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Sorry folks, NHL General Managers by and large are sacred cows, unlike coaches.
Once they are in the job it takes a ton of horrible years/decisions to send them packing. George McPhee, Sather, Bryan Murray, Don Waddell, Bob Clarke, Darcy Regier, so many others.
David Poile in Nashville is considered one of the best in the business, the Predators have done little come playoff time. Boston had to send a draft pick to Ottawa for it's general manager after a league dispute.
It took forever to get Craig Patrick out of Pittsburgh, he did not have stable ownership but his first year out of the lockout pushed the wrong buttons with the high priced veterans, and Ray Shero came in from Nashville.
Many get promoted to the role of President, even some unqualified disasters like John Davidson, or Kevin Lowe, have the media in their corner, win or lose.
Brian Burke moves around a lot, one or two other gm's do also and Burke traded what turned out to be two top picks for Phil Kessel.
Paul Holmgren does what Ed Snider says, whether it be trade players signed after one year to decade plus contracts or front-load for the next one in July.
People like Cliff Fletcher in Toronto even get to play interim gm after Milbury robbed him blind for Jonsson and Brewer or Luongo depending on who you consider the Leafs pick was used for.
Burke does not front-load, so no top players pick Richard Peddie's team, same as Montreal, who can only take Scott Gomez, once the max part of his contract is already paid.
One or two general managers real claim to the job is being former player agents as we saw with Mike Barnett in Phoenix for a while.
As hockey fans we may be frustrated over Garth Snow not being able to front-load contract offers in summer, but most teams cannot front-load either and not able to make those kind of signings.
Overall you have to access the job the general manager does year by year. I cannot blame Garth Snow for the injuries in the previous years, he's made some excellent signings or decisions (Streit, Roloson, Moulson, Grabner and even Schremp for a time) to help the club in free agency, a few decisions were mistakes in resigning Brendan Witt early along with one extra year of Doug Weight/Sim. (even with a two-way contract)
Snow has not publicly stuck out his neck to protect his former coaches, he would not be the first to fail there.
No one wanted to see Trent Hunter leave when his contract was up, Snow handled it perfect and re-signed Hunter at an excellent rate, regardless of the decision not working out in the long run.
Snow has also done a great job locking up his prime players, combined with his extensions to MacDonald/Nielsen.
Brett Hull was a horrible co/gm in Dallas, anyone can throw around money, we have seen general managers over their head in the job from day one.
I do not see that with Garth Snow. Bergenheim got every chance here, as did Tambellini, even if they were Milbury's picks or traded players. Even Jeremy Colliton was qualified, as Jesse Joensuu was.
Absolutely Blake Comeau was played out of position, that goes on the gm.
Bottom line, last summer Snow made some good gambles in Rolston based on his second half production a year ago vs Hunter, same on Reasoner's thirteen vs Konopka's two goals.
It did not work.
Were those gambles any worse on paper as opposed to the ones made by Florida's new gm, Dale Tallon, who grossly overpaid for marginal free agents well passed their prime in most cases, after his drastic mistakes in Chicago, despite winning a Stanley Cup?
Bergenheim got a four year contract after Tampa moved on, he has two more points than Blake Comeau.
Snow was boxed in with returning Eaton, Mottau off injury vs finding a way to move on from them or outright cut them. It was a mistake considering what the defense did without them in the second half, plus resigning Jurcina early.
Obviously doubling down with Steve Staios, giving him the spot with Streit was terrible, as was bringing in a limited fourth line veteran in Pandolfo, who at this time is playing center for the first time in his career.
In the draft Snow/staff's goaltending decisions are not looking good with Koskinen in Europe, the decision on Hamonic outstanding. Still, the draft picks have to step in and supplement his plan here, it's still very early on that front, especially for Josh Bailey.
Matt Martin looks like a player.
James Wisniewski for a third vs resigning Sutton was an excellent gamble, even if it did fail, Sutton got injured his first game in Anaheim, was converted to forward, now he's in Edmonton.
