With game forty two tonight in Vancouver I thought today would be a good time to do a half way point review. A win puts at Vancouver puts the Islanders on a ninety point pace.
Jiggs McDonald had the numbers during the final minutes of last night's Islander game as they approach the half way point of their season in comparison to a year ago at the same time.
All in all the record was virtually identical but the scoring is a major problem.
January 9th 2007: 20-19-3/119 goals/116 goals against
January 8th 2008: 20-17-4/98 goals/114 goals against
Bad news is from Janauary 9th through March 5th that Islander team lost only four games in regulation to move to their high point of ten games over five hundred which is where they finished.
Bottom line: The defense has been about the same with different kinds of contributions, the even strength play much worse and the scoring way down makes it remarkable the club has virtually the same record.
Not going to do a full paragraph on each player, just a few quick words. You can writge for most of these players they are making a good or above avgerage effort on defense outside of Mike Comrie.
Bill Guerin-Needs to keep up what he started recently or a bust this year.
Mike Comrie-Not contributing as a first line player, streaky at best.
Richard Park-Not a first line player but hardest working alternative.
Miroslav Satan-Usual inconsistency.
Trent Hunter-Not enough offense but does other things to win games.
Ruslan Fedotenko-Has been invisible most of the last twenty games after great start.
Josef Vasieck-Two goals in twenty games not enough for a second line center.
Mike Sillinger-Not scoring like last season when needed.
Sean Bergenheim-Works for high quality chances nightly but must start finishing.
Tim Jackman-Solid in his role and works hard, not hurting club.
Blake Comeau-Shows spurts he can play in this league with good offensive skills.
Andy Hilbert-Played his way off third line not scoring, looks better on fourth line.
Chris Simon-Marginal impact when not getting suspended or returning from one.
Brendan Witt-Has been a warrior on a club with no margin for error most nights.
Radek Martinek-Some mistakes but overall outstanding before injury in expanded role.
Bruno Gervais-Just keeps getting better with quiet consistent defense.
Chris Campoli-Overall game keeps improving in expanded role.
Andy Sutton-Has been consistent and not hurt the club much recently.
Marc-Andre Bergeron-Great shot desperately needed, less mistakes recently keeps him in lineup.
Freddy Meyer-A few mistakes but mostly solid, quiet games he does not hurt the club.
Bryan Berard-Seems like the odd-man out until someone struggles.
Rick DiPietro-Making the tough saves, but letting in more soft goals than a year ago.
Wade Dubielewicz-Did his job and more recently.
Bottom Line-This club has it's work cut out for it in the second half because it cannot score enough at even strength like a year ago and it's pp has struggled badly overall. This is a team that needs more offense to get games to overtime to build the point total.
I'm skeptical but as Ted Nolan said recently what happens in the second half is what everyone remembers. Islanders are going to have to show this group's character is superior to last year in games from this point.