New York 3, Montreal 2 Shootout

No one wishes to be negative all the time.

I remember in the great old days the Isles would struggle for a bunch of games, then win, and Al Arbour would unload on them.

The New York Islanders won a skills contest and will be credited with a win.

When teams win/lose shootouts, it seems many of the games are written up like the club that won/lost was great/terrible.

Some good things happened for New York in this game. MacDonald's defensive efforts were special, Streit's pp goal (Moulson pick notwithstanding), some efforts by Ullstrom, one hit by Jurcina to spring a rush.

Hamonic just would not quit on any play, Streit also.

Still the biggest takeaway for NYIFC watching this game was how a Montreal team that played the night before (poorly by their own account) outhit/out-skated New York in the third period, and for a good part of the game overall despite the Isles strong second period.

This is the 14th place team, coming off a poor effort, playing the night before, starting it's backup.

Granted any team can beat another on any given day in this league.

Montoya looked unplayable early and got lucky the first shot that got through his pads went wide, he did not see some shots late either, but he hung in and got better as the game wore on. I believe that's the first shootout win he's posted here.

Don't ask me why David Ullstrom was on right wing and Bailey was on left wing. For the good chances Reasoner did generate, he should sit for Tavares, Bailey, Nielsen, Cizikas down the middle until there is an injury/same for Pandolfo.

I liked what I saw from Niederreiter, so much that I'm wondering why not give him some shifts with Tavares? Okposo was trying to play physical, the fastest he moved all night was when someone hit Streit after a whistle and Okposo threw a punch which was great.

Okposo's missed open net early, his marginal penalty, not so good.

What was Grabner doing in overtime with that pass back in his own end around the boards that looked like a Montreal forward dump-in? Was hoping to see some speed after he looked quick on some rushes against Philadelphia.

The club has something to feel good about for a few days.
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I guess Jack Capuano did not know in the ten minute postgame, Peter Ruttgaizer, was asking about how the Isles defense played during the late/ot penalty kill? Capuano started taking about the Canadians skill?

Mr Ruttgaizer did not seem to understand the Bell Center has never been the home to a Montreal Canadians championship as he went on about the rich history in the building.

For New York The Problem Begins On Defense

If your team defense cannot score, is not very fast or physical, that's a disadvantage at both ends of the ice and in transition.

It throws off your entire club. The Isles are not a big team up front that are going to dominate the corners to buy the defense more time to join the play.

It's all a big part of the 2011-12 New York Islander story.

Dylan Reese went from the stands to playing with Mark Streit, that says a great deal about the depth or lack thereof.

Best part of the game on Thursday was watching Andrew MacDonald attempt to play some physical hockey, but that's not enough. Travis Hamonic cannot be that player at this point in his career much less wearing a cage.

Mark Streit's beautiful effort to find Tavares for the 3-2 goal was also not enough on one of the lowest scoring defenses in the NHL.

Streit's looked like he's played two seasons with all the pressure on him every game, which is why signing Steve Staios was such a mistake because teams key on Streit.

Bottom line this team needs some major changes to it's defense which obviously begins with Jurcina, Eaton and Staios because they solve none of those flaws on this backline.

No, it's not their fault, they have played exactly as their career trends would suggest (beyond injuries) as did Mike Mottau.

Obviously the UFA market will only have inconsistent players with a lot of downside available which is why they are on the market. The one or two top defenders available will be front-loaded contract defenders where again even a James Wisniewski will be offered more than Tavares and likely are not going to be available to this team.

In short, the prospects will provide some answers, not all.

That's where Garth Snow comes in.

29 other clubs want the same upgrades on defense so the price in the trade market will be extremely high.
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Flyer game:
Jack Capuano for as flawed as his team can play at times should feel some pressure watching John Tavares diagramming a play after him.

His team played a ten minute game.

Capuano was correct in his twenty second post-game, the Isles did dominate the early minutes and skate well, but for all that they generated virtually no scoring chances. As soon as Nabokov gave up the opening goal the club did little until Grabner's goal.

Streit, Capuano and many were correct in the post-game, there is no excuse to play a ten minute game, this also goes on the coach.

The Flyers came in red-hot off three shutouts in a row, having written that they did not have to play very hard after they got the lead and it showed.
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Jay Pandolfo was nominated for the Masterson.

Total Support For Charles Wang

As far as New York Islander Fan Central is concerned, Charles Wang has done an excellent job as New York Islander owner and has our total support.