Even if 2011-12 means another head coach losses his job, and the New York Islanders finish at the bottom of the standings this time with no excuses about injuries) Garth Snow should continue as this club's general manager.
Given the injures the previous years, the excellent decisions on many moves, his contract negotiations, it's not even close to the point of considering a change at general manager, sure he needed to make a move (even if from his AHL team) but has not and it does raise fair questions about his performance.
I see no chance Garth Snow goes with another Mike Milbury plan. Based on the things that worked in the second half of last year, this blog agrees completely the pieces are in place.
No folks, teams are not dumping anything but struggling players at this time, it would be nice to see Snow call up Bridgeport and get deHaan, Wishart in here, move on from Rolston, Pandolfo, Mottau and Reasoner so Niederreiter can finally play and give Ullstrom/Rahkshani a serious run of games.
As I wrote a while back a lot of these problems are going to solve themselves after the season.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Blake Comeau On Waivers Is Management's Failure
New York Islander Fan Central | 11/24/2011 02:44:00 PM
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Blake Comeau was one of the players last year, who believed in the direction of this franchise moving forward.
He is a team player, who changed his position whenever asked.
It cost him.
Simply put management's job is to place players in the position they are best able to succeed. Blake Comeau was moved around, he struggled badly in the early parts of his last two seasons before 2011-12.
Before that he lost his job to Nate Thompson.
Now Comeau is on waivers.
In 2009-10, he finished with twenty goals/thirty five points. On Feb 10th 2010, he had six goals and fourteen points, as he was finally kept on left wing.
In 2010-11 he finished with twenty four goals/forty six points. On Jan 5th 2011, he had eight goals, three in the first two games, with seventeen points, again his position was changed early in the season whether it be to play right wing with Tavares or on another line.
The point being he's been moved off the position he has had the bulk of his NHL success when put on left wing and kept there.
Granted Blake Comeau as a prospect was a right wing when drafted, the Isles advertised him as a player who could any of the three forward positions. He was rarely used at center.
Again this year, management tried to make him a right wing to accommodate Brian Rolston.
All this constant changing of positions has contributed to many struggling prime players on this roster to go with the issue of it's defense. Comeau struggled far less than Kyle Okposo since last January.
What's next is Matt Martin (who's time has come to be more than a fourth line player) has been moved off the left wing spot he has played since day one to right wing for David Ullstrom. If that continues it is a mistake, one that apparently caught up with Blake Comeau, a mistake also when Michael Grabner was moved to right wing.
The failure of Blake Comeau this season being placed on waivers goes directly on New York Islander management for not putting him in the situation where he's had the most success.
Blake Comeau was one of the players last year, who believed in the direction of this franchise moving forward.
He is a team player, who changed his position whenever asked.
It cost him.
Simply put management's job is to place players in the position they are best able to succeed. Blake Comeau was moved around, he struggled badly in the early parts of his last two seasons before 2011-12.
Before that he lost his job to Nate Thompson.
Now Comeau is on waivers.
In 2009-10, he finished with twenty goals/thirty five points. On Feb 10th 2010, he had six goals and fourteen points, as he was finally kept on left wing.
In 2010-11 he finished with twenty four goals/forty six points. On Jan 5th 2011, he had eight goals, three in the first two games, with seventeen points, again his position was changed early in the season whether it be to play right wing with Tavares or on another line.
The point being he's been moved off the position he has had the bulk of his NHL success when put on left wing and kept there.
Granted Blake Comeau as a prospect was a right wing when drafted, the Isles advertised him as a player who could any of the three forward positions. He was rarely used at center.
Again this year, management tried to make him a right wing to accommodate Brian Rolston.
All this constant changing of positions has contributed to many struggling prime players on this roster to go with the issue of it's defense. Comeau struggled far less than Kyle Okposo since last January.
