriter who could care less about covering the New York Islanders unless it's to stir something up.

Many of these people are the same ones telling you the team must trade a goalie, despite the fact the goaltending is not costing them games to this point. They are not around the club daily if at all, they do not know what management or the players are saying (or not saying) they likely do not even watch the games.

As Michael Peca said long ago, if you are not in the lockeroom and unless a player tells you something directly, do not believe it.

Are the New York Islanders Really A Different Team?

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Islanders website: Had an article with comments from John Tavares, Andrew MacDonald, Travis Hamonic on how this is a different team than a year ago.

NYIFC Comments:
What has to be noted here is this sampling begins when MacDonald missed his first game in late October and includes the time before Travis Hamonic was first called up in late Nov.

This means Hamonic and MacDonald were not part of the club when things bottomed out a year ago, they came up or back in December and a few weeks later the club started winning.

Seems like a lot of words based on inexperience, some different forwards, and leadership.

Mark Eaton was an even/plus defender last year during this stretch, who mostly plays at even strength.

This is picked up from where the team lost against Montreal.

October 27th-30th 2010 Games Played 0-3:
Mottau 3
Eaton 3
Wisniewski 3
Martinek 3
Jurcina 2
Hillen 3
Gervais 2
******************************
November 2010: 1-7-3
Eaton 11
Mottau 9-Season ended 11/21/10 with 0-10-3 stretch from October 27th.
Wisniewski 11
Martinek 11
Hillen 5
Gervais 10
Reese 5
Hamonic 2-Season debut 11/24/10 replacing Mottau.
*******************************
December 1st-13th 2010: 0-6-0
Eaton 5-Left lineup 12/13/10 0-5
Gervais 2-Returned 12/9/10
Wisniewski 6
Martinek 4
Hillen 5 Returned 12/3/10
Hamonic 6
Reese 2
MacDonald 6-Returned from October Injury 12/2/2010.
********************************
Dec 16th-31st 6-1-1
Wisniewski 6 Traded 4-1-1
Martinek 3-Returned 12/16/10/Out 12/23/10
Jurcina 7-Returned 12/16/10
Hamonic 8
Hillen 6
MacDonald 8
Eaton 6-Returned 12/22/10
Gervais 4-Returned 12/23/10/Out 12/27/10/Returned 12/29
Reese-1 Returned 12/31/10

Mark Eaton played one more game last season on 1/3/2011.

Conclusion:
Overall I did not see a club a year ago that seemed like it was being outnumbered to this degree in all three zones because collectively it's defense was too old or slow.

The 2010-11 team was terrible at five on five when it fell apart last season, but it's different this year. Last year it was Schremp, Weight, Sim, Hunter, Konopka, it was Okposo being out, Bailey and Comeau being moved around too often, Nielsen not able to score at five on five.

This time the players being counted on and not producing are Bailey, Okposo, Comeau and a forward who had forty points in his final forty games with the Devils a year ago, plus a center who had thirteen goals a year ago in Reasoner.

Wisniewski-Martinek in terms of skating, starting rush are far superior to Streit as long as he's paired with Staios, plus a year off for Streit is a long time. Andrew MacDonald is working back from his surgery, Travis Hamonic is known now around the NHL. Eaton, Motteau missed months without playing.

As for 2010-11, do not forget Dwayne Roloson was putting up a great save percentage, with no winning results into late December before his trade. DiPietro won most of the late December starts.

I see this simply as an issue of too many older, slower defenders doing their absolute best causing the club to be outnumbered all over the ice. NYIFC viewpoint is Tavares, MacDonald and Hamonic are going to be very disappointed because most games it has not been a question of working harder.

No one is going to convince me this defense is not skating as hard as it possibly can.

Garth Snow Has To Make A Move

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The general manager has seen his club play over ten games now, if he cannot see his defense is too old/slow, too mistake prone, and forcing the game to be played in the Isles end of the ice throwing off his forwards ability to fore-check the competitive part of this season will be over very soon.

This team cannot continue to play entire games outnumbered all over the ice because at least three of the defenders dressing are too slow, to go with Rolston, Pandolfo and Reasoner.

Either Garth Snow has to trust his prospects, give them an opportunity or he has to add some speed, skating and skill to his back line from outside the organization. A year ago for over three months it did not matter who dressed on defense, as long as the backline had some skaters to push the puck to the forwards.

The notion this older defense, or some veteran forwards are going to get faster or younger is a non-starter. Nothing Jack Capuano can do short of asking for at least two defenders from Bridgeport is going to help.

Either that or this fifteenth place team will soon be ten points out of the eight seed, and serious questions about Garth Snow's future as general manager need to be asked.

Almost ridiculous Garth Snow came back to the same formula that failed on defense a year ago in Nov and doubled down adding Staios, plus getting slower up front.

I watch these games and always see the opposition skating faster, always with more players around the puck, moving like a unit.

The problem is not Okposo, Bailey or Comeau, the problem is they cannot get passes on the move or with any room to work.

No, I would not trade any of them.

Unlike every other year, this goes directly on management decisions, not injuries.