This blog does no favors, it pulls no punches. If Mr Wang did not do his job, he would receive nothing but criticism here.

Mr Wang's proven his loyalty time and again, our fans need to remember that regardless of the clubs record on the ice, the final score of any game or the standings at the end of the 2011-12 season.

Too many folks either get too upset after games about the owner not willing to spend when that's all he's done since the day he bought this team and saved the one in Bridgeport where before Charles Wang this club had no home AHL affiliate or new building.

Free Agency:
No, Charles Wang likely will not front-load, most owners cannot/will-not.

That means on 7/1/2012, Zach Parise is not getting ten-twenty million dollars upfront from Charles Wang, which will have nothing to do with age of the Coliseum, Cablevision Garden, or Maple Leaf Gardens if we were back in the 1990's.

If folks believe with the CBA ending a top UFA player is signing a contract where he could lose twenty four percent by the time Donald Fehr/Bettman are done is not being realistic or acknowledging history.

History:
Charles Wang was spending 45m dollars before there even was a salary floor, he was so close to a salary floor his gm could move Wisniewski/Rolson's 4.5m in salary in Dec 2010 for a player (Wishart) who went directly to Bridgeport.

What's been reported via speculation, sources, gossip or the self-serving folks who are only interested in pageviews/themselves simply is unfair and not reflective of the facts.

Those facts include nothing but praise from many former players (Peca, Osgood, Jonsson, Yashin) and current players who took his money when they had options, who simply could have ripped Charles Wang faster than Michael Peca ripped Edmonton.

For those who recall what did Trent Hunter say about Charles Wang after he was traded and about to be bought out by New Jersey just before 8/1?

Hunter said he was the only one here longer than Charles Wang, and that he really deserved the referendum be approved after all he's done.

That was only reported in Newark paper, not Dolan's paper.

12/7/2010 NYIFC had one of it's many entries supportive of Mr Wang citing many of the reasons we have written countless times, however we did address the future at that time with the following:

The true judgment of Wang's future commitment will come based upon how he pays the players who are part of Garth Snow's long-term plan.

John Tavares-Signed
Kyle Okposo-Signed
Michael Grabner-Signed
Josh Bailey-Signed
Nino Niederreiter-Signed
Ryan Strome-Signed
Kirill Kabanov-Signed
Calvin deHaan-Signed
Aaron Ness-Signed
Matt Donovan-Signed
Frans Nielsen-Signed
Poulin-Nilsson-Koskinen-Signed

Looking back, Charles Wang did his job and more, every player key to Snow's plan was signed, many long term.

Reality Check:
No contract has been signed with any top prospect to our knowledge that is different from another standard ELC. Other teams in this CBA era have signed veteran tryout players in camp to incentive laden deals.

Last Summer:
This blog is no fan of Steve Staios, Jay Pandolfo. Our entries made clear several times last summer returning Eaton, Mottau and Jurcina with this mix had the makings for a disaster on the backline.

The same could be written in retrospect about Rolston/Reasoner, but at the time both were good statistical gambles based on Rolston's second half with New Jersey vs Trent Hunter or Reasoner's thirteen goals vs Zenon Konopka.

I do not see any of these choices as Charles Wang's failure.

This blog had no problem with a contract limit for Christian Ehrhoff (as did Vancouver) which turned out to be a huge overpayment by Buffalo in a UFA defender market where James Wisniewski was signed for more than John Tavares.

For those with recall what happened with Tomas Kaberle? He was such a bad signing by Carolina, Jim Rutherford even spoke out about his mistake.

That was the defenders UFA market last summer, it will be again in July 2012 with even Andy Sutton being resigned early beyond what's going on with Nashville's defense.

Yes, if Hal Gill or Roman Hamrlik replace Steve Staios, what's changing, however that's most of the market soon after 7/1.

Overall:
Charles Wang has owned this team for over a decade, he's the only owner anywhere in New York/New Jersey who has not gotten a new arena or some kind of taxpayer assistance.

Tenant Wang continues to renovate his landlords building.

Mr Wang has no media to tell his side, he's done enough talking and this is not reality television as many other local owners never speak.

Mr Wang/Mr Rechler reportedly lost twenty million, they did over two hundred meetings on the Lighthouse Project.

NYIFC did plenty of entries per-referendum, knowing it likely would not be approved, our blog saw that process as an insult to begin with vs politicians willing to lock the doors and do a deal.