What's next is Matt Martin (who's time has come to be more than a fourth line player) has been moved off the left wing spot he has played since day one to right wing for David Ullstrom. If that continues it is a mistake, one that apparently caught up with Blake Comeau, a mistake also when Michael Grabner was moved to right wing.
The failure of Blake Comeau this season being placed on waivers goes directly on New York Islander management for not putting him in the situation where he's had the most success.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Bottom Line The Defense Becomes Faster Or Nothing Will Work
New York Islander Fan Central | 11/23/2011 07:28:00 AM
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I'm not happy Mark Eaton is injured, however I will admit him not being in the lineup is more of a solution to the overall biggest problem this team has.
Speed/transition on defense.
From this blog's perspective that's been the biggest problem with this team from day one.
Mike Mottau turning over the puck going in for Eaton will only make things worse, he's too slow/mistake prone to help anything. Jurcina is at best mediocre for the limited times he is healthy.
Garth Snow and Jack Capuano were here last season, they saw what did not work last season earlier on defense vs what did later on. It practically did not matter who dressed on defense until the very end of the season when they were using players on amateur tryout contracts.
A mobile defense gets to the puck in the defensive end first, it is able to skate the puck out which creates room for the forwards to enter the offensive zone, it gives the forwards room and mobility in the offensive zone and wears down the other team, when the defense can win pucks on the boards.
What we have seen in essence a game of catch, the slower Isles defenders under pressure throw the puck to center ice to the other team, the other other team skates the puck back in and wears down the defense. The forwards are in the middle of this game of catch and always chasing/outnumbered.
The New York Islanders do not need six superstars on the backline.
Streit, MacDonald and Hamonic are all a part of the solution long-term, but two of the other three have to be able to skate/win pucks/start rushes.
In this blogs estimation nothing changes until Wishart, deHaan/injured, Reese or another defender who can skate enters this mix, replacing Mottau, Staios and Jurcina.
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Calling up Michael Haley for no scoring, a few body checks and an occasional fight by appointment in a fourth line role solves absolutely nothing in the big picture, even if he goes in for Jay Pandolfo which should be the only player he can be recalled for unless Niederreiter is going back to juniors.
Is the plan to change another forwards position, keep Comeau in the stands or move Matt Martin around until he becomes as ineffective as Bailey, Comeau?
Or is Kyle Okposo or Josh Bailey heading back to the stands?
Bottom line Matt Martin is a left wing, Ullstrom has been used this year in Bridgeport as a left wing and has done very well. Matt Moulson is a left wing.
Grabner and Comeau need to be left wingers.
Comeau again had his position changed from left wing, Grabner also now plays on Tavares line as a right winger, the results have been terrible and not in either players best interest.
As easy as it is to blame Brian Rolston for this, management let him play left wing, and for many years Blake Comeau has allowed management to change his position.
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So the Flyers come in off some losses and desperate to beat a team they have owned for years. Mottau, Staios, Jurcina and an offense with no goals in two games have to defend and get the puck to the Islander forwards?
Marty Reasoner looks as done as Mike York did when he was here, I guess we discovered why the Florida Panthers let him go with his thirteen goals at a time they needed to sign half the league to fill out a roster.
I cannot blame Garth Snow for taking that gamble, he had thirteen goals on a club that had a horrible fourth line plus/minus that lost over thirty games by two goals or less a year ago. Same as I cannot blame Snow for bringing in Rolston with a forty point second half a year ago.
As for Wednesday there is the issue of picking a goaltender, who's going to have to be perfect out of Nilsson, DiPietro and Montoya, who's been practicing for a week like he's close.
Six points (four games in hand) behind fourteenth place Carolina, eight points (one game in hand behind eighth seed Washington.
They cannot fall behind any further, either this team starts winning right now, or it's another fifty five game preseason the rest of the way.
This is why so many blog entries have been done here, it's now or never.
I'm not happy Mark Eaton is injured, however I will admit him not being in the lineup is more of a solution to the overall biggest problem this team has.
Speed/transition on defense.
From this blog's perspective that's been the biggest problem with this team from day one.
