Only time is for this teams best game, nothing else.
Another crossroads for the 09-10 NY Islanders, no more hiding from wins they have to have.
After getting out shot 17-3 against Boston and winning in overtime they should have come out flying against Florida and overwhelmed a tired team that has played well recently but frankly looked more than ready to mail in Monday's game and generated little that the Isles did not gift-wrap.
Last back to back wins for an Islander team that needs to be about twelve over five hundred with ninety two-ninety five points to earn a playoff spot based on history in this conference? November 2nd.
The poor trends are continuing, the big picture is coming together and it's not good. The even strength scoring has dried up and the players expected to progress have not produced nearly enough in Comeau, Bergenheim, Tambellini and Nielsen.
Sorry, but again to me that goes on head coach Scott Gordon.
Tavares, Okposo or Josh Bailey (who does not need a move to left wing) were never about carrying the 2009-10 team. It clearly was never about Matt Moulson which has been the kind of bonus that should have this team firmly in a playoff spot with his contribution and made this a Colorado revival story.
The even strength scoring is in a major free-fall and despite some powerplay goals after a slump have surrendered two goals with the man advantage.
Either the players are not good enough or the coach and how he has utilized many of his veteran forwards is fair game, there are reasonable questions about both sides of this.
As I wrote in my last entry, as long as they work hard, I have no problem with results. They are not working very hard or are pressing and making mistakes trying to do too much. Not thrilled with lineups or combination's (Comeau RW/Sim everywhere/Tambellini) but that has been no secret all season.
No pulling punches, Frans Nielsen has to be better.
I expect to see John Tavares backcheck, not turnover the puck and then watch the player beat him to the net for a goal because we all know where Jeff Tambellini would be if he did this. I expect to see Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey in their natural positions, that is how you best develop prospects.
Scott Gordon is the coach and the man paid to make these decisions, I write/twitter this blog and am not in his locker room.
This team either get's on a roll or they will find themselves five-seven points and multiple teams behind the eighth seed because someone is going to get hot in a grouping of teams.
I don't want to hear this was not supposed to be a playoff team or this is a rebuilding year which Garth Snow has never said nor should you care about media projections from folks who do one update a year on the club and can barely cover the teams they are assigned to regularly. If they can compete/win against Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Boston, Washington and Buffalo they can skate with anyone and qualify for the playoffs.
It's not last year, they are not on pace to lose five hundred eighty plus games to injury.
The defense, patchwork and all is holding together. Dwayne Roloson went into Monday's game with no regulation losses at home. Jack Hillen and Andrew MacDonald have not hurt them and hardly look out of place.
When the Islanders were losing games in overtime or shootouts earlier the club was competing at a much higher level which is where the best long-term trends were, what I saw in Philadelphia was pathetic against the free-falling Flyers who changed coaches.
If Dawayne Roloson's comments are a true indication of how the room approached Monday night against a Florida team they were fighting for a playoff spot, that is a very poor reflection on the players in the room, the coach staff and not professional.
Bottom line, no more room for hiding from win one, lose one, two or more hockey, it is not going to accomplish anything.
NYIFC Notables:
* I will continue to update WJC page, great story I linked to Travis Hamonic and the loss of his father on twitter page.
* I'm not a doctor, we'll see what the story is on goaltender Rick DiPietro or when he will return. No point rushing when the idea is for him to return healthy, my preference is all three goaltenders remain on the roster for the remainder of the season regardless of how DiPietro plays. Then Biron goes UFA, Roloson is traded or something else happens.
* Not going to post many game articles beyond AP, we have feeders and I will not link to Newsday as long as they force our fans to pay. I'm not very enthusiastic about posting limited home content from Peter Botte (Daily News) or Dan Martin (NY Post) any longer because in the limited space there is little of value.
* LightHouse news is over here unless it comes from Wang, Rechler or the people associated with him. I really do not care about speculation from Newsday/Mr Botta (which he is entitled to do) from this point we will use policy on trade rumors which means dead last and a hundred percent correct with information.
* The comment section has been turned off here because of few entries here. Folks can e-mail if they would like to talk hockey. The twitter page allows comment and that is where many daily update appear.
* Finally everyone have a great Christmas and New Year from NYIFC. Again the large majority of updates will be in the twitter box which is updated countless times daily. It's worked out very well and allowed me to keep this blog open and well-updated with information.
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