We did entries before last May when it was announced making it clear it now comes down to the taxpayers.

We also wrote about the media who got selective amnesia on every other local team getting taxpayer assistance for their new facilities in NYC papers, who were too cheap to pay a writer to cover hockey games all season, but had no problem paying staff to write that Charles Wang should be the only New York team owner who should pay himself.

Wang last summer for his part made clear he was not going to construct or pay for an arena, nor was he interested in real-estate. What he was willing to do was sign an Smg-like deal where a percentage of his rent/revenue would go to Nassau County in a facility he would manage/operate.

Islanders Senior VP, Michael Picker, said nothing's changed on 2/14/2012 when he met with Nassau County legislature.

Wang for his part every single time has successfully placed the focus back on hockey, he has not threatened like Darryl Katz in Edmonton, he has not allowed this to become what's overshadowed Phoenix.

What got no ink anywhere (besides teams website) was again Charles Wang hosting kids locally and around the world for the Lighthouse Tournament for a week at his own expense. Nassau County/Ed Mangano had no comment on this because they were hosting the New Jersey Giants.

Moving Forward:
Charles Wang has nothing left to prove for New York Islander Fan Central regardless what he ultimately decides on players or the clubs future.

The church he said in 2003 would not remain open forever has remained with nothing but aggravation/loss for his effort.

Whether the players who are pending UFA take his general managers contract offers or not, they have made clear they like being here which is an endorsement of this ownership/management.

Most of the forward spots seem filled for 2012-13, some defenders should be ready to play at this level with Hamonic, MacDonald and Mark Streit.

The thought of Nabokov a year ago, a player who's contract was tolled which cost him millions negotiating to re-sign here after being forced to be here says everything about this clubs management.

Our readers know where New York Islander Fan Central stands on this subject, Mr Wang's earned our total support.

Outnumbered In Standings & Around Puck

From the entries after the first games back in October, to 12/27/11: New York A Limited/Mediocre Team there is little new left to write.

New York easily could have had four points this weekend, forget that.

This is about how you play a sixty minute game, how the New York Islanders respond when the pressure is on them.

Whether this be Saturday's terrible loss, Nabokov forced to make an incredible save in Boston to preserve a win, it all comes back to the same trends that have defined the 2011-12 season.

The takeaway from both weekend games was watching this team outnumbered around the puck, dominated for large stretches of both games.

I don't care that the Isles led 1-0 until the final two minutes on Saturday, or that Anders Nilsson for as well as he played gave up a poor goal to tie the game.

Virtually every battle along on the boards or every rush the Devils would have three players against two, or two players against one competing for the puck.

Or like most games this season another team would have a box of four players moving faster as a unit, against fewer Islanders, to say nothing of the size/physical differential some clubs present.

The Isles got their odd-man chances when the Devils turned over the puck or made their own mistakes, Niederreiter, Moulson, Haley could have scored, but little sustained pressure was what stood out the most.

Watch Tavares goal against the Devils, he got inside a circle of five players, leading up to it Okposo was outnumbered on the wall but puck got to Moulson.

No, the Devils were not very good either. If Hedberg is not sharp the Isles win going away, but again the Devils had the extra man in the play and that's why they dictated play.

The story was generally the same on Sunday besides being the latest team playing the night before (since 2/12) heading to the Cablevision Garden for another chess match with the Ranger defensive system as they have their own obvious struggles.

If another shot bounced past their goaltender in regulation or overtime, what's improving when your team is chasing the puck or outnumbered for large parts of another game?

Brad Richards has been terrible for them, he's slow, easy to defend, and still he went up the middle and the Isles backed off, plus they allowed him a pp goal on a shot not much better than Brian Rolston has elected to take from the outside.

Bottom line the New York Islanders have had worse weekends for sure this season, they did compete hard in both games and could have won both, but the story is the same since opening night against Florida as the peripheral names change, but the pace of most games do not.

-46 rating, with the most blocked shots in the NHL with goaltending that for the most part has been very good most games.

The numbers are not there, around the puck or in the standings.
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Owen SoundSun Times: Mike Halmo explains why the New York Islanders were his choice among several interested NHL organizations.

"There were some other teams in the mix and it just came down to the best opportunity for me to play NHL hockey," said Halmo.

"My family and and my agent and myself looked at all my options. The Islanders are a great organization to go to."