Mike Mottau turning over the puck going in for Eaton will only make things worse, he's too slow/mistake prone to help anything. Jurcina is at best mediocre for the limited times he is healthy.
Garth Snow and Jack Capuano were here last season, they saw what did not work last season earlier on defense vs what did later on. It practically did not matter who dressed on defense until the very end of the season when they were using players on amateur tryout contracts.
A mobile defense gets to the puck in the defensive end first, it is able to skate the puck out which creates room for the forwards to enter the offensive zone, it gives the forwards room and mobility in the offensive zone and wears down the other team, when the defense can win pucks on the boards.
What we have seen in essence a game of catch, the slower Isles defenders under pressure throw the puck to center ice to the other team, the other other team skates the puck back in and wears down the defense. The forwards are in the middle of this game of catch and always chasing/outnumbered.
The New York Islanders do not need six superstars on the backline.
Streit, MacDonald and Hamonic are all a part of the solution long-term, but two of the other three have to be able to skate/win pucks/start rushes.
In this blogs estimation nothing changes until Wishart, deHaan/injured, Reese or another defender who can skate enters this mix, replacing Mottau, Staios and Jurcina.
************************************
Calling up Michael Haley for no scoring, a few body checks and an occasional fight by appointment in a fourth line role solves absolutely nothing in the big picture, even if he goes in for Jay Pandolfo which should be the only player he can be recalled for unless Niederreiter is going back to juniors.
Is the plan to change another forwards position, keep Comeau in the stands or move Matt Martin around until he becomes as ineffective as Bailey, Comeau?
Or is Kyle Okposo or Josh Bailey heading back to the stands?
Bottom line Matt Martin is a left wing, Ullstrom has been used this year in Bridgeport as a left wing and has done very well. Matt Moulson is a left wing.
Grabner and Comeau need to be left wingers.
Comeau again had his position changed from left wing, Grabner also now plays on Tavares line as a right winger, the results have been terrible and not in either players best interest.
As easy as it is to blame Brian Rolston for this, management let him play left wing, and for many years Blake Comeau has allowed management to change his position.
****************************
So the Flyers come in off some losses and desperate to beat a team they have owned for years. Mottau, Staios, Jurcina and an offense with no goals in two games have to defend and get the puck to the Islander forwards?
Marty Reasoner looks as done as Mike York did when he was here, I guess we discovered why the Florida Panthers let him go with his thirteen goals at a time they needed to sign half the league to fill out a roster.
I cannot blame Garth Snow for taking that gamble, he had thirteen goals on a club that had a horrible fourth line plus/minus that lost over thirty games by two goals or less a year ago. Same as I cannot blame Snow for bringing in Rolston with a forty point second half a year ago.
As for Wednesday there is the issue of picking a goaltender, who's going to have to be perfect out of Nilsson, DiPietro and Montoya, who's been practicing for a week like he's close.
Six points (four games in hand) behind fourteenth place Carolina, eight points (one game in hand behind eighth seed Washington.
They cannot fall behind any further, either this team starts winning right now, or it's another fifty five game preseason the rest of the way.
This is why so many blog entries have been done here, it's now or never.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Too Many Words, Passengers/No Identity For New York
New York Islander Fan Central | 11/22/2011 07:27:00 AM
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So is Garth Snow giddy or gushing on this day about his team moving forward?
Last year for well over three months, this was a very tough team to play against, the young talent resigned here and bought into what worked as this club won or played well against most/all of the top teams.
This is not taking a step back to move forward, not even close.
Something changed from last season to this. One look at the defense is a good place to start.
Jack Capuano went back to his forward lines from last season as much as possible and the New York Islanders were shutout again. MacDonald and Hamonic were both minus three and had little help.
As I have been writing since the opener, no words fix players over-matched losing too many battles for pucks. It's only going to get worse now because everything has been tried, the frustration is obvious and you can see it in Tavares, Streit and many others faces.
