New York Advances

New York Islander Fan Central | 4/25/2016 04:15:00 PM |
NYIFC Comments: Thrilled for our fans, players, team/management, but only the beginning, and not the goal which is the Stanley Cup that generations of our fans became very used to. The work only becomes harder from here, this will not be enough to beat the defending Eastern Conference champion, Tampa Bay Lightning unless the unexpected from Hickey, Quine, Greiss and many others continue. Florida was outstanding.

New York Signs Devon Toews 3 Year ELC

New York Islander Fan Central | 4/15/2016 12:49:00 PM |

New York vs Florida/And Beyond..

New York Islander Fan Central | 4/10/2016 11:29:00 PM |

NYIFC Comments:
35 games/69 days. 12/14 on road. (for a team that limped to nine over since opening night)
One day in a month to sleep at home.
No three day break since all star break.
Worst schedule in division by a mile/players breaking down.
19 over last season/18 over this time. 101 points vs 100.
Philadelphia came all the way back or playoff spot a formality days earlier.
The playoff cut off went from 17 over to 14 over since last year=gap closed in division.

At some point the ugly games this team has played will beat them with injuries which now include Lee, who was a huge reason they won down the stretch. Greiss beside Ranger game looks very beatable. Who knows what Hamonic or Halak do if they return? This is Grabovski's 5th concussion in two seasons, do not expect him to continue this season, perhaps ever?

I gave the Panthers a lot of justified praise last season before they got Jagr, and former assistant here Gerard Gallant is a really good coach for that team. My instincts tell me  the Panthers domination in both games at Barclay's was no fluke, (besides Islanders comeback win) and this could be a short series because the Islanders do not play many sixty minute games where they outwork other teams, while Florida is relentless with a level the Islanders have  rarely risen to all season.

Luongo lost his job in Vancouver because he imploded under pressure, he's never played in a playoff game for Florida ever, but he's the best goaltender entering this series.

For the Florida Panthers their biggest problem is becoming the Florida Jagr's. They look a little more beatable since the trade deadline, and Jagr/defense are two words that are weakness for them.
 
Having written all this in the end if the Islanders cannot beat Florida now there will/should be big changes beyond UFA regardless.

We all know the worst media in North America for any professional sports team (mostly tied to Dolan's outlets) could drop anything from Barclays, lease, players, ownership, Coliseum at any time to create a distraction.

We all know/want New York to advance, they have kept finding ways to win very ugly all season.  (which includes the players/coach unhappy after many games/wins) Capuano naming player names to media worked for the scoreboard, not sure if it helped Bailey, Nelson, Strome?

It's April 10th, we have a playoff series, now we'll find out what the New York Islanders can do with it. 

Anders Lee Out Indefinitely

New York Islander Fan Central | 4/08/2016 10:01:00 AM |

NYIFC Comments:  
This will be the final update of this nature here. Seems for the last two years many of Lee's goals were the difference between winning and getting a game into overtime late. It was very noticeable the club improved recently when he started scoring. The grind of games has taken a toll even if this came off a shot from an Islander player.

NEW YORK CLINCHES A PLAYOFF SPOT !!

New York Islander Fan Central | 4/05/2016 10:58:00 PM |
Win or lose, always proud of the New York Islanders. They gave it all they had the last two days against excellent teams.

It's been a long, tough season with a terrible schedule, worst I have ever seen in the second half.  Somehow they found the ugliest ways to win with so many players struggling as the injuries continue.  It's a shock to me they qualified but again here we are, and I'm thrilled.

The players responded to Capuano, it says a lot about management, even if I want a change.

Being a fan of this team it goes beyond the final record always.

Now we see what the last days of this schedule brings.

This is no longer a league of 16/21 teams qualifying, it's an excellent accomplishment to make the playoffs.  

New York will return to the playoffs. Christopher Gibson won his first NHL game.

Capuano Off Character Comments Reflect Pressure On Him/Team

New York Islander Fan Central | 4/04/2016 07:02:00 PM | |
“I’ve always respected what you guys do,” he said after a practice in suburban Dallas last week, before the team’s two most recent losses in a 1-4-2 slump. “There are times where I probably could boil over, but I don’t. There are times I could call out certain players, but I don’t. “To me it’s about the team. It’s not about what everybody thinks and everybody writes. I don’t really listen to what outside people have to say.”

Jack Capuano- 3/22/16 On media.....

And now he did call out certain players. 
What can I write? Obviously the coach going to the barely fringe media calling out players by name reflects a man feeling the pressure or having a very bad day. NHL coaches call out struggling players by name almost daily in this league but we know with no friendly home media it does not work that way for the New York Islanders.

Capuano Postgame vs Tampa.....
 "Since I've been here I've never singled guys out," Capuano said. "The only reason I singled them out is because I care about them. I care about them as people and I care about them as hockey players, and we have to do something to ignite them. We won the hockey game tonight. They know the areas they need to get better and at the end of the day we win or lose as a team and it was a good team win tonight."

Brock Nelson Postgame vs Tampa.......
"Nothing is fair," Nelson said regarding Capuano's pre-game comments. "It is what it is. You go out and play. I don't think you can ever be too complacent in this League, but I thought it's been a pretty good year so far, so you just keep going. "We had a little bit more jump. I think we were pretty decisive in our decision making. I thought we did a good job of attacking."

NYIFC Comments:
Everyone knows where I stand. It's a miracle they went from nine over to seventeen over playing 12/14 on road with the least days off of any team by a mile. Every game someone not expected to score (Hickey, Cizikas, Clutterbuck) found a way to to earn very ugly points, and they went 6-1 on one trip to move into a playoff spot.

They faced some goalies who struggled badly to even reach nine over, the Islanders pk/goaltending and defense in third improved. (intangibles)

I did not even expect a five hundred record given schedule/lack of days off playing 12/14 with no day at home. I expected a team coming out of that stretch 6-10 points out of a playoff spot.

Having written that, here we are. If not for the Flyers/someone's surge (as expected) they are already in a playoff spot.

As written many times this kind of schedule produces injuries (any schedule could) now they have to do it without their #1 goalie/Hamonic + Grabovski x 3 for openers.

Add Calvin deHaan injury number 3 to that list. 

That could get worse the final week again with no real time off. 

I don't see winning much from them ahead given injuries or constant games as competition improves, but we get our answer by 4/10/16 the latest one way or another.

One thing for sure is if the coach is acting out of character, this could be the end of the ugly wins or any wins if he lost his team. They gave all they had to win four of five recently even against out of contention teams that are never an easy game. 

And they were the better team against Tampa, but it only keeps getting tougher. 

Hamonic Regular Season Over

New York Islander Fan Central | 4/01/2016 03:05:00 PM |
Islanders website: Had more from management, players with Johnny Boychuk, who feels Hamonic could be back for playoffs & Zidlicky return. 

NYIFC Comments: 
We'll know eventually on Hamonic. There is a ton of very heavy lifting in the next week only to qualify, with an exhausted/injured team already.

This has made last season's brutal schedule tame by comparison. It did not come close to balancing out vs the teams in the division in terms of road trips, days off between games or even tired competition.