A Few Good Signs For New York, But No Hiding The Problems

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Updated 1pm:
Grabner will play vs Chicago.

LIBN.com: Reports NYS awarded Nassau/LI 101M, of which apparently none will go toward a new Coliseum unless this is a separate deal.

Some will recall the Association for a Better Long Island led by Kevin Law/Stuart Rabinowicz did not even include the Coliseum it it's request for state funding.

Fear not, Hofstra's Stuart Rabinowicz, will be getting part of two million dollars for his business interest.
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This 5-1 win against Tampa (not the October game) was the best collective sixty minutes this team played all season.

Why? This offense did not beat a struggling goaltender, they beat one (Garon) with the kind of chances the goaltender could not stop who was playing very well.

It's becoming a good habit.

We have seen the Islander offense dominate Winnipeg and lose 3-0, control the play in a 1-0 loss to the Devils, but whether it be Ondrej Pavelec or Johan Hedberg, in those games they did not generate the kind of chances the goalie had no chance to stop or was forced to move in net.

In short, the opposing goaltenders logo got a workout.

There is winning by beating Tomas Vokoun leaking rebounds or bad goals in a win vs what's been happening lately. There is some speed/offense and quality chances coming off transition from defense to offense.

That's what your collective offense has to show the ability to do, we saw that with the work to setup Martin, the passing for Jurcina's goal, the play for Tavares goal, and the excellent vision of Josh Bailey setting up Ullstrom, to go with Matt Moulson dominating.

Tim Wallace was very good.

Reality:
There is no doubt the New York Islanders have finally gotten a little transition going in their game from defense to offense that began as far back as the Flyers game. It's fair to write Tavares is due for a few more goals to go with some of those outstanding passes, now that he has one.

Losing Michael Grabner is huge, that kind of injury could cut into his speed for a long time, and takes away an element teams cannot deal with.

Bottom line to sustain the kind of winning that will be necessary for the club to enter serious playoff contention, a defense with only two even strength goals all season that features Mike Mottau, Dylan Reese, Steve Staios and Milan Jurcina will have to give whoever the starting goaltender is a chance to win games this club scores less than three goals and produce.

The turnovers against Chicago and Dallas were horrible on defense.

There is no hiding this defense or it's flaws, even if Streit and Hamonic log twenty five minutes a game.

That means Al Montoya, if he continues his solid play, has to be great and steal more than a few games. He's proven capable to date.

Reality is if Marty Reasoner is not the answer with his double digit minus totals and lack of speed, it's time for a change. Same with Brian Rolston, who's getting his salary even if he's released.

Rolston worked to setup Bailey in New Jersey, he drove to the net against Buffalo, he cannot get surrounded by two Tampa forwards on a pp because he's not moving as I noticed Tuesday.

It means David Ullstrom cannot pace Jesse Joensuu's past production, he has to take the spot Blake Comeau's departure gave him, and be a visible player every game as Matt Martin is with his own strengths and abilities. It means Kyle Okposo and so many others have to carry this club to at least three goals a game or make the kind of plays that allow less than three goals to produce wins.

Reality is six points behind two teams for the eighth seed that likely has to play at least fourteen games over five hundred starting Thursday to qualify for the 2011-12 playoffs with few regulation losses.

I do not believe this is realistic because of the current defense, however I'm hoping they can prove me wrong.

The good news? It's realistic to continue a conversation about the 2011-12 New York Islanders and playoff contention for the moment.
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Notables:
The Islanders announced a preseason game in Canada next fall.

Niederreiter has a concussion, the player who did it will miss only three games, Pock missed five.
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NYIFC Notables:
A section linking to WJC has been created.

More images of the Dynasty Era/Incredible moments have been added to sidebars that our readers should absolutely love.

I could not find an image of Bob Bourne holding the Stanley Cup, just an image of one of his Stanley Cup rings up for auction long ago. Not the first former player or Islander in that regard, but it's disappointing.

Dramatic Changes For New York

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NHL.com: Reported NHL Board of Governors (owners) approved changes that dramatically alter the conferences and playoff format beginning next season.

NHL.com: Has Commissioner, Gary Bettman's, video press conference.

The new alignment enables the NHL to create a balanced schedule in which all teams will play each other at least twice every season, once at home and once on the road.

The top four teams in each Conference qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The first-place team would play the fourth-place team; the second-place team would play the third-place team. The four respective Conference champions would meet in the third round of the Playoffs, with the remaining two clubs playing for the Stanley Cup.

NYIFC Comments:
Bottom line, instead of competing with fourteen teams for eight playoff spots, the New York Islanders will compete with six teams over four playoff spots.

The NHL has been reduced to four divisions or expanded to four conferences, depending on your viewpoint.

The top four clubs in each conference qualify for the playoffs, that means the New York Islanders could have the second best record in the other Eastern Conference, but if it's not top four in their own conference, no playoffs.

It also means for the entire six month regular season, there is no reason to be concerned with games in terms of playoffs unless it's one of the other six teams in their own conference which is a huge downside.

Carolina and Washington are joining (or rejoining) the New York Islanders conference or division for the 2012-13 season.

It seems like the current Western Conference clubs got robbed blind, sure they will see every team, but a few teams that wanted to be in the East will not be changing primary rivals or conferences, plus for now they have to beat out an additional team in their conference.

Unless Tampa and Florida are playing one another, the closest conference road game is in Buffalo.

The two Western centric conferences have sixteen teams (eight per conference) competing for what will be four playoff spots, while with the Eastern centric clubs, have seven clubs competing over four playoff spots.

Eight teams/four spots x2 conferences vs seven teams/four spots x2 conferences.

Of course, if Phoenix does move East one conference could go from seven to eight.

The idea of a divisional or now smaller conference playoff has never been personally appealing, now these new conference playoffs mean you have to emerge from your conference playoffs (two rounds) before advancing.

My guess is a lot of owners are unhappy with this format, but all will get Crosby and Ovechkin in their building once a year in a revenue driven business.

Remember not long ago the spin was it was more important for natural rivalries and eight divisional games were more important than meaningless games with the West?

Now it seems unless it involves your own seven team division, for the entire regular season until the semi-finals, it means absolutely nothing.

The NHL seemed awful popular with New York vs Los Angeles, Boston, Buffalo and Philadelphia in 1980 come playoff time.
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Comments on Moulson/injuries and recent wins/callups are on twitter, the player who concussed Niederreiter can only get same five games Tomas Pock received for his head shot, who will meet with NHL Tuesday. His own coach said he left his feet to hit Niederreiter's head.

Why is Andrew MacDonald skating and traveling with the team if out 2-4 weeks? No timetable (media could not even get that right claiming out indefinitely) does not sound good for Rick DiPietro, however once the club disclosed a specific injury (groin strain), it has to be accurate per league rules.

In short, it's not a knee injury.

Nice to see management promoting players who are statistically meriting callups, however they need Calvin deHaan (or another defender) for Mike Mottau as soon as Tuesday unless this defense can block 28 shots/allow 30+ and score five/four goals per game.

Sure, Eric Nystrom beat callup Dylan Reese clean for his goal, Reese for his part has one of what is now two even strength (5/5) goals scored by this defense all season.

The teams speed/transition has improved from defense to offense, but they are giving up chances in exchange.

Three games under five hundred means this club must play fifteen games over starting Tuesday to have a realistic chance at the 8th seed. Three wins/four games changed nothing with the current 8th seed/eight points ahead of the Islanders.