Benching Comeau/Okposo was never going to be any kind of answer.
Bush league for Dan Bylsma to take a timeout up 5-0 late in a game, or run out Crosby again in the final minute. Not that the Islanders can put out a forward or defender to respond with a fight.
This was a Penguins team that just lost to both Florida and Tampa Bay, who recently lost to Carolina, the Isles arguably played better than they did in the shootout point they had vs Pittsburgh earlier.
Pittsburgh did not even play very well Monday night, the game opened 8-1 in shots for the Islanders (besides the Pens crossbar in the opening seconds) then Jay Pandolfo/Marty Reasoner watched Crosby fly past him at center ice on the opening goal with MacDonald getting beaten badly on the finish. Nilsson's reaction to the second goal watching him whiff with his blocker on a high point shot reflects a bad goal.
Of course, that was after Reasoner and Pandolfo got beaten again at the point, or Pandolfo took out Jurcina on the 3-0 goal.
As usual a lot of words from the players, they had a few quality chances and Fluery had to play well for his shutout, but hardly great to win.
Still the game looked like a mismatch beyond mostly individual efforts. Ullstrom played well, but if it moved Matt Martin to right wing that's not in Martin's best interest or the teams and a bad decision. Jurcina/Martin took the body a few times with Hamonic.
Rolston had his usual low percentage shots from bad angles, Grabner had some good chances as did Streit, but as usual this team lost far too many battles all over the ice, especially in the defensive zone as the usual suspects got picked apart.
Anders Nilsson made some good saves, but he still let in two goals he cannot allow.
I found it interesting once Eaton got hurt and they were down to five defenders, the Isles started skating better and drew some powerplays. Not sure if this was the scoreboard, or the game having been decided, or having three defenders who could skate out of five as opposed to six?
Eaton's sprained MCL means Mike Mottau plays which makes the problem even worse.
Bottom line:
Ten points out of eight place, the club has not had a winning effort against a team playing well all season, they have two wins since October 15th and have looked as lost as they did on opening night unless the opposing goaltender struggles.
This club looks more lost than they did last season with one regulation win in eighteen games. The potential is absolutely there to be the second worst New York Islander team ever with fifty point or less potential.
It's not working, it's not going to work, nor is trading Bailey or Okposo revisiting the Milbury plan any answer.
I still see the Colorado Avalanche down 3-0, call timeout and a player screaming at his team like he knew the Islanders were holding on and fragile.
He was right, Colorado has one win since playing the Islanders.
Answers?
If management feels Jack Capuano is contributing to the problem, or that the team is not playing to it's potential, he will likely be fired. I do not believe a coaching change fixes anything.
There are no answers beyond going back to what worked last season as much as possible, getting younger, bigger and faster on defense and at forward. Teams are not offering talent playing well so forget the trade market.
That means you send/keep Pandolfo, Rolston, Reasoner, Staios, Mottau, Jurcina, on the sidelines as much as possible and start replacing them. If you are going to lose, go down with the best possible lineup to develop moving forward.
If Wishart, Reese, Donovan/Ness or even Anton Klementyev have to come up here to make this defense faster to start a rush so be it, even if they get beaten they can skate.
So is Garth Snow giddy or gushing on this day about his team moving forward?
Last year for well over three months, this was a very tough team to play against, the young talent resigned here and bought into what worked as this club won or played well against most/all of the top teams.
This is not taking a step back to move forward, not even close.
Something changed from last season to this. One look at the defense is a good place to start.
Jack Capuano went back to his forward lines from last season as much as possible and the New York Islanders were shutout again. MacDonald and Hamonic were both minus three and had little help.
As I have been writing since the opener, no words fix players over-matched losing too many battles for pucks. It's only going to get worse now because everything has been tried, the frustration is obvious and you can see it in Tavares, Streit and many others faces.
Benching Comeau/Okposo was never going to be any kind of answer.
Bush league for Dan Bylsma to take a timeout up 5-0 late in a game, or run out Crosby again in the final minute. Not that the Islanders can put out a forward or defender to respond with a fight.
This was a Penguins team that just lost to both Florida and Tampa Bay, who recently lost to Carolina, the Isles arguably played better than they did in the shootout point they had vs Pittsburgh earlier.
Pittsburgh did not even play very well Monday night, the game opened 8-1 in shots for the Islanders (besides the Pens crossbar in the opening seconds) then Jay Pandolfo/Marty Reasoner watched Crosby fly past him at center ice on the opening goal with MacDonald getting beaten badly on the finish. Nilsson's reaction to the second goal watching him whiff with his blocker on a high point shot reflects a bad goal.
Of course, that was after Reasoner and Pandolfo got beaten again at the point, or Pandolfo took out Jurcina on the 3-0 goal.
As usual a lot of words from the players, they had a few quality chances and Fluery had to play well for his shutout, but hardly great to win.
Still the game looked like a mismatch beyond mostly individual efforts. Ullstrom played well, but if it moved Matt Martin to right wing that's not in Martin's best interest or the teams and a bad decision. Jurcina/Martin took the body a few times with Hamonic.
Rolston had his usual low percentage shots from bad angles, Grabner had some good chances as did Streit, but as usual this team lost far too many battles all over the ice, especially in the defensive zone as the usual suspects got picked apart.
Anders Nilsson made some good saves, but he still let in two goals he cannot allow.
I found it interesting once Eaton got hurt and they were down to five defenders, the Isles started skating better and drew some powerplays. Not sure if this was the scoreboard, or the game having been decided, or having three defenders who could skate out of five as opposed to six?
Eaton's sprained MCL means Mike Mottau plays which makes the problem even worse.
Bottom line:
Ten points out of eight place, the club has not had a winning effort against a team playing well all season, they have two wins since October 15th and have looked as lost as they did on opening night unless the opposing goaltender struggles.
This club looks more lost than they did last season with one regulation win in eighteen games. The potential is absolutely there to be the second worst New York Islander team ever with fifty point or less potential.
It's not working, it's not going to work, nor is trading Bailey or Okposo revisiting the Milbury plan any answer.
I still see the Colorado Avalanche down 3-0, call timeout and a player screaming at his team like he knew the Islanders were holding on and fragile.
He was right, Colorado has one win since playing the Islanders.
Answers?
If management feels Jack Capuano is contributing to the problem, or that the team is not playing to it's potential, he will likely be fired. I do not believe a coaching change fixes anything.
There are no answers beyond going back to what worked last season as much as possible, getting younger, bigger and faster on defense and at forward. Teams are not offering talent playing well so forget the trade market.
That means you send/keep Pandolfo, Rolston, Reasoner, Staios, Mottau, Jurcina, on the sidelines as much as possible and start replacing them. If you are going to lose, go down with the best possible lineup to develop moving forward.
If Wishart, Reese, Donovan/Ness or even Anton Klementyev have to come up here to make this defense faster to start a rush so be it, even if they get beaten they can skate.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
For New York It's Not About One Game But An Entire Season
New York Islander Fan Central | 11/20/2011 06:43:00 AM
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In the context of one game, losing 6-0 or worse happens to a lot of teams in this league. The scoreboard around the NHL Saturday night reflects this.
However this is not about one game.
This is about an entire season starting with opening night, where the New York Islanders have been outnumbered and over-matched virtually every single game, unless the opposition has a poor performance.
Outnumbered, outplayed, out-skated. Too slow, small, old and not physical enough.
This blog has been writing about it since opening night.
Jack Capuano kept talking about the second half of last season in his press conference last night, what he did not seem to understand is his defense is much older and slower, plus the forwards added threw off the chemistry of what worked so well last season in the second half.
The NHL head coach is not experienced in NHL veteran players past their prime, with this kind of mileage struggling. The AHL you can always find someone else younger and hungry with some skill on a PTO.
As for Saturday night, Boston's defense took the puck quickly and their transition in all three zones made the Isles look like an AHL team. Staios got caught pinching on the opening goal, Eaton, Jurcina were disasters waiting to happen all night with mistakes. Streit was a minus five, and far too often Reasoner and so many others were slow to read or react. Hamonic and MacDonald got picked apart.
I cannot blame Streit on the first goal, he took his man to the corner, dove with his stick out and gave the Bruin forward little but a bad angle centering pass, Niederreiter was unsure where to go, Reasoner was to slow to get back and cover two players, 1-0 on a slam dunk goal DiPietro had no chance on.
Offense? Are you kidding?
It was almost sad seeing Frans Nielsen (or other Islander forwards) trying to get past three or four defenders on a rush, the new rules likely saved him from injury.
It was the same thing we saw against Washington when Nielsen actually scored, and what we see most games.
Outside of some descent work from Martin, Bailey and Pandolfo, this team showed absolutely nothing. Boston simply exploited the Isles better, but not much different than Florida on opening night, and most other teams this season.
The Islanders best offensive moments were short-handed.
What would you have me write about Rick DiPietro? They lost 6-0, his turnover cost them one goal, he had little help on the others as did Anders Nilsson.
Boston is a very good team, they just got past Columbus 2-1, but this is not about any opposition or how they played.
It's about the New York Islanders and largely a defense (with some forwards) that are simply too old, small, slow and over-matched.
Jack Capuano is correct, the rest is all words.
The Tributes to Ed Westfall were moved down the page, the ceremony was outstanding as was Jiggs McDonald, and their second period play by play.
In the context of one game, losing 6-0 or worse happens to a lot of teams in this league. The scoreboard around the NHL Saturday night reflects this.
However this is not about one game.
This is about an entire season starting with opening night, where the New York Islanders have been outnumbered and over-matched virtually every single game, unless the opposition has a poor performance.
Outnumbered, outplayed, out-skated. Too slow, small, old and not physical enough.
This blog has been writing about it since opening night.
Jack Capuano kept talking about the second half of last season in his press conference last night, what he did not seem to understand is his defense is much older and slower, plus the forwards added threw off the chemistry of what worked so well last season in the second half.
The NHL head coach is not experienced in NHL veteran players past their prime, with this kind of mileage struggling. The AHL you can always find someone else younger and hungry with some skill on a PTO.
As for Saturday night, Boston's defense took the puck quickly and their transition in all three zones made the Isles look like an AHL team. Staios got caught pinching on the opening goal, Eaton, Jurcina were disasters waiting to happen all night with mistakes. Streit was a minus five, and far too often Reasoner and so many others were slow to read or react. Hamonic and MacDonald got picked apart.
I cannot blame Streit on the first goal, he took his man to the corner, dove with his stick out and gave the Bruin forward little but a bad angle centering pass, Niederreiter was unsure where to go, Reasoner was to slow to get back and cover two players, 1-0 on a slam dunk goal DiPietro had no chance on.
Offense? Are you kidding?
It was almost sad seeing Frans Nielsen (or other Islander forwards) trying to get past three or four defenders on a rush, the new rules likely saved him from injury.
It was the same thing we saw against Washington when Nielsen actually scored, and what we see most games.
Outside of some descent work from Martin, Bailey and Pandolfo, this team showed absolutely nothing. Boston simply exploited the Isles better, but not much different than Florida on opening night, and most other teams this season.
The Islanders best offensive moments were short-handed.
What would you have me write about Rick DiPietro? They lost 6-0, his turnover cost them one goal, he had little help on the others as did Anders Nilsson.
Boston is a very good team, they just got past Columbus 2-1, but this is not about any opposition or how they played.
It's about the New York Islanders and largely a defense (with some forwards) that are simply too old, small, slow and over-matched.
Jack Capuano is correct, the rest is all words.
The Tributes to Ed Westfall were moved down the page, the ceremony was outstanding as was Jiggs McDonald, and their second period play by